Caterpillar (CAT) on Friday reported earnings that fell short of analyst expectations and lowered its midpoint 2016 revenue outlook.
The heavy equipment giant blamed a continuing slump in demand.
"We're close to the bottom or bottoming," Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman told CNBC's " Squawk Box ." He said he hopes 2016 is the last down year.
Citing a bright spot, Oberhelman said: "We've seen actually an adjustment upwards in China in the first quarter, which is kind of nice. It's the first time we've talked about that in a couple [or] three years."
"China is stimulating and they've added a little debt to their GDP forecast," he said. "We're feeling some of that in large products. Hopefully that will be sustained; something they do throughout the rest of the year."
Overall, Caterpillar posted adjusted first-quarter earnings of 67 cents a share. Revenue of $9.5 billion was better than expected but fell 25 percent from the year-ago period. The company earned $2.07 per share in the first quart of 2015.
The company also narrowed its first-quarter 2016 revenue outlook range to $40 billion to $42 billion from $41 billion to $42 billion, blaming lower sales from the transportation and mining sectors.
The company also cut its 2016 adjusted earnings outlook to $3.70 a share from $4 a share.
Restructuring costs are now expected to be about $550 million in 2016, up $150 million from the previous outlook.
"We're going to do a little bit more restructuring than we had planned, which is good for the future," Oberhelman told CNBC. "We'll adjust headcount as necessary. Right not, we're in pretty good shape, I think, for the rest of 2016."
By: Matthew J. Belvedere (CNBC).
Photo: Scott Olson (Getty Images).
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