Bernstein raises Caterpillar price target to $245, puts on negative watch

Bernstein raised the firm’s price target on Caterpillar to $245 from $216 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares, which the firm has put on “negative watch” given its view that with 2024 street estimates about 10% to high, “it is hard to be positive” on the stock into the coming year. Orders are poised to continue declining by double digits and backlog will continue to decline through at least the first half of 2024, which “is generally a signal that negative earnings revisions are on their way,” the analyst tells investors.