Summary
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) filed an 8-K on October 19, 2012, to provide supplemental information on its retail sales of machines and power systems for the three-month rolling period ending September 2012. This filing, which is primarily based on unaudited dealer reports, offers insights into sales trends across various geographic regions and business sectors. Key takeaways indicate a mixed performance for the company. While North America and Asia/Pacific showed robust year-over-year retail sales growth for machines, EAME and Latin America experienced declines. The Power Systems segment presented a more challenging picture, with declines in Electric Power, Industrial, and Transportation sectors, though the Petroleum sector showed positive growth. Investors should note that this data represents retail deliveries to end-users, which may differ from Caterpillar's direct sales to dealers and OEMs, and is subject to time delays and external economic factors.
Key Highlights
- 1The filing provides a three-month rolling average of retail sales for machines and power systems, ending September 2012, offering a near-real-time look at demand.
- 2Machine retail sales showed strength in North America (up 16%) and Asia/Pacific (up 14%) for the three-month period compared to the prior year.
- 3Latin America (down 4%) and EAME (down 3%) experienced declines in machine retail sales over the same period.
- 4The Power Systems segment overall saw a decline of 1% in retail sales, driven by significant drops in the Industrial (down 16%) and Electric Power (down 2%) sectors.
- 5The Petroleum sector within Power Systems was a bright spot, showing an increase of 8% in retail sales.
- 6The "Transportation" sector within Power Systems showed a decline of 3%, after positive growth in the preceding two months, impacted by the inclusion of EMD (Electro-Motive Diesel) sales data since January 2012.
- 7Caterpillar emphasizes that this data is based on unaudited dealer reports and may not be subject to internal controls over financial reporting.