I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), first recommended on April 13, 2009, at a price of $33.02. If you bought CAT in April, you're up about 68%.

The growth story remains the same regarding Caterpillar: after a global recession that substantially reduced demand, the U.S. and global recoveries will enable construction and agriculture equipment to continue to rebound. Caterpillar's recent increase in its FY2009 EPS guidance to $1.85-2.05 adds to the positive mix. The First Call FY2009/FY2010 EPS estimates for CAT are $2.00 to $2.67.

There is no question that the recession took its tool on Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT). The company saw its stock plummet from mid 2008 through March of this year. Along the way the company was forced to layoff employees to help lower costs, but it announced today that it would be rehiring 550 of its laid off workers.

Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens announced the news and stated that the company was pleased that "signs of recovery in the global economy" is allowing it to bring back some employees.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI) reported its third consecutive quarterly profit and will increase capacity.
• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares soared after it reported very strong Q3 numbers.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported stellar Q4 results, driven by the popularity of Macs and iPhones.
• BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Q3 earnings soared, due in part to a tax benefit, and assets managed grew.
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) revenue surged sequentially but note the would be flat going forward.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) beat Q3 earnings expectations and shares rose though revenue slumped.

Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) to Market Perform from Underperform following the Q3 results to reflect the company's improved earnings outlook and better credit trends. The firm has a $70 price target on shares.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) to Buy from Hold as it believes a bottom has been reached in the manufacturing and construction industries. The firm raised its target on shares to $30 from $26.
• Goldman upgraded Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to Neutral from Sell and raised its target to $64 from $48 citing improved cost controls and construction outlook.
• Pentair (NYSE: PNR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.
• Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.
• Stryker (NYSE: SYK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is doing great. The stock is hot, and even though the company is still reporting sales and earnings declines, you just know that the fundamentals will eventually get better. In the meantime, management is doing its best to beat earnings expectations.

Yesterday, management succeeded. For the third quarter, according to our Closing Bell post, Caterpillar said it made 64 cents per share. Analysts were expecting only 6 cents per share. Well, something was off there, huh? Anyway, according to the actual press release, sales decreased over 40%, and per-share profit was off by 15%, but really, it didn't matter to the market. Shares of the heavy equipment maker closed higher by 3%, on heavy volume.

Summer is winding down and so is another earnings season. Most of the S&P 500 have reported results for the past quarter, but there are still a few things of note coming up this week.

In its second quarter, Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: SNDA), one of the largest entertainment media companies in China, announced plans for an IPO for its Shanda Games business and bought a majority stake in music producer and distributor.

I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), first recommended on April 13, 2009 at a price of $33.02. If you purchased CAT at that time, you're up a solid 41%.

Back in April, I put CAT in the not-for-the-squeamish category, due to the uncertain timetable for the U.S./global recoveries: the upside was always there, but so was the potential for a 30% hair cut.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) said its earnings report would not include a conference call.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) shares rose after it reaffirmed the 2009 outlook and forecast further growth.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) said its Q4 numbers tumbled despite cost-cutting efforts.
• Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) posted strong Q2 results, though its cash flow was flat.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) reported better-than-expected Q2 results and forecast a return to profitability.
• Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) revenue surged in Q1 and its narrower loss beat expectations.

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - option chain) shares are rising today after company CEO Jim Owens told a group of financial analysts and institutional stockholders that he expects company earnings to reach $8 to $10 per share annually in the next five years as long as the global economy recovers. He also reaffirmed CAT's 2009 EPS forecast of $1.15 to $2.25. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CAT.

CAT opened this morning at $45.45. So far today the stock has hit a low of $45.35 and is currently trading at its intra-day high $47.41 up $2.29 (5.1%). The chart for CAT looks bullish and S&P gives CAT a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Construction manufacturer and Dow component Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported earnings of 72 cents per share, well ahead of expectations of a 22-cent per share profit.

Top-line revenue came in at $7.25 billion, which is a lot of money. Unfortunately, it was nearly a billion-and-a-half dollars below expectations of $8.86 billion.

How did Caterpillar manage to achieve its earnings beat on lower-than-anticipated revenue?

Although the headlines are screaming about how companies are beating their earnings estimates, little newsprint is being devoted to this quarter's real story.

That story is that revenues for many corporations are way down year over year, and more importantly, their top-line revenues are often coming in below Street estimates.

To be certain, there have been some real success stories so far in Q2, and we'll be talking about some of those in a moment. Moreover, it is always a good sign when companies beat their earnings estimates.

Good news: profits are back. Bad news: it hurts like hell to get them.

With Q2 reports starting to come in, several high-profile companies have turned in positive results, and a few -- like Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), 3M (NYSE: MMM), and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) -- have even upped the ante for the rest of the year.

Expectations were low, making the outcomes look surprisingly strong. According to a Thomson Reuters, a third of the biggest companies in the United States that have turned in their Q2 results, and 76% of them have beaten analyst expectations. Less than a fifth of them are losing money.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss as steel prices rise.
• Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) posted a better-than-expected Q2 profit on strong overseas sales.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) shares jumped after it beat earnings, missed revenues, and offered guidance.
• DuPont (NYSE: DD) shares declined after it posted a higher-than-expected profit but lower revenue.
• Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) disappointing results were a sign that the bulls are in charge, said Jim Cramer.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Q2 earnings and sales declined, dragged down by finance and NBC units.

Earlier in the week, Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), the famous maker of heavy equipment and engines for industry, reported earnings for the second quarter. This is exactly the kind of company that one worries about during a recession. Looking through the results, one can't help but cringe. There's nothing you can do about it.

Sales dropped over 40%, impacted in part by currency translations. Adjusted profit of 72 cents per diluted share represented a steep decline in profit growth. Caterpillar earned $1.74 per diluted share in the year-ago period.

Analyst Upgrades

• Barclays upgraded Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) to Overweight from Equal Weight based on a potentially higher bid from Xstrata (OTC: XSRAY) or a white night willing to pay a premium for the group, higher copper prices, and improving operating performance.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB) to Buy from Neutral citing improved bagged salad margins, strong free cash flow, solid banana trends, and valuation. The firm has a $13 target on the stock.
• Wunderlich upgraded Legacy Reserves (NASDAQ: LGCY) to Buy from Hold due to the firm's belief that the back of the crude board is still very cheap, the firm's increased distribution outlook, and the movement of the stock after the discontinuation of the company's talks with Apollo.
• Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• UBS (NYSE: UBS) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.