Caterpillar Posts 22.5-Percent First Quarter Revenue Hike
Caterpillar posted a strong first quarter with sales and revenues of $17.4 billion compared to $14.2 billion in the first quarter of 2025, a 22.5 percent increase. The increase was primarily the result of higher sales volume of $2.3 billion and favorable price realization of $426 million.
Operating profit margin was 17.7 percent for the first quarter of 2026, compared with 18.1 percent for the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted operating profit margin was 18 percent for the first quarter of 2026, compared with 18l.3 percent for the irst quarter of 2025.
“Our team delivered a strong start to the year, driven by resilient end markets and disciplined execution in a dynamic operating environment,” said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Joe Creed. “Solid sales and revenues growth, combined with robust order activity, demonstrate the strength of our business and our focus on solving our customers’ toughest challenges. A record backlog provides a strong foundation for continued positive momentum.”
The Power & Energy division posted $5.783 billion in revenue, a 22-percent year-over-year increase. The Construction Industries division reported $5.184 billion in revenue for a 38-percent year-over-year jump. The Resource Industries division realized $3.661 billion in revenue, a 4-percent increase.
Sales and revenues in North America jumped 32 percent, particularly strong in Construction Industries at 48 percent. Latin America sales and revenues increased 5 percent; EAME 20 percent; and Asia/Pacific 4 percent.
In the Power & Energy division, power generation jumped 41 percent. Sales increased in large reciprocating engines and in turbines and turbine-related services, primarily data center applications. Oil & Gas enjoyed a 13 percent increase, with sales increasing in reciprocating engines used in gas compression applications. Sales also increased in turbines and turbine-related services. The Industrial sector increased 5 percent, primarily in EAME and Asia/Pacific.
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.