Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) rose sharply after beating earnings but missing revenues. The major equipment giant posted $0.72 EPS vs. $0.22 estimates, but be advised that the revenues were light. For the year, it sees $1.15 to $2.25 vs $1.01 estimates. Shares were up over 8% at $39.74 ahead of the close.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) earnings were up 44% on items to $0.88, while comparable EPS was down 9% to $0.92 EPS. Estimates were $0.89 EPS. Shares were down over 2% at $49.84 late in the trading day.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) posted $0.61 EPS vs. $0.53 estimates; revenues fell 22% to $6.86 billion vs. the $7.15 billion consensus. Dupont reaffirmed 2009 EPS of $1.70 to $2.10 vs. $1.71 consensus estimates. Shares were down 1.3% at $28.00 late in the day.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is getting deeper into the race in virtualization as it announced new systems software for managing virtualized servers. This was a non-event for the stock, as shares were up 0.1% at $116.60 late in the trading session.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) posted earnings of $0.83 EPS vs. $0.77 estimates, and revenues were down almost 3% to $5.9 billion vs. $5.84 billion estimates. It reaffirmed FY09 EPS of $3.15 to $3.30 vs. $3.20 consensus. Shares were up 5% at $29.40 late in the day.

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) posted $0.73 EPS vs. $0.70 estimates. Revenues rose 6.8% to $21.66 billion vs. the $21.77 billion estimate. It also sees in-line guidance for 2009 at $3.00 to $3.15 EPS vs. $3.07 consensus and vs. prior guidance of $2.90 to $3.15. Shares were up almost 2% at $25.31 late in the trading day.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) posted earnings at $1.05 vs. $1.04 estimates. Revenues were soft and earnings and revenue projections for the full year are being brought down. Full year earnings are now seen at $4.00 to $4.20 vs. $4.07 estimates but under their prior target. Shares were down by 2.4% at $53.65 late in the trading session.