Caterpillar (CAT) closed the latest trading day at $358.32, indicating a -0.43% change from the previous session's end. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.58%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.12%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 1.15%.

Coming into today, shares of the construction equipment company had gained 1.69% in the past month. In that same time, the Industrial Products sector gained 0.09%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.09%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Caterpillar in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on April 25, 2024. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $5.11, indicating a 4.07% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $16.03 billion, reflecting a 1.05% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $21.33 per share and revenue of $67.75 billion, indicating changes of +0.57% and +1.03%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Caterpillar. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.31% higher. As of now, Caterpillar holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Caterpillar currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 16.87. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 10.57, which means Caterpillar is trading at a premium to the group.

It's also important to note that CAT currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.6. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.01.

The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 98, positioning it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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