Caterpillar (CAT) Faces Some Delays, But February Sales Soar

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) will be a huge beneficiary of the rebuilding efforts in Japan once it begins, but their manufacturing presence in the country could also result in some delays from time to time; especially in the short term.

So far the equipment maker says there has been no impact from the devastation in the country, but “moving forward, it is possible those facilities may be sporadically impacted as a result of the situation in Japan.”

Some production delays at its Tokyo, Akashi and Sagami factories have already happened, but there has been no damage, so the production impact for now will be minimal. The facilities are outside the evacuation zone.

Caterpillar said they are already working on developing alternative sources for parts in case of any problems there.

As for their business, February machine sales soared 59 percent around the world, pushing the share price up.

Caterpillar was trading at $105.39, gaining $2.27, or 2.20 percent, as of 12:09 PM EDT.