Emerson, which is based in St. Louis, Missouri, announced on Wednesday that its second quarter net sales were $4.4 billion, which was up 6% from the same quarter a year ago. Emerson’s underlying sales were up 2%, excluding favorable currency of 3% and an impact from acquisitions of 1%.

Emerson, which makes process controls systems, valves and analytical instruments, posted fiscal second-quarter earnings of $561 million. On a year-over-year basis, Emerson’s bottom line improved by 9%.

“I remain proud, humbled, and energized by the exceptional advances and adaptability I’m seeing across the enterprise,” said Emerson President and CEO Lal Karsanbhai. “We have two major concurrent themes building momentum within the organization. First, the enthusiasm and progress around modernizing our culture is palpable, particularly with regard to diversity and inclusion, work practices, and talent management. These initiatives are not just good practice, but are expected to be key business enablers for Emerson’s outperformance and value creation going forward.

“Secondly, economic recovery momentum is building across most of our key end markets, which resulted in better than expected top line results this quarter. Trailing three month underlying orders ended on the high side of the guided range, and underlying sales came in above guidance – a strong signal for broadening recovery. Residential markets and shorter cycle automation markets continue to show strength, while commercial and longer cycle automation markets should continue their steady recovery during the second half of the year.”

For fiscal 2021, which ends in September, Emerson projected net sales growth of 6% to 9%.