What To Expect From Caterpillar's (CAT) Q4 Earnings

Construction equipment company Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) will be reporting results this Thursday before market hours. Here’s what to expect.

Caterpillar beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 6.1% last quarter, reporting revenues of $17.64 billion, up 9.5% year on year. It was a stunning quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analysts’ organic revenue estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Is Caterpillar a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.

This quarter, analysts are expecting Caterpillar’s revenue to grow 9.4% year on year to $17.75 billion, a reversal from the 5% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $4.71 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Caterpillar has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates six times over the last two years.

Looking at Caterpillar’s peers in the heavy machinery segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Greenbrier’s revenues decreased 19.4% year on year, beating analysts’ expectations by 7.7%, and PACCAR reported a revenue decline of 13.7%, topping estimates by 2.5%. Greenbrier traded down 10.3% following the results.

Read our full analysis of Greenbrier’s results here and PACCAR’s results here.

There has been positive sentiment among investors in the heavy machinery segment, with share prices up 9.3% on average over the last month. Caterpillar is up 10.8% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $625.99 (compared to the current share price of $639.95).

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