Caterpillar's Stock Falls After Profit Miss, Lowered Outlook

Caterpillar Inc.'s stock dropped 1.8% in premarket trade Friday, after the maker of construction and mining equipment missed first-quarter profit and sales expectations, and lowered its full-year outlook. Earnings fell to $271 million, or 46 cents a share, from $1.25 billion, or $2.03 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time restructuring costs, adjusted earnings per share came to 67 cents, missing the FactSet consensus of 68 cents. Revenue fell to $9.46 billion from $12.70 billion, just shy of the FactSet consensus of $9.50 billion, amid "substantial" declines in its construction, oil and gas, mining and rail businesses. For 2016, the company cuts its adjusted EPS outlook to $3.70 from $4.00 and its revenue outlook to $40 billion to $42 billion from $40 billion to $44 billion. "While many of the industries we serve are challenged, we remain focused on what we can control: the quality of our products, our market position, safety in our facilities and continued restructuring and cost reduction," said Chief Executive Doug Oberhelman. The stock has run up 16% year to date through Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 3.2%.