The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

CAT reports 1Q24 results—shares_slide_on_soft 2Q24 guidance:

PR:
https://www.caterpillar.com/content/dam/caterpillarDotCom/releases/1q24/1q24-caterpillar-inc-financial-results.pdf

CC slides:
https://s25.q4cdn.com/358376879/files/doc_financials/2024/q1/1Q-2024-Analyst-Slide-Deck_Final-1.pdf

1Q24 sales were $15.8B, flat YoY, with price increases offsetting lower volume. Sales in the Construction and Resources Industries (mining equipment) segments were -5% and -7% YoY, respectively, while sales in the Energy & Transportation segment were +7% YoY. The E&T segment comprised 45% of CAT’s product sales in 1Q24.

1Q24 non-GAAP EPS was $5.60, up from $4.91 in 1Q23. 1Q24 GAAP EPS was $5.75 up/down from $3.74 in 1Q23.

(Excluding restructuring costs from non-GAAP EPS is a policy that disapprove of because multinational, multifaceted businesses such as CAT have restructuring costs continually. In 1Q24, however, non-GAAP EPS came in slightly lower than GAAP EPS due to the exclusion from non-GAAP EPS of a one-time tax benefit.)

CAT does not provide specific guidance for sales or EPS, but it expects full-year 2024 sales to be similar to 2023. However, CAT guided to lower 2Q24 sales compared to 2Q23 (see slide #17), and this is apparently what caused today’s rather sharp selloff.