Profit Per Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Profit Per Share

Profit per share

Computations of profit per share:	Three Months Ended March 31
(Dollars in millions except per share data)	2017		2016
Profit for the period (A) 1	$	192	$	271
Determination of shares (in millions):
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding (B)	587.5		582.8
Shares issuable on exercise of stock awards, net of shares assumed to be purchased out of proceeds at average market price	5.7		4.9
Average common shares outstanding for fully diluted computation (C) 2	593.2		587.7
Profit per share of common stock:
Assuming no dilution (A/B)	$	0.33	$	0.46
Assuming full dilution (A/C) 2	$	0.32	$	0.46
Shares outstanding as of March 31 (in millions)	589.1		583.9

¹  Profit attributable to common shareholders.

²  Diluted by assumed exercise of stock-based compensation awards using the treasury stock method.

SARs and stock options to purchase 12,644,654 and 29,093,289 common shares were outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive.

In January 2014, the Board authorized the repurchase of up to $10.0 billion of Caterpillar common stock, which will expire on December 31, 2018. As of March 31, 2017, approximately $4.5 billion of the $10.0 billion authorization was spent.