Friday Morning Market Highlights

US Markets

U.S. stocks were down on Friday morning after yesterday's rally. The Dow fell 0.91% to 30,325, the S&P 500 index lost 0.80% to 3,757 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.64%, to 13,252.

Gainers

• Robert Half International Inc (NYSE:RHI) +6%

• Iron Mountain Inc (NYSE:IRM) +4.8%

• Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:LUMN) +5.3%

• Danaher Corp (NYSE:DHR) +3.3%

• NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) +3.3%

Losers

• Lincoln National Corp (NYSE:LNC) +6.4%

• Resmed Inc (NYSE:RMD) -6.4%

• CAT 30-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of CAT
• Peter Lynch Chart of CAT

• United Rentals Inc (NYSE:URI) -4.5%

• Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) -4.2%

• Juniper Networks Inc (NYSE:JNPR) -3.6%

Global Markets

The main European stock markets traded in the red. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 retreated 1.18%, Germany's Dax dipped 0.87%, France's CAC 40 declined 1.19% and Spain's Ibex 35 was down 1.45%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.89%, India's BSE Sensex slid 1.26%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.94% and China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.63%.

Caterpillar releases earnings report

Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) jumped more than 1% on Friday morning after the company announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2020. It posted earnings per share of $2.12, beating analysts' estimates by 63 cents, on revenue of $11.2 billion, which declined 14.8% year-over-year and fall short of expectations by $40 million.

CEO Jim Umpleby had the following to say:

"Our fourth-quarter and full-year results reflect the team's agility in a challenging environment while executing our strategy for long-term profitable growth. We achieved the adjusted operating profit margin established during our 2019 Investor Day while continuing to invest in products and services. We are well-positioned for the future and will emerge from the pandemic as an even stronger company."

In the quarter, the cost of sales decreased 15% year over year to $7.8 billion. The manufacturing costs were lower due to lower material and period manufacturing costs. The gross profit decreased 14% year over year to $3.45 billion and the gross margin was 30.7%, almost flat from the prior-year quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses declined 5% and research and development expenses were down 3% from the prior-year quarter. The operating profit margin reached 12.3%, down from 14.1% for the same quarter of 2019.

Caterpillar shares have advanced 1.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 2.4%.

At the end of December, the T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (Trades, Portfolio) boosted its investment in the stock by 60% to 545,000 shares.

Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.

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