Caterpillar Sales Jump 18 Percent in Fourth Quarter 2025
Sales and revenues for Caterpillar in the fourth quarter of 2025 were $19.1 billion, an 18-percent increase compared with $16.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. Operating profit margin was 13.9 percent for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with 18.0 percent for the fourth quarter of 2024. Adjusted operating profit margin was 15.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with 18.3 percent for the fourth quarter of 2024. Fourth-quarter 2025 profit per share was $5.12, compared with $5.78 profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2024. Adjusted profit per share in the fourth quarter of 2025 was $5.16, compared with fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted profit per share of $5.14.
Full-year sales and revenues in 2025 were $67.6 billion, up 4 percent compared with $64.8 billion in 2024. The increase reflected higher sales volume of $3.4 billion, partially offset by unfavorable price realization of $0.8 billion. Higher sales volume was primarily driven by higher sales of equipment to end users. Operating profit margin was 16.5 percent in 2025, compared with 20.2 percent in 2024. Adjusted operating profit margin was 17.2 percent in 2025, compared with 20.7 percent in 2024. Full-year profit was $18.81 per share in 2025, compared with profit of $22.05 per share in 2024. Adjusted profit per share in 2025 was $19.06, compared with adjusted profit per share of $21.90 in 2024.
In 2025 and 2024, adjusted operating profit margin excluded restructuring costs. 2025 and 2024 adjusted profit per share excluded restructuring costs and mark-to-market gains for remeasurement of pension and other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plans. In 2024, adjusted profit per share also excluded a discrete tax benefit for a tax law change related to currency translation.
For the full year 2025, enterprise operating cash flow was $11.7 billion, and the company ended the fourth quarter with $10.0 billion of enterprise cash. During the year, the company deployed $5.2 billion of cash for repurchases of Caterpillar common stock and $2.7 billion of cash for dividends.
“Our centennial year marked a significant milestone, underscored by the highest full-year sales and revenues in Caterpillar’s history and a single-quarter record of $19.1 billion,” said Caterpillar CEO Joe Creed. “These results demonstrate the strength of our end markets and our disciplined execution. With a record backlog, we enter the new year with strong momentum and a continued focus on delivering long-term value for our customers and shareholders.”
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.