(Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as strong demand for its products from the construction and oil and gas industries in North America offset weak demand from the global mining industry.
The world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment also raised its 2014 profit per share forecast. However, looking ahead to its outlook for 2015, it said it expects sales and revenue to be little changed next year.
CATERPILLAR (CAT.NY)shares were up 6.5 percent at $100.75 in premarket trading.
For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Caterpillar posted a net profit of $1.1 billion, or $1.63 a share, up from $946 million, or $1.45 a share, during the comparable quarter last year.
Sales and revenue from financial services rose 1 percent to $13.54 billion.
Analysts, on average, expected Caterpillar to post a profit of $1.36 a share on sales of $13.2 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by James B. Kelleher in Chicago; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
