Credit Remains Positive On Caterpillar, Says April's Dealer Statistics Were Inline With Expectations

On Thursday morning, Caterpillar Inc CAT reported Total Machine sales for April were 12 percent year-over-year compared with March's number of -13 percent. Latin American sales continue to collapse, posting a year-over-year decline in April of 37 percent vs. March's decline of 34 percent.

Analyst Jamie Cook says sales changes continued to be tied to a lower sales base, which is likely creating more variability month-over-month. An example of this is evident in the North American regional sales decline 21 percent vs. March's decline of 5 percent. Latin American regional sales declined 37 percent in April vs. 26 percent decline in March.

Cook maintains his $87 price target and Outperform rating.

Shares of Caterpillar closed Thursday's session down 1.66 percent to $69.42.