Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) shares rumbled higher Tuesday morning, as second-quarter numbers beat out expectations.
The Peoria, Illinois-based construction equipment manufacturer reported second-quarter 2017 sales and revenues of $11.3 billion, compared with $10.3 billion in the second quarter of 2016.
Second-quarter 2017 profit per share was $1.35, compared with $0.93 per share in the second quarter of 2016. Excluding restructuring costs and a gain on the sale of an equity investment in IronPlanet, second-quarter 2017 adjusted profit per share was $1.49, compared to second-quarter 2016 adjusted profit per share of $1.09.
Expectations were for quarterly earnings of only $1.15 per share on revenue of $10.80 billion.
The company attributed much of this advance to strength in its Machinery, Energy & Transportation (ME&T) operating cash flow, which came in at $2.0 billion during the quarter, and ME&T's debt-to-capital ratio improved to 38.6%, compared with 41.7% at the end of the first quarter of 2017. In June, the company announced a quarterly cash dividend increase and ended the quarter with an enterprise cash balance of $10.2 billion.
Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby was quoted in a release Tuesday morning thus: "While a number of our end markets remain challenged, construction in China and gas compression in North America were highlights in the quarter."
The company is raising its full-year 2017 expectations for sales and revenues to a range of $42 billion to $44 billion with a midpoint of $43 billion.
Shares sprang higher $5.02 Tuesday just before noon, or 4.6%, to $113.20.
