Caterpillar (CAT) Q4 Earnings Surpass Estimates

Group 1: Earnings Performance - Caterpillar reported quarterly earnings of $5.14 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of$ 4.97 per share, but down from $5.23 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of 3.42% [1] - The company posted revenues of$ 16.22 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.57% and down from $17.07 billion year-over-year [2] - Over the last four quarters, Caterpillar has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times but has not beaten consensus revenue estimates [2] Group 2: Stock Performance and Outlook - Caterpillar shares have increased approximately 8.4% since the beginning of the year, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 2.7% [3] - The company's earnings outlook is crucial for investors, as it includes current consensus earnings expectations for upcoming quarters and any recent changes to these expectations [4] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the coming quarter is$ 5.01 on revenues of $15.43 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is$ 21.56 on revenues of $65.45 billion [7] Group 3: Industry Context - The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry, to which Caterpillar belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 14% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating potential challenges for stock performance [8] - Empirical research suggests a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can impact Caterpillar's stock performance [5][6]