Caterpillar Sees Soft First Quarter Amid Macro Concerns

Caterpillar Inc. offered a downbeat revenue and profit forecast for its first quarter, though it backed its full-year guidance, as the company continues to see its business challenged by falling demand.

Shares, up by about 15% in the past three months, fell 3.2% to $71.99 premarket.

Caterpillar, in a regulatory filing Thursday morning, said it anticipates first-quarter sales and revenues to be in a range of $9.3 billion to $9.4 billion, below the $10.34 billion expected by analysts in a poll by Thomson Reuters.

The company expects profit in the quarter to be in a range of 50 cents to 55 cents a share, and excluding restructuring costs, adjusted profit is expected to be 65 cents to 70 cents a share. Analysts, on average, had expected 97 cents.

Still, the company affirmed its full-year guidance for 2016 sales and profit, with profit per-share of $3.50 to $4, and sales and revenues in a range of $40 billion to $44 billion.

Representatives of Caterpillar provided the guidance update at a conference in London.

The Peoria, Ill.-based company has said depressed prices for mining commodities, lower oil prices, a stronger U.S. dollar and weak construction demand are weighing on sales of its bulldozers, excavators, giant dump trucks and engines.

The company is expected to next report earnings in April.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com