Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) has not seen any massive stock reaction to the news, but the company reported more disappointing sales trends for the month of May with a rolling three-month view. Unfortunately, weak numbers, or slow growth in some cases, seems to be the norm, but things might not be so bad now after the declines we have seen before this.
Machines retail sales were down 14%. Europe, Africa, Middle East machines retail sales were down 7%, and Latin America machines retail sales were down 50%. The strength was seen in North America machines retail sales, up 1% in May’s three-month rolling period, but this still left Caterpillar’s world total machines retail sales down 12%.
Caterpillar shows 1) retail sales of machines to end users, and 2) retail sales of power systems to end users and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company sells the majority of its machinery and power systems to independently owned and operated dealers and OEMs.
With its earnings report back in April, Caterpillar managed to overcome at least some of the currency headwinds that had snared other companies. The company slightly updated its guidance for 2015 at that time: expectations for revenue of $50 billion remained the same, and earnings per share was moved up by $0.25 to $5.00.
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Caterpillar shares have seen some downs and ups this year. Year to date, its stock is down 3.1% on a total return basis, but over the past quarter it is up 8.2%. Its shares were up 15 cents at $87.40 in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday. Its 52-week range is $78.19 to $111.46, and the consensus analyst price target is now $85.65.
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