Caterpillar Q1 2026 earnings: revenue up 22% as power and construction demand surge, outlook raised
Caterpillar's Q1 2026 sales jumped 22% to $17.4 billion on strong demand for power generation and construction equipment, with profit per share rising to $5.47 and the company raising its full-year outlook.
| Q1 2026 | Reported |
|---|---|
| EPS | $5.47 |
| Revenue | $17.41B |
Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.
Key takeaways
- Sales and revenue reached $17.4 billion, up 22% from $14.2 billion a year earlier. The company said the gain came mainly from higher sales volume (about $2.3 billion) and better pricing (about $426 million).
- Earnings per share rose to $5.47 from $4.20 in the same quarter last year; on an adjusted basis (excluding one-time items) the company reported $5.54 per share, up from $4.25.
- Power & Energy was the standout segment, with sales up 22% to $7 billion — power generation alone jumped 48% as data centers kept buying large generators and turbines for backup and on-site power.
- Construction Industries sales grew 38% to $7.2 billion, though about $1.5 billion of that came from dealers restocking inventory ahead of the season rather than end-user demand alone.
- Operating profit margin for the quarter was 17.7%, slightly below the 18.1% posted a year ago, meaning Caterpillar kept a similar share of each sales dollar as profit even as costs and investment spending rose alongside revenue.
- Looking at the trailing twelve months, gross margin was about 35% and net profit margin about 14.5%, with return on equity near 54% — figures that reflect a business converting a large share of sales into profit and generating strong returns on shareholders’ equity.
- The company generated $1.9 billion in operating cash flow during the quarter and returned $5.7 billion to shareholders through $5.0 billion of stock buybacks and $0.7 billion of dividends.
- Caterpillar raised its full-year 2026 outlook, now expecting sales and revenue growth in the low double digits and a higher adjusted operating margin than it had projected in January — though management said margin would still land near the low end of its target range due to tariffs and ongoing investment spending.
- Chairman and CEO Joe Creed said the quarter showed “resilient end markets and disciplined execution,” pointing to a record order backlog as a foundation for continued momentum.
- Caterpillar’s stock rose sharply — nearly 10% — in the trading session following the report, according to market coverage of the results.
Q1 2026 in context
| Metric | Mar 2026 | Mar 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $17.4B | $14.2B | +22.2% |
| Net income | $2.5B | $2.0B | +27.3% |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $579M | +97.2% |
| Diluted EPS | $5.47 | $4.20 | +30.2% |
| Gross margin | 35.1% | 99.8% | -64.7 pts |
| Operating margin | 17.7% | 18.1% | -0.4 pts |
| Net margin | 14.6% | 14.1% | +0.6 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Mar 2026 and the quarter ended Mar 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
Caterpillar Inc closed at $904.59 on May 5, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $895.69 on May 7, 2026, the first session after it — -1.0% across the report.
| Earlier report | Close before | Close after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 2026 | $719.04 | $695.40 | -3.3% |
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Sources: company report · earnings call · Investing.com