Carrier Global Corporation

Is Carrier Global the same company as Carrier air conditioning?
Carrier Global Corporation is the parent company of the Carrier brand and related HVAC businesses. The company was spun off from United Technologies in April 2020 and now operates as an independent public company. The Carrier brand remains the flagship product line within Carrier Global's portfolio.

Is Carrier Global publicly traded?
Yes. Carrier Global Corporation trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CARR. It is a component of the S&P 500 index and has no controlling shareholder.

When was Carrier Global founded?
Carrier Global became an independent public company on April 3, 2020, when United Technologies spun it off. The underlying Carrier enterprise was founded in 1915 by Willis Carrier and colleagues, and Willis Carrier invented the first modern air conditioning system in 1902.

What brands does Carrier Global own?
Carrier Global owns Carrier, Bryant, Payne, Viessmann, Toshiba HVAC, Automated Logic, Carrier Transicold, Heil, Day & Night, CIAT, and NORESCO, among others. The company divested its fire and security businesses and its commercial refrigeration unit during 2024.

What is Carrier Global's market position?
Carrier is one of the three largest HVAC companies globally alongside Trane Technologies and Daikin Industries. It holds the leading position in European residential heating through Viessmann and a leading share in North American commercial HVAC, where orders grew nearly 50% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Who owns Carrier Global?
Carrier Global has no controlling owner. Its shares are publicly traded on the NYSE and held primarily by institutional investors, with Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street among the largest shareholders.

The Carrier enterprise traces its origin to July 17, 1902, when engineer Willis Haviland Carrier designed the first modern air conditioning system for the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, New York. Working for the Buffalo Forge Company at the time, Carrier developed a system that controlled humidity as well as temperature, solving a printing quality problem and creating an entirely new industry.

In 1915, Willis Carrier and six colleagues formed the Carrier Engineering Corporation in Syracuse, New York, after Buffalo Forge decided to exit the air conditioning business. The company commercialized centrifugal refrigeration in 1922, which made air conditioning practical for large spaces such as theaters and department stores. Air conditioning moved from industrial processes into movie theaters in the 1920s and 1930s, driving public awareness of the technology.

Carrier moved its headquarters to Syracuse, New York, and grew into the dominant name in American air conditioning. Residential adoption accelerated after World War II. United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, later renamed United Technologies Corporation, acquired Carrier in 1979. Under UTC, Carrier expanded through acquisitions including Bryant, and operated alongside Otis Elevator and Pratt and Whitney within the conglomerate.

UTC announced in 2018 that it would separate into three independent companies. Carrier Global Corporation began regular-way trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 3, 2020, listing under the ticker CARR. David Gitlin, who had run the UTC Climate, Controls and Security segment, became President and CEO of the new company.

Between 2023 and 2025, Carrier completed a portfolio transformation. It acquired Viessmann Climate Solutions, the German residential and light commercial heating specialist, in January 2024 for approximately 12 billion euros. It also acquired the Toshiba Carrier joint venture and moved to full ownership of the Toshiba HVAC business in 2024. In parallel, Carrier divested its fire and security businesses, its Global Access Solutions unit (sold to Honeywell for approximately $4.95 billion in December 2024), its Industrial Fire business (sold to Sentinel Capital), and its commercial refrigeration business (sold to Haier in late 2024). In July 2026, the company completed the sale of its Riello heating business to Ariston Group for approximately $430 million.

The transformed Carrier is a focused climate and energy company. At its May 2025 investor day, management outlined a growth strategy anchored in three vectors: products, aftermarket services, and integrated systems. Data center cooling became a major growth driver, with Carrier doubling its data center revenue to approximately $1 billion in 2025 and targeting roughly 50% growth in that vertical in 2026.

Climate transition is central to Carrier's stated strategy. The company has committed to reducing its customers' carbon footprint by more than one gigaton by 2030, measured against a 2020 baseline, through efficient products, heat pumps, and electrification. Carrier's own operations target carbon neutrality, and the company has adopted science-based emissions targets.

The R-454B refrigerant transition, which replaces the higher global warming potential R-410A, is both a regulatory requirement and a product differentiator. Carrier invested heavily in making its entire North American residential line compliant ahead of the January 2025 regulatory deadline.

Carrier publishes an annual ESG report covering greenhouse gas emissions, workforce safety, and supply chain standards. The company is not a certified B Corporation.

Carrier faced a widely publicized labor dispute in 2016 when it announced plans to move approximately 1,400 jobs from its Indianapolis furnace plant to Mexico. The announcement drew criticism from then President-elect Donald Trump, and Carrier agreed to retain roughly 800 of the jobs in exchange for state incentives. The Indianapolis plant continued operations under the modified plan.

In 2023, Carrier agreed to acquire Viessmann Climate Solutions for approximately 12 billion euros, a transaction that required debt financing and drew scrutiny from investors concerned about integration risk and balance sheet leverage. The company subsequently reduced leverage through divestiture proceeds.

Carrier residential air conditioning units have been subject to routine product recalls typical of the appliance industry, including a 2022 recall of certain packaged terminal air conditioners over fire hazard risk. The company has also managed litigation related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances used in legacy firefighting foam products associated with its former fire business, with obligations addressed as part of the divestiture agreements.