Caterpillar (CAT) Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates

Core Insights - Caterpillar reported quarterly earnings of $4.72 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.88 per share, and down from $5.99 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of -3.28% [1] - The company posted revenues of $16.57 billion for the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.32%, but down from $16.69 billion year-over-year [2] - Caterpillar's stock has increased by approximately 19.6% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 7.6% [3] Earnings Outlook - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $4.77 on revenues of $15.97 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $18.79 on revenues of $63.22 billion [7] - The estimate revisions trend for Caterpillar was mixed prior to the earnings release, resulting in a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold) for the stock, indicating expected performance in line with the market [6] Industry Context - The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry, to which Caterpillar belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 18% of over 250 Zacks industries, suggesting potential challenges ahead [8] - The performance of Caterpillar's stock may be influenced by the overall outlook for the industry, as historical data shows that the top 50% of Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by more than 2 to 1 [8]