Shares of Waltham, Massachusetts-based Parametric Technology Corp were an active play last week on the news that the company had won a contract from Caterpillar Inc for its Pro/Engineer mechanical design automation software: value of the contract is put at $10m over the next four quarters, which ain’t hay for a company with sales running at about $80m a year, and the shares put on $2.50 to $41.75 as analysts characterised it as a breakthrough order in the wake of a $10m five-year contract from Sandia National Laboratory in July, leading Caterpillar suppliers and other major companies to adopt the software.
