Profit per share




Computations of profit per share:	Three Months Ended March 31
(Dollars in millions except per share data)	2018		2017
Profit for the period (A) ¹	$	1,665	$	192
Determination of shares (in millions):
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding (B)	598.0		587.5
Shares issuable on exercise of stock awards, net of shares assumed to be purchased out of proceeds at average market price	10.0		5.7
Average common shares outstanding for fully diluted computation (C)²	608.0		593.2
Profit per share of common stock:
Assuming no dilution (A/B)	$	2.78	$	0.33
Assuming full dilution (A/C)²	$	2.74	$	0.32
Shares outstanding as of March 31 (in millions)	597.9		589.1

¹Profit attributable to common shareholders.
²Diluted by assumed exercise of stock-based compensation awards using the treasury stock method.

SARs and stock options to purchase 1,557,275 and 12,644,654 common shares were outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, 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. During the first quarter of 2018, a total of 3.1 million shares of our common stock were repurchased at an aggregate cost to Caterpillar of $500 million. As of March 31, 2018, approximately $5.0 billion of the $10.0 billion authorization was spent.