Crude Oil Moves Lower; Caterpillar Shares Fall Following Q3 Results
Key takeaways
- Caterpillar’s earnings beat but margin warning spooked investors, sending the stock and broader markets lower.
- Adjusted earnings $7.20 per share
- Revenue $20.682 billion
- Dow Jones 52,184.82
What happened
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) reported third‑quarter 2026 earnings that beat expectations, with adjusted earnings of $7.20 per share versus analysts’ $7.08 and revenue of $20.682 billion versus $20.545 billion, but warned that higher tariff costs would squeeze margins. The company’s stock fell about 9% on the news. U.S. stocks overall slipped, with the Dow Jones down 0.55% to 52,184.82, the S&P 500 down 0.58% to 7,698.73, and the Nasdaq down 1.62% to 26,118.68. Oil prices dropped 0.8% to $101.99 per…
Why it matters
Caterpillar’s What a company says it expects for future sales or profits — a forecast from the company, not a guarantee.guidance
Short-term and longer-term
Short-term. Over the next few days, watch CAT’s stock for a potential rebound if margin What a company says it expects for future sales or profits — a forecast from the company, not a guarantee.guidance
Longer-term. For the coming months, CAT’s margin outlook will be a key factor in assessing its long‑term valuation.
Words on this card
- Adjusted earnings
- Net income per share after removing one‑time items
- Core PCE
- Inflation measure excluding food and energy
- Tariff
- Government tax on imported goods
- Margin
- Profitability expressed as a percentage of revenue
- Guidance
- What a company says it expects for future sales or profits — a forecast from the company, not a guarantee.
- Revenue
- Sales — money the company took in before costs.