Investing.com - Global construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (N:CAT) saw shares fall in pre-market trade on Thursday after reporting weaker than expected third quarter earnings.
Caterpillar said earnings per share was 75 cents in the three months ended September 30, below expectations for earnings of 77 cents per share.
Including restructuring costs, profit per share was 62 cents, a decrease from $1.63 per share in the third quarter of 2014.
The company’s third quarter revenue totaled $11.0 billion, missing forecasts for revenue of $11.3 billion and down 19.1% from sales of $13.5 billion in the third quarter of 2014.
"The environment remains extremely challenging for most of the key industries we serve, with sales and revenues down 19 percent from the third quarter last year," said Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Doug Oberhelman.
The 2015 outlook for sales and revenues is about $48 billion, unchanged from the outlook that was included with the September 24 announcement of new restructuring actions. The outlook for profit per share is about $3.70, or $4.60 excluding restructuring costs.
Sales and revenues for 2016 are expected to be about 5% below 2015. The preliminary outlook reflects weak economic growth in the United States and Europe with U.S. construction activity impacted by low infrastructure investment and continued headwinds from oil and gas.
Following the release of the report, shares in Caterpillar lost $1.79, or 2.57%, in pre-market trade to hit $67.85 from Wednesday's closing price of $69.64.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures rose 54 points, or 0.32%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 8 points, or 0.37%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 20 points, or 0.44%.