Record Quarter for Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT): Up 4% in Pre-Market Trading

Tomahawk, WI 7/25/12 (StreetBeat) – Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported record results for its second quarter and beat estimates by a large margin this morning sending the stock up more than 4% in pre-market trading.

Caterpillar cited strong global sales of its construction and mining equipment as the main reason for its record quarter, so the company also raised its guidance for the year.

Net Income was $1.7 billion, or $2.54 per share, in the second quarter, which is up from $1.02 billion, or $1.52 per share, a year ago.

Revenue increased 22 percent to $17.37 billion from last year’s $14.23 billion.

Estimates were for EPS of $2.28 on revenue of $16.98 billion.

As for the company’s outlook, Caterpillar now projects EPS of $9.60, which is up from its projection of $9.50 back in April, but Caterpillar lowered its revenue projection for the year.

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Westport Innovations (Nasdaq: WPRT) inks deal with Caterpillar

Shawshank, VA 6/5/12 (StreetBeat) -- Citing the cheap price for natural gas, Westport Innovations Inc. (Nasdaq: WPRT) said Tuesday that it reached a deal with Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) to jointly develop natural gas engines for off-road equipment including mining trucks and trains.

Specific financial terms were not disclosed. The news sent Westport shares up $1.53, or 6.8 percent, to $23.80 in premarket trading. Shares of Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, fell 26 cents to $83.

The Canadian company said that lower prices for natural gas, especially when compared with prices for traditional diesel fuel, provide a strong financial incentive to develop natural gas engines for off-road uses.

A surge in domestic production combined with a relatively warm winter has pushed the price of natural gas to 10-year lows in recent months.

Caterpillar, which is based in Peoria, Ill., will fund the development of natural gas fuel systems. Westport, which makes natural gas engines, expects to supply key components.

The companies are beginning to development programs now, and commercial production is expected to begin in about five years, Westport said.

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Caterpillar Trying to Help Illinois Do the Right Thing

The chief executive of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) has warned the governor of Illinois that state spending and an unfavorable business climate could undermine the competitiveness of Illinois-based companies. As I write, shares of Caterpillar were up slightly at $110.00 per share on volume of more than 4.3 million shares compared to its average daily volume of 6.3 million shares. The company has a market cap of $70 billion and a 52-week range between $54.89 and $110.49 per share.

Doug Oberhelman sent the letter last week to Gov. Pat Quinn, noting that four states have invited the Peoria-based heavy equipment maker to relocate since Illinois raised personal and corporate income taxes in January.

"I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what's right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest," Oberhelman wrote in the letter obtained Friday by the Springfield news bureau of Lee Enterprises.

Oberhelman attached letters from the governors or other officials of Texas, Nebraska, Virginia and South Dakota, all of whom cited the recent Illinois tax hikes and offered to roll out the red carpet to Caterpillar.

Caterpillar spokesman Jim Dugan declined to provide a copy of Oberhelman's letter, but said it was not a threat to abandon Illinois — where Caterpillar employs 23,000 of its 104,000 global employees.

"The letter really wasn't about Caterpillar, but about the state of the state, and our concern about deficit spending and the need to get the state on firmer footing," Dugan said.

Dugan said Oberhelman's letter to Quinn did not specifically refer to the recent tax increases.

"It referred to the need for broader reform, and that can and should include tax structure as well as spending structure." With Illinois facing a potential $15 billion budget gap, the state legislature passed a bill in mid-January that would raise personal income taxes to 5 percent from 3 percent and the corporate tax rate to 7 percent from 4.8 percent.

The four-year tax increase was accompanied by spending limits through fiscal 2015 in the country's fifth most populous state.

The above article came from CNBC and Reuters.

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