Can "How is it coming along?" be an expression of greeting?

I know that this expression has the meaning "How is it progressing?"

What I'd like to know is, can this expression also have the meaning "What's up?" or "How is it going?"

Thank you.

"How is it coming along" I have heard many times as a greeting, but only in the context where the speaker and hearer are already engaged in some common venture which they are both thinking of when the greeting is made. A customer takes a car for repair in the morning. She returns in the evening and the first things shes says to the mechanic is "how is it coming along". To any listener it sounds like a weird greeting but to the customer and mechanic it makes complete sense.

"How is it coming along?" doesn't mean "What's up?"

In some cases, it can be used as a greeting, but will still mean "How is it progressing?" If person A knows about person B's progress on an important essay, they may begin, "How's that essay coming along?"

So, it can be used as a greeting or conversation starter. It is usually used with context and not arbitrarily.