Caterpillar Cheered for Hunkering Down as Machinery Outlook Dims

  • Fourth-quarter profit excluding one-time items beat estimates
  • Even so, company says profit declines will persist in 2016

Caterpillar Reports Better-Than-Estimated Earnings

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Caterpillar Inc., the biggest maker of construction and mining machinery, reported better-than-estimated earnings as cutbacks blunted the effects of a commodities meltdown. The stock rose the most in a month.

Fourth-quarter profit excluding one-time items was 74 cents a share, the Peoria, Illinois-based company reportedBloomberg Terminal Thursday. That beat the 69-cent average estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg. Shares jumped as much as 7.1 percent, and were up 4.7 percent at the close in New York.