News

For the quarter ended March 2024, Caterpillar (CAT) reported revenue of $15.8 billion, down 0.4% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $5.60, compared to $4.91 in the year-ago quarter.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.07 billion, representing a surprise of -1.69%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of +9.38%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $5.12.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.

Here is how Caterpillar performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Sales Volume - Total: -$684 million versus -$509.67 million estimated by two analysts on average.
• Sales Volume - Machinery, Energy & Transportation - Construction Industries: -$464 million versus -$315.98 million estimated by two analysts on average.
• Sales Volume - Machinery, Energy & Transportation - Resource Industries: -$425 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of -$354.05 million.
• Price Realization - Machinery, Energy & Transportation - Energy & Transportation: $202 million compared to the $97.69 million average estimate based on two analysts.
• Sales and Revenues- Asia/Pacific- Machinery, Energy & Transportation: $2.73 billion versus $2.85 billion estimated by three analysts on average.
• Sales and Revenues- Asia/Pacific- Machinery, Energy & Transportation- All Other Segments: $13 million versus $13.18 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a 0% change.
• Sales and Revenues- Latin America- Machinery, Energy & Transportation: $1.48 billion compared to the $1.47 billion average estimate based on three analysts.
• Sales and Revenues- North America- Machinery, Energy & Transportation: $8.01 billion versus the three-analyst average estimate of $7.70 billion.
• Total sales and revenues- Financial Products- Total: $839 million versus the six-analyst average estimate of $824.98 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +10%.
• Total sales and revenues- Machinery, Energy & Transportation- Resource Industries: $3.19 billion versus $3.29 billion estimated by six analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -6.8% change.
• Total sales and revenues- Machinery, Energy & Transportation- All Other: $109 million versus $120.59 million estimated by six analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -1.8% change.
• Total sales and revenues- Machinery, Energy & Transportation- Construction Industries: $6.42 billion versus $6.73 billion estimated by six analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -4.8% change.

View all Key Company Metrics for Caterpillar here>>>

Shares of Caterpillar have returned -0.3% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -3% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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