The earlier post had a link to a shortish MarketBeat post. We'll bookend the day with this, also from MB:
Despite the 53% drop in quarterly profit it posted today, Caterpillar spent much of the afternoon flirting with 52-week highs, before finally notching it at $59.61.
As hinted above, CAT’s earnings weren’t all roses. But despite the profit fall, Caterpillar actually beat bottom-line expectations. It posted 64 cents a share in profit versus the six cents Wall Street eggheads had expected. That was largely due to accounting, forex and tax effects, Wells Fargo analysts said in a note to clients. Also, the top line fell short. Third-quarter sales fell 44% to $7.3 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $7.48 billion.
So why all the optimism? It’s all in the outlook and the fact that the worst may be behind the company. “We believe the third quarter marked the low point for Caterpillar sales and revenues in what has been the toughest recession since the 1930s,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Owens. “We are seeing encouraging signs that indicate a recovery may be under way.”>>>MORE
