Caterpillar’s stock rises on better-than-forecast profit

Caterpillar’s (NYSE:CAT) shares on Tuesday rose as much as 3.7% after the maker of heavy machinery and construction equipment reported a quarterly profit that was better than the average estimate among Wall Street analysts.

Second-quarter adjusted earnings were $5.99 a share, beating the consensus of $5.54 a share. Sales of $16.69 billion were in line with the consensus estimate of $16.67 billion.

“I’d like to thank our team for delivering another strong quarter, including higher adjusted operating profit margin, record adjusted profit per share, and robust [equipment business] cash flow,” Jim Umpleby, chairman and chief executive said in a statement.

Every business segment at the company saw a decline in sales volumes, but pricing improved.

Adjusted operating profit margins were 22.4% for the three-month period through June, up from 21.3% a year earlier. Operating cash flow was $3 billion, compared with $2.1 billion a year earlier.