By Kim Richters

ABB Ltd. reported results for the second quarter on Wednesday. Here's what you need to know:

REVENUE: Quarterly revenue declined to $6.15 billion from $7.17 billion, the Swiss engineering company said. This compares to expectations of $5.61 billion, according to consensus estimates provided by the company.

OPERATIONAL EBITA: The company's operational earnings before interest, taxes and amortization fell to $651 million from $825 million for the same period a year earlier. Consensus had forecast $446 million.

NET INCOME: ABB's net profit increased to $319 million from $64 million the year-earlier period, when it dropped on charges relating to the sale of its solar-inverter business. Analysts expected net income of $128 million, according to the consensus.

WHAT WE WATCHED:

--2Q BETTER THAN EXPECTED: ABB's results showed an impressive beat, with all metrics better than expected, analysts at Jefferies said.

--GUIDANCE: ABB expects coming quarters to be challenging. While on year order decline is expected to improve somewhat in the third quarter, revenue is likely to recover slightly in the fourth quarter at best. It forecasts its operational margin to steady on a sequential basis. Analysts at Citi said the company's outlook comments continue be "somewhat cautious."

Write to Kim Richters at kim.richters@wsj.com