Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2014 results before markets opened Tuesday. For the quarter, the heavy equipment firm posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.35 on revenues of $14.24 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted EPS of $1.68 on revenues of $14.4 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.55 and $14.18 billion in revenues. The company’s adjusted EPS excluded restructuring charges of $0.11 a share.

For the full year, Caterpillar’s revenues totaled $55.18 billion, down from $55.66 billion in 2013, and adjusted earnings per share totaled $6.38, up from $5.97 a year ago. The consensus estimates called for $6.57 in earnings per share and $55.04 billion in revenues.

Since the end of the third quarter, Caterpillar’s outlook has changed substantially from its prior view that performance would be roughly flat on earnings and sales to a rather sorry forecast for 2015. The company said that it expects only modest growth in the global economy in 2015 and continued weakness in commodity prices, particularly oil, copper, coal and iron ore, all of which is negative for Caterpillar’s sales. The company forecast full year revenue of $50 billion, fully 10% less than 2014 revenue and 10% lower than the current consensus estimate for revenues of $55.01 billion.

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The company also expects 2015 restructuring costs to total about $150 million, or $0.15 a share. That restructuring and those costs are in addition to the cuts the company made in 2014. Caterpillar expects adjusted EPS in 2015 of $4.75, sharply below the $6.38 the company posted in 2014 and the $6.67 estimate from analysts.

The company’s CEO said:

The recent dramatic decline in the price of oil is the most significant reason for the year-over-year decline in our sales and revenues outlook. Current oil prices are a significant headwind for Energy & Transportation and negative for our construction business in the oil producing regions of the world. In addition, with lower prices for copper, coal and iron ore, we’ve reduced our expectations for sales of mining equipment. We’ve also lowered our expectations for construction equipment sales in China. While our market position in China has improved, 2015 expectations for the construction industry in China are lower. While we are, without a doubt, facing a tough year in 2015, we’re driving cost management through additional restructuring actions and continued operational improvements…

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2013, Caterpillar reported 118,501 full-time employees and 14,853 employees designated at the flexible workforce. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, the number of full-time workers had fallen to 114,233 and the flexible workforce number grew to 16,510. Caterpillar has added 54 jobs in the United States and cut 2,665 at its international locations for a total employee cut of 2,611 year-over-year.

Caterpillar repurchased $2.5 billion in stock during 2014 from an authorization of $10 billion made in the first quarter of last year. The company did not commit to a buyback figure for 2015, but said only that it is “considering additional repurchases in 2015.”

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Caterpillar’s shares traded down more than 6% in premarket trading, at $80.61 in a 52-week range of $83.05 to $111.46. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $97.10 before the report, a full $10 a share below the consensus just three months ago.

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