Summary
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) filed a Form 8-K on January 24, 2014, to provide supplemental information regarding dealer statistics for the three-month rolling periods ending December, November, and October 2013. This report offers insights into retail sales of machines and power systems based on unaudited dealer reports, aiming to help investors better understand the company's business and the industries it serves, particularly given the time lag between Caterpillar's sales to dealers and dealer deliveries to end users. The disclosed data shows a general decline in retail sales of machines across most major geographic regions for the three-month periods, with Asia/Pacific and EAME experiencing significant year-over-year decreases. However, the Power Systems segment presented a mixed picture, with a substantial increase in sales for the Industrial sector contrasting with declines in Electric Power and Transportation. The Petroleum sector showed some resilience, with flat or slightly increased sales in recent months. Investors should note that these figures are based on dealer reporting and exclude certain legacy sales, and the company explicitly states that actual results may differ materially from any implied forward-looking statements due to various risk factors.
Key Highlights
- 1Caterpillar is providing supplemental, unaudited dealer statistics for machine and power systems retail sales.
- 2Machine retail sales showed year-over-year declines in most regions over the three-month rolling periods ending Dec 2013, notably in Asia/Pacific (-19%) and EAME (-13%) for the Dec period.
- 3North America experienced relatively smaller declines in machine retail sales, ranging from -1% to -2% across the periods.
- 4The Power Systems segment saw mixed performance: Industrial sales surged (up 30% in Dec 2013), while Electric Power (-15%) and Transportation (-9%) declined.
- 5The Petroleum sector for Power Systems showed resilience, with flat sales in Oct 2013 and a slight increase (1%) in Nov 2013, before a 6% decline in Dec 2013.
- 6These statistics are furnished under Regulation FD and are based on dealer reports, excluding legacy Bucyrus machines for machinery sales.
- 7Caterpillar explicitly warns that actual results could differ materially from forward-looking statements due to numerous risk factors outlined in their filings.