Machinery Stocks Earnings Roster For Apr 25: CAT, IRBT & More

The Machinery industry, which is broadly grouped under the Industrial Products sector (one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors), had logged growth of 6% in fourth-quarter 2016. For first-quarter 2017, 18.2% of the S&P 500 members in the industrial products sector have reported their numbers as of Apr 21, putting up a 1.5% growth in earnings driven by a 5.3% rise in revenues. The sector’s earnings growth graph will eventually pick up with 7.9% growth expected in the quarter owing to 3.7% increase in revenues. (Read more: Earnings Growth Accelerates in Q1)

Looking at the broader picture, of the 95 S&P 500 members that have reported across all sectors, that constitute 24.9% of the index’s total market capitalization, earnings has gone up 14.3% for the first quarter. Considering all the companies that are yet to report, the S&P 500 is expected to register a 9.1% growth in the quarter, outperforming the 7.4% growth witnessed in the fourth quarter. It is worth mentioning that the earnings growth trajectory had entered the positive territory in third-quarter 2016, after five quarters of back to back declines.

Industrial production rose 0.5% in March, following a 0.1% move in February. Industrial production had dipped 0.3% in January. The increase in March was driven by a jump of 8.6% in the output of utilities, the largest in the history of the index as the demand for heating returned to seasonal norms after being suppressed by unusually warm weather in February. For the first quarter as a whole, industrial production rose at an annual rate of 1.5 %.

It will be interesting to see how some of the machinery stocks fare when they release first-quarter 2017 numbers on Apr 25. Apart from beats and misses, focus will also be on their outlook.

One heavyweight that hogs the limelight in the sector is Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE:CAT) , being the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. The company will report quaterly results, before the market opens.

Caterpillar’s earnings in the last reported quarter remained flat despite a 13% decline in revenues mainly attributed to the cost saving activities to negate the impact of a weak mining industry, low oil prices and stronger U.S. dollar.

The company has an impressive earnings surprise history beating estimates in the trailing four quarters. The company has a positive average surprise of 13.64%.

Caterpillar, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Caterpillar currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has an Earnings ESP of +4.84%. (Read more: Is Caterpillar Likely to Deliver a Beat in Q1 Earnings?)

iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) is scheduled to report results after the market closes.

The company has an impressive average positive earnings surprise in the last four quarters of 174.22%.

iRobot Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

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