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Caterpillar Posts Strong Q1 on Construction and Power Growth
'Caterpillar Is Certainly Benefiting From the AI Buildout'
Caterpillar Inc. posted first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations on strong sales of construction machinery and equipment used to generate electricity for artificial intelligence data centers.
The U.S. manufacturer said April 30 in a statement that per-share profit excluding one-time items was $5.54 in the period, compared with $4.25 a year earlier. The average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was $4.63.
Shares of the company rose as much as 7.2% in pre-market trading in New York.
Caterpillar is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of construction equipment, including bulldozers, excavators and loaders used across infrastructure and commercial projects. More recently it ha seen dramatic growth in its power and energy business, which sells generators, engines and gas turbines used in industrial facilities and large-scale computing centers.
The firm’s energy equipment is being snapped up amid red-hot demand for electricity to power data centers, helping Caterpillar’s shares to more than double in value over the past year.
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“Caterpillar is certainly benefiting from the AI buildout,” said Dec Mullarkey, managing director at SLC Management. “And given there is no letup in related capex, which has been confirmed in this earning season, Caterpillar will continued to be an essential player in all that.”
The company reported a record order backlog across its businesses, while attributing the boost in construction sales in part to dealers stocking up on equipment. First-quarter sales of its signature yellow construction machinery jumped 38%, topping estimates. Revenue from the company’s machinery, power and energy unit increased 23% to $16.4 billion.
The firm also warned that higher tariff costs have weighed on manufacturing expenses across all its units. For the full year, it expects to spend between $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion on tariff-related costs.
