(Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc on Tuesday warned of a decline in third-quarter sales and margin, fueling concerns about a past peak in demand for construction equipment.
The group said its third quarter revenue and operating margin would be higher than the same period last year but down from the second quarter.
Over the past period, Caterpillar has seen its quarterly profit rise as higher infrastructure spending in regions such as North America has boosted demand for its construction equipment.
Cost controls and price increases have also protected Caterpillar’s earnings amid continued supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures.
Adjusted earnings for the second quarter came to $5.55 a share, while analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected a profit of $4.58.
Revenue rose 21.6% to $17.32 billion. The consensus of analysts predicted 16.49 billion.
(Report Bianca Flowers and Shivansh Tiwary; French version Lina Golovnya, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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