BofA/Merrill analyst Ross Gilardl said Caterpillar's (CAT) earnings are set to go higher following Deere's (DE) strong Q2 report and raised Construction and Forestry outlook and told investors certain Caterpillar dealers are reporting rising backlogs. The analyst raised FY17 earnings forecast to $4.50 from $4.30 and FY18 to $5.75 from $5.40, and is now 12% above consensus for both. Shares are Buy rated with a $120 price target.

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Merck (MRK), consensus $1.87... Caterpillar (CAT), consensus $5.14... Comcast (CMSCA), consensus 99c... Honeywell (HON), consensus $2.17... Bristol-Myers (BMY), consensus ($4.44)... Altria (MO), consensus $1.15... Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP), consensus 35c... GE Vernova (GEV), consensus (37c)... Royal Caribbean (RCL), consensus $1.33... Tractor Supply (TSCO), consensus $1.72... Mobileye (MBLY), consensus (6c)... Textron (TXT), consensus $1.23... LabCorp (LH), consensus $3.48... Southwest Airlines (LUV), consensus (34c)... American Airlines (AAL), consensus (29c)... Harley-Davidson (HOG), consensus $1.51.

Cyngn (CYN) has been chosen to supply its DriveMod Tuggers for industrial automation to John Deere's (DE) operation in Dubuque, Iowa. Cyngn is a supplier of AI-powered autonomous vehicle and data solutions based in Menlo Park, CA.