Cascade tumbles after reporting 1Q results

Shares of Cascade Corp. fell sharply on Friday after the company, which makes components for lift trucks and other construction machinery, posted a lower first-quarter profit and said it expected slower business for the rest of the year.

The stock lost $5.98, or 12 percent, to $44.24.

Late Thursday, the Portland, Ore., company said its first-quarter profit fell to $10.9 million, or 98 cents per share, partly as a result of a one-time boost in its year-ago profit. The results came in ahead of Wall Street estimates, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

However, in a conference call Thursday, the company told analysts it expected the U.S. lift-truck market to decline between 5 and 10 percent during the rest of the year. CJS Securities analyst Arnie Ursaner said that prediction may be worrying investors.

"There is a definite slowdown in the marketplace," CJS Securities analyst Arnie Ursaner said in an interview. "The (broader) market down several hundred points doesn't help either."

The Dow Jones Industrial average lost more than 400 points Friday.

Meanwhile, D.A. Davidson analyst J.B. Groh downgraded shares of Cascade to "Buy" from "Neutral" in a client note Friday. He said he saw little room for additional returns following the first-quarter earnings.