The CAT logo is displayed on Caterpillar construction equipment.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
The CAT logo is displayed on Caterpillar construction equipment.

Caterpillar on Thursday cut its first-quarter earnings and revenue guidance, but said it remains comfortable with its prior full-year forecast.

Shares of Caterpillar fell more than 3 percent in premarket trading on the news. (Get the latest quote here.)

The world’s largest construction and mining equipment maker’s giant said it expects quarterly adjusted earnings of 65 cents to 70 cents a share, sharply lower than Street expectations of 97 cents a share.

Revenue was forecast at $9.3 billion to 9.4 billion for the quarter, below expectations of $10.4 billion.

Caterpillar maintained its full-year forecast, saying in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it remains “comfortable” with the figures. The company still expects a profit of $3.50 per share and revenue between $40 billion and $44 billion. Wall Street is looking for a profit of $3.73 per share on revenue of $41.09 billion.

The company said last year it would cut jobs and aggressively slash costs to cope with low demand due to slower growth in China and Brazil and plunging commodity prices.

Up to Wednesday’s close, stock had risen more than 9 pct this year, while Dow Jones industrial average index had fallen 1 percent.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
[“source -cncb”]