Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) delivered mixed first-quarter results and warned of demand softness in the quarters to come. Investors are not impressed, sending shares down as much as 9% on Thursday morning.

Caterpillar makes the heavy equipment used in construction and mining. It is a great business when times are good for its customers, but big-ticket equipment purchases tend to get deferred when customers are uncertain about their outlook.

Caterpillar earned $5.60 per share in the first quarter, beating Wall Street's $5.14-per-share consensus estimate, despite sales that came in about $200 million short of consensus at $15.8 billion.

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Source Fool.com