Key Takeaways

Caterpillar ( CAT ) shares dropped after the company’s fourth-quarter revenue fell short of expectations before the opening bell Thursday.

The construction equipment company posted revenue of $16.2 billion in the period, down 5% year-over-year and below the analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Caterpillar’s earnings per share were at an all-time of high of $5.78, up from $5.28 and above analysts’ expectations.

Revenue from the company's construction industries segment fell 8% to $6 billion. Resource industries, which includes vehicles such as mining trucks, saw revenue dropped 9% to $2.96 billion. Caterpillar’s energy and transportation arm was flat year-over-year, bringing in revenue of $7.65 billion.

Caterpillar attributed the decline to lower sales volume caused by shrinking dealer inventories. Dealer inventory fell by $1.3 billion during the fourth quarter, compared to a $900 million decrease a year earlier.

Shares of Caterpillar slid about 5% intraday Thursday. The construction equipment company is widely considered a bellwether stock as a proxy for domestic and global economic expansion or contraction. Its shares are up about 25% over the past 12 months.

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