Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced the fifth straight year of record sales and revenues and the fourth consecutive year of record profit. For 2007, sales and revenues were $45 billion, up 8%, and profit per share was up 4% from 2006. The company also reported record fourth quarter sales and revenues of $12 billion, 10% higher than the fourth quarter of 2006, and profit per share up 14% from a year ago.
Caterpillar's overall global sales for the past year were very strong, more than “offsetting weakness in the North American market,” allowing CAT to remain profitable and healthy in spite of weakness in the US Market.
This kind of support from overseas markets makes this economic slowdown (not yet a recession) different from past periods. For example, in the 1990-1991 recession and recessions before that (and during previous economic slowdowns), CAT and other U.S. manufacturers did not have the kind of support from markets outside the U.S. that exists today.