Caterpillar profit and sales fall, but top expectations; stock drops
Shares of Caterpillar Inc. fell 1.8% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the construction and mining equipment maker reported third-quarter profit and sales that fell, but beat expectations. Net income declined to $668 million, or $1.22 a share, from $1.49 billion, or $2.66 a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.17. Revenue fell 22.6% to $9.88 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $9.73 billion. Among some of Caterpillar's business segments, energy and transportation sales dropped 24% to $4.16 billion to top expectations of $3.91 billion and construction industries sales declined 23% 5o $4.06 billion to beat forecasts of $3.85 billion. "Our third-quarter results largely aligned with our expectations, and we're encouraged by positive signs in certain industries and geographies," said Chief Executive Jim Umpleby. The company did not provide financial guidance. The stock has rallied 16.7% over the past three months through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 4.1%.
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