General Motors (GM), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), United Technologies (UTX) and DuPont (DD) turned in strong earnings reports early Tuesday but guidance was mixed, while Caterpillar (CAT) and 3M (MMM) beat but followed other industrial giants that have given weak forecasts.
General Motors
Estimates: EPS down 4% to $1.44; sales up 1% to $39.3 billion.
Results: EPS of $1.72 on sales of $42.83 billion. North American operating margin shrank to 11.2% from 11.8%.
Outlook: Full-year EPS seen at high end of $5.50-$6.00 range, above consensus for $5.85. But management warned of difficulty hitting its 2016 European profit target due to Brexit and called the U.S. auto market a "plateaued environment." But it vowed to keep North American margins at 10% or higher.
Stock: General Motors shares tumbled 4.2% to close at 31.60 on the stock market today, dropping below their 50-day average and a buy point of 32.88.
Fiat Chrysler's operating profit rose 29% to 1.5 billion euros while revenue was flat at 26.84 billion euros. Shares rose 0.5%.
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IBD'S TAKE: Ford and other automakers don't have strong fundamentals. But graphics chipmaker Nvidia is making a wave in the auto space, debuting a new artificial-intelligence supercomputer chip for self-driving cars.
United Technologies
Estimates: EPS up 3.1% to $1.66 on a 3.5% revenue gain to $14.27 billion.
Results: EPS of $1.76 on revenue of $14.4 billion.
Outlook: Full-year EPS of $6.55-$6.60 vs. prior view of $6.45-$6.60. Analysts see $6.58.
Stock: Shares climbed 1.85% to 101.36, popping back above their 200-day line.
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Caterpillar
Estimates: EPS is seen rising 1% to 76 cents, ending five straight quarters of declines. Revenue is seen down 10% to $9.87 billion, the smallest decline since a gain five quarters ago.
Results: EPS of 85 cents on revenue of $9.16 billion.
Outlook: Full-year EPS of $3.25 on revenue of $39 billion, both below views, and 2017 revenue in line with 2016, also below.
Stock: Shares fell 1.8% to 84.48, falling below a 84.83 buy point. Caterpillar broke out from a flat base at that pivot point late last month, helped by the recent recovery in commodities.
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3M
Estimates: EPS to rise 4.4% to $2.14 with revenue flat at $7.71 billion.
Results: EPS of $2.15 on revenue of $7.71 billion.
Outlook: Full-year EPS view cut to $8.15-$8.20, below consensus for $8.22, from a prior view of $8.15-$8.30.
Stock: Shares dropped 2.9% to 166.23, diving below their 200-day line and undercutting the flat base they had been forming.
DuPont
Estimates: Adjusted EPS of 21 cents on sales of $4.87 billion.
Results: Adjusted EPS of 34 cents on sales of $4.92 billion.
Outlook: Full-year EPS of $3.25, up from prior view of $3.15-$3.20, above consensus for $3.20.
Stock: Shares lost 0.7%. Dow Chemical (DOW), which is merging with DuPont, eased 0.2%.
On Friday, General Electric (GE) lowered its full-year revenue growth outlook after missing Q3 sales forecasts. Honeywell (HON) earlier this month cut its profit and sales outlook, partly on aerospace woes. Dover (DOV) and PPG Industries (PPG) also warned on financial results, in part due to a weaker economy.
