Caterpillar Profit Tops Estimates as AI Boosts Power Sales

Caterpillar Inc. reported second-quarter earnings of $8.17 per share excluding one-time items, beating the $6.17 average analyst estimate, as sales rose to $20.5 billion, exceeding the $19 billion forecast. The company's power-generation business, which supplies diesel engines and industrial gas turbines for data centers, drove the growth, and shares jumped more than 8% in premarket trading. CEO Joe Creed cited strong order rates and a growing backlog across all three primary segments.

Bloomberg -- Caterpillar Inc. posted second-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations as the company's power-generation business continued to post strong growth off the back of data center spending. Most Read from Bloomberg - Apple's New CEO Taps Retired Hardware Executive for Management Team https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-03/apple-s-new-ceo-taps-retired-hardware-executive-for-management-team?utm campaign=bn&utm medium=distro&utm source=yahooUS - Mamdani Dismisses Business Leaders Advising NYC's Mayor's Fund https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-03/mamdani-dismisses-business-leaders-advising-nyc-s-mayor-s-fund?utm campaign=bn&utm medium=distro&utm source=yahooUS - S&P 500 Closes Near Record High on US-Iran Hopes: Markets Wrap https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-02/oil-slumps-us-futures-rise-on-iran-talks-optimism-markets-wrap?utm campaign=bn&utm medium=distro&utm source=yahooUS Earnings excluding one-time items of $8.17 per share, compared with $4.72 a year earlier, it said in a statement, the US company said in a statement Tuesday. That compared with the $6.17 average of analysts' estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose to $20.5 billion, exceeding the $19 billion average estimate. Shares of Caterpillar jumped more than 8% before the start of regular trading in New York. "Strong order rates and a growing backlog reflect broadening momentum across all three of our primary segments," Chief Executive Joe Creed said in the statement. Caterpillar's power and energy unit, which makes diesel engines and industrial gas turbines, has become the company's largest and fastest-growing segment in recent years, overtaking its better known business that manufactures diggers and other construction machinery. That growth has caught the eye of investors, who have made Caterpillar part of the broader AI trade along with other electrical equipment-manufacturers such as Vertiv Holdings Co. and GE Vernova Inc. The earnings beat comes despite a recent selloff in AI-adjacent stocks amid concerns about AI capital spending. Caterpillar and other manufactures of power equipment for data center, such as Vertiv Holdings Co. and GE Vernova Inc., have seen their stock prices decline in recent weeks. Updates with revenue in second paragraph. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.