Caterpillar shares climb as earnings boosted by tax benefit
Caterpillar Inc. shares rose 1.4% in premarket trade Wednesday after earnings that topped estimates thanks to a tax benefit and higher-than-expected sales. The maker of diggers and dozers said it had net income of $1.88 billion, or $3.25 a share, in the quarter, up from $1.67 billion, or $2.74 a share, in the year-earlier period. The EPS number included a 31 cents tax benefit. Sales rose to $13.5 billion from $12.9 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $2.83 and sales of $13.3 billion. Sales at the company's construction equipment segment rose 3% to $5.677 billion. Sales at the resource industries segment rose 18% to $2.309 billion and sales at the energy and transportation segment were flat at $5.219 billion. The company raised its full-year EPS guidance to reflect the first-quarter tax benefit and is now expecting profit to range from $12.06 to $13.06, up from a prior range of $11.75 to $12.75. Shares have fallen 1.7% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 11.9%.
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