caterpillar expects 2024 sales to be below its August forecast, when the company said full-year sales would be “slightly lower” than 2023, sending the company's shares down 3.7% in premarket trading on Wednesday. dropped.

Construction equipment makers got a boost from a post-pandemic surge in equipment demand, helped in part by U.S. President Joe Biden's 2021 infrastructure bill, a $1 trillion executive order to modernize roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.

However, the initial boom in demand for government infrastructure projects has slowed.

Caterpillar said it now expects full-year sales to be slightly below its previous forecast. However, the company maintained its full-year adjusted operating profit margin and adjusted earnings per share forecasts as price increases partially offset the impact of a sales slowdown.

Concerns about persistent inflation and falling farm incomes have led U.S. equipment makers to cut inventories as dealers seek to reduce inventories, while high manufacturing costs also cut into profits.

Caterpillar said Wednesday that dealers scaled back purchases in the third quarter compared with a year ago.

Competing agricultural machinery manufacturer DeereShares of 's also fell 1%.

Caterpillar reported a decline in sales at two of its three largest companies, which serve the construction and natural resources industries, due to lower sales in North America, its largest market.

Total sales in the company's Asia Pacific region fell 7% to $2.68 billion in the third quarter.

The company's sales in the region have been under pressure in recent quarters due to China's year-long housing crisis, but stable demand in other regions has helped offset some of the impact.

Caterpillar's adjusted operating profit margin was 20% in the quarter, compared to 20.8% a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, the company's third-quarter profit fell to $5.17 per share, missing the average analyst estimate of $5.34, according to data compiled by LSEG.

“Expectations were fairly muted at the start of the quarter, but the magnitude of the miss and a buildup in dealer inventories were worse than expected,” said Citi analyst Kyle Menges.

Total revenue fell 4% to $16.11 billion, slightly beating expectations of $16.08 billion.