New York, February 16, 2026, 13:25 EST — Market closed.
- Caterpillar shares finished Friday at $774.20, gaining 2.1%.
- U.S. stock markets will stay shut Monday for Presidents Day. Trading picks back up on Tuesday.
- On Wednesday, investors have their eyes on remarks from Caterpillar’s CFO, as well as the latest Fed meeting minutes.
Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) finished Friday at $774.20, rising 2.1%. The stock traded as high as $784.00 during the session and hovered near its 12-month peak of $789.81.
Caterpillar shares get their next test Tuesday. The stock’s hovering close to its highs, so even ordinary news could jolt it—either way—during this trimmed-down holiday week.
Caterpillar’s become a kind of bellwether for rates and growth among industrials. Those familiar themes are back on the trading desks—financing costs, major project budgets, and just how much the company’s power division can capitalize on the ongoing surge in data-center demand.
U.S. stock trading comes to a halt on Monday, with both the NYSE and Nasdaq shuttered for Presidents Day. Markets will resume on Tuesday.
Friday’s lighter U.S. inflation reading rattled rate-cut expectations and sent Treasury yields sliding, a move that’s typically good news for cyclical stocks.
Midweek, Caterpillar will see CFO Andrew Bonfield featured in a fireside chat at the Barclays Industrial Select Conference, happening in Miami. The session is scheduled for Feb. 18 at roughly 10:25 a.m. EST, and the company plans to webcast the event.
Group president Jason Kaiser unloaded 1,690 shares of Caterpillar on Feb. 12, pulling in $776.70 apiece, according to a regulatory filing. The trade was executed through a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which sets a predetermined schedule for executive sales.
The SEC’s filing index shows Caterpillar submitted its annual Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, on Feb. 13.
Caterpillar’s most recent comprehensive update landed in late January, as the company unveiled quarterly sales hitting a record $19.1 billion. CEO Joe Creed, at the time, pointed to a “record backlog” and “strong momentum” heading into the year. Caterpillar Investors
Still, the downside scenario pretty much writes itself. Caterpillar flagged roughly $2.6 billion in tariff costs coming up in 2026, while Jefferies’ Stephen Volkmann pointed to “tariff headwinds” that kept margins in check this quarter. He doesn’t see that pressure letting up anytime soon — in fact, he’s bracing for it to stick around through 2026. Reuters
The rally’s already stretched—Caterpillar shares have surged roughly 119% in the past year, swinging between $267.30 and $789.81 over that span. That doesn’t leave much of a cushion if demand slows or pricing hits a wall.
Trading picks up again on Tuesday, but the real focus is Wednesday. Markets are bracing for U.S. industrial production numbers early, followed by the Fed’s meeting minutes set to land at 14:00 — a full account of the last policy discussion.
