Irving, Texas, April 30, 2026, 07:01 CDT
- Caterpillar’s adjusted profit came in at $5.54 a share, topping the $4.63 analyst consensus from Bloomberg. Sales and revenue climbed 22%, reaching $17.4 billion.
- Sales in power generation surged 41%, Caterpillar said, attributing most of that increase to demand from data-center projects.
- The company is projecting low double-digit gains for both sales and revenue in 2026. For this year, though, it anticipates $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion in tariff expenses.
Caterpillar Inc. topped Wall Street’s profit forecasts on Thursday, boosted by robust orders for power-generation gear—especially the kind powering artificial-intelligence data centers, those big facilities hungry for constant, reliable electricity and backup support.
The result is grabbing attention as AI expansion shifts from chips and servers to traditional industrial gear. Caterpillar’s Power & Energy unit delivered $7.03 billion in sales, a 22% jump. Power-generation revenue climbed 41% to $2.82 billion, with most of that growth linked to data-center demand.
Investors also picked up signals from the broader industrial landscape. Caterpillar — a frequent proxy for the world’s industrial momentum — posted gains in all three core divisions: Construction Industries climbed 38%, Resource Industries added 4%.
Adjusted earnings per share, stripping out restructuring charges, climbed to $5.54—up from $4.25 a year ago. On a GAAP basis, per-share profit landed at $5.47. Operating margin edged down, slipping to 17.7% compared to 18.1% last year.
Chairman and CEO Joe Creed described it as a “strong start to the year,” highlighting Caterpillar’s record backlog as a sign of continued demand. The company pulled in $1.9 billion in enterprise operating cash flow and handed back $5.7 billion to shareholders via buybacks and dividends during the quarter. Caterpillar Investors
Caterpillar’s backlog stood at $62.7 billion at the end of the first quarter—an unusually high number for the company. That’s $11.5 billion higher than the previous quarter, and up $27.7 billion versus a year ago, according to a company slide deck.
Construction played a major part, too. Caterpillar reported segment sales climbed to $7.16 billion, citing stronger dealer inventories and improved pricing. Sales in North American construction jumped 48%.
But costs are still making the difference. Caterpillar pointed to a jump in manufacturing expenses—mostly due to tariffs—as a drag on Power & Energy, Construction Industries, and Resource Industries. Profit at Resource Industries dropped 39%. Looking ahead, Caterpillar figures second-quarter tariff costs will hit about $700 million, with the tally for the year running from $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion. Price hikes and working through the backlog will have to pick up the slack.
CAT jumped close to 5% before the bell after earnings, according to Reuters. U.S. markets were still closed at the time of the report.
Caterpillar isn’t the only power-equipment stock seeing a bump from the data-center surge. Generac, which competes in backup power, boosted its annual sales outlook Wednesday after reporting a better-than-expected first quarter, pointing to swelling demand and a bigger order backlog from data-center clients.
Deal flow picked up: ProPetro’s PROPWR unit on Wednesday announced a framework deal with Caterpillar, aiming to purchase up to 2.1 gigawatts of power-generation assets. That’s 2,100 megawatts, enough for a hefty lineup of data-center, oil-and-gas, and industrial clients. Tara Rossman, Caterpillar’s senior vice president for Oil & Gas and Marine, called out the focus on “reliable, scalable solutions.” ProPetro Holding Corp.
Caterpillar is projecting low double-digit sales and revenue growth for 2026, along with a rise in Machinery, Power & Energy free cash flow compared to 2025. The company also sees its full-year adjusted operating margin exceeding earlier forecasts. Still, the wildcard: will tariffs cut so deep into margins that they blunt the data-center lift?
