General Electric

Revenue: $35 billion, -0.5% Y/Y
Net Income: $3.6 billion, +13% Y/Y
EPS (GAAP): $0.35/share, +17% Y/Y

Organic Revenue -6%
Europe revenue -17%
Service revenue in Europe -22%
Sales in Core Industrial Equipment & Services -6% (-11% profit)
Sales in Power Generation and Water Treatment -26%, (-39% profit)
GE Capital Revenue (ex NBC sale) -6% (+9% profit)
SG&A expenses -14%

Cash flow from Operating Activities $0.2 billion, -90.4% ($2.1 billion in year ago period)
Dividends Paid $1.9 billion
Shares Repurchased $2 billion
Total Cash Returned to Shareholders In Excess of Operating Cash Flow $3.7 billion

 

International Business Machines

Revenue: $23.4 billion, -5.1% Y/Y
Net Income: $3.0 billion, -1% Y/Y
EPS (GAAP): $2.70/share, +3% Y/Y

Revenue declined in every geographical segment
Revenue Asia-Pac -7%
Revenue Americas -4%
Revenue BRIC’s (“growth markets”) -1%
Business Services Revenue -4%, to $9.6 billion
Hardware Revenue -17%, to $3.1 billion
Software Revenue 0%, to $5.6 billion

Free Cash Flow $1.7 billion, down from $1.87 billion year ago
Operating Cash Flow $2.43 billion, down from $2.87 billion year ago
Dividends Paid $0.95 billion
Shares Repurchased $3.5 billion
Total Cash Returned to Shareholders In Excess of Operating Cash Flow $2.0 billion

 

Caterpillar

Revenue: $13.2 billion, -17.4% Y/Y
Net Income: $0.9 billion, -44.5% Y/Y
EPS (GAAP): $1.31/share, -44.7% Y/Y

Mining Products Revenue -23%
Expects 50% decline in Revenue for Mining Products in 2013
Construction Equipment Revenue -17%
Gas & Diesel Power Systems -12%
Total Global Workforce decreased by 11,000

Free Cash Flow $1.09 billion, up from $0.23 billion year ago
Operating Cash Flow $1.4 billion, up from $0.32 billion year ago
Dividends Paid $0.0 billion
Shares Repurchased $0.0 billion
Total Cash Returned to Shareholders In Excess of Operating Cash Flow $0.0 billion
For the first time since 2008, company will resume share repurchases. CAT still authorized to repurchase $3.7 billion before December 2015.

 

Each company is a bellwether in their own segments and each has at least disappointed: GE in Europe and Industrial, but decent profit growth; IBM revenue problems leaking into profits; CAT just horrible except cash flow (which is entirely due to holding less inventory). Each company has responded in almost identical fashion – reducing head count and repurchasing shares.

The new corporate mantra is EPS, EPS, EPS. Net income is simply a number.  If you can’t deliver organic growth, financial investment appears to be just as good.  If CAT can keep its stock price up after delivering an unambiguously putrid quarter through nothing but share repurchasing, then the macro economy really is toast.