8-K


UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
Current Report


Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934


Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):   March 17, 2016


CATERPILLAR INC. 
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware 
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)


1-768 
(Commission File Number)

37-0602744 
(IRS Employer Identification No.)

100 NE Adams Street, Peoria, Illinois 
(Address of principal executive offices)

61629  
(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:  (309) 675-1000

Former name or former address, if changed since last report:  N/A

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: 
 
o
 
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
 
 
 
 
 
o
 
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
 
 
 
 
 
o
 
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
 
 
 
 
 
o
 
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)






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Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

As previously noticed by the Company, on March 17, 2016 at 4:50 a.m. EDT, representatives of Caterpillar Inc. (“Caterpillar” or the "Company") spoke at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Industrials Conference (the “Conference”) in London, England which was webcast in real-time. During the Conference, representatives from Caterpillar provided the following guidance with respect to the first quarter 2016:

Caterpillar expects first quarter 2016 sales and revenues to be in a range of $9.3 to $9.4 billion.
The profit estimate for first quarter 2016 is expected to be $0.50 to $0.55 per share. Excluding restructuring costs, the profit estimate for first quarter 2016 is expected to be $0.65-$0.70 per share.
Representatives of the Company also stated that they remained comfortable with the full year guidance for 2016 sales and revenues and profit per share as most recently stated in a Form 8-K Caterpillar filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 28, 2016.
A copy of the presentation, including a reconciliation of Non-GAAP financial information is available at http://www.caterpillar.com/en/investors/events-and-presentations.html.
The information furnished in this Item 7.01 shall not be deemed "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this filing relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “believe,” “estimate,” “will be,” “will,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “project,” “intend,” “could,” “should” or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
 
Caterpillar’s actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes, component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment’s risks associated with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest rates





or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial’s customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position; (xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers’ needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat Financial’s compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) changes in accounting standards; (xxvii) failure or breach of IT security; (xxviii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; and (xxix) other factors described in more detail under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 16, 2016 for the year ended December 31, 2015.









  




SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 
CATERPILLAR INC.
 
 
 
 
March 17, 2016
By:
/s/James B. Buda
 
 
James B. Buda
 
 
Executive Vice President, Law and Public Policy