3 key takeaways from Caterpillar’s Q1 earnings report

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported its financial results for the fiscal first quarter on Thursday that beat Wall Street estimates, despite the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that continues to weigh on businesses globally.

1. Financial performance

Caterpillar reported £1.10 billion of net income in the first quarter that translates to £1.99 per share. In the comparable quarter of last year, its net income was capped at a lower £780 million, or £1.42 per share.

On an adjusted basis, the construction, energy and mining equipment manufacturer earned £2.06 per share in Q1. Caterpillar valued its sales in the recent quarter at £8.53 billion versus the year-ago figure of £7.60 billion.

According to FactSet, experts had forecast the company to post £7.82 billion of sales in the first quarter. Their estimate for adjusted per-share earnings stood at a lower £1.39. In the prior quarter (Q4), Caterpillar had recorded £1.52 of profit per share.

2. Other prominent figures in Caterpillar's earnings report

Other notable figures in Caterpillar’s earnings report on Thursday include £3.91 billion of sales from construction industries – a 27% annualised growth. Total sales from resource industries in the first quarter printed at £1.59 billion or 6% higher than last year. At £3.23 billion, sales from energy and transportation were also 4% up in Q1.

3. Sylvia Jablonski's comments on Caterpillar's quarterly results

Defiance ETFs co-founder Sylvia Jablonski commented on Caterpillar’s earnings report on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday and said:

In its statement, Caterpillar said:

Impact on the share price

Caterpillar which you can learn how to buy stock online here opened about 1% up in the stock market on Thursday but slid close to 4% in the next hour. The stock is now exchanging hands at £163 per share versus £130.61 per share at the start of the year. At the time of writing, Caterpillar is valued at £88.62 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 42.61.