Two big Dow names hit the ball out of the park on first quarter earnings announcements.

Caterpillar announced quarterly earnings, beating analysts' expectations. The Caterpillar posted first quarter earnings of $2.37 a share on revenue of $16.22 billion.

Analysts were looking for the Caterpillar to report earnings excluding items of $2.13 per share on revenue of $16.22 billion, according to a consensus estimates.

The Caterpillar increased its earnings forecast for 2012 to $9.50 a share from $9.25 a share.

Boeing announced quarterly earnings that beating  expectations.  Boeing posted first quarter earnings of  $1.22 a share on revenue of $19.4 billion.

Analysts were looking for Boeing to report earnings excluding items of 94 cents a share on $18.37 billion in revenue.