Caterpillar Q3 Results: Record $20.7B Sales, $78B Backlog on Data Center Power

Caterpillar Q3 results for 2026 set a company record: sales and revenues reached $20.7 billion in the third quarter, up 17% from a year earlier, and the order backlog climbed to $78 billion, nearly double last year, as data center power demand drove growth (Construction Dive; GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Caterpillar reported the results on October 29, 2026. Chief Executive Joseph Creed called it the company’s highest sales quarter ever, and Chief Financial Officer Kyle Epley said order rates remain strong and the backlog keeps growing (Construction Dive). For builders and owners, the numbers are a read on two things at once: how much heavy equipment contractors are buying, and how quickly the power equipment behind data centers can be delivered.

What Happened

• Sales and revenues: $20.7 billion, up 17% year over year (Construction Dive).
• Profit: $3.3 billion, up 43% (Construction Dive). Adjusted profit per share was $7.20, up 45% (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).
• Backlog: $78 billion, up 96% from a year earlier, with sequential growth for four straight quarters across all three segments (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance; Construction Dive).
• Tariffs: about $600 million in third quarter tariff costs, excluding refunds tied to IEEPA tariffs, and about $2.2 billion expected for full year 2026 (Construction Dive; GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Caterpillar Q3 Results by Segment

Power and Energy

Power and Energy sales were $8.8 billion, up 18%, and segment profit was $2.1 billion, up 31% (Construction Dive). Power generation sales rose 30% on the strength of data center customers, according to Construction Dive, while GuruFocus reported that power generation sales to users rose 75% (Construction Dive; GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance). The two figures measure different things, so readers should not treat them as interchangeable.

Caterpillar is adding production capacity for large reciprocating engines and turbines (Construction Dive). Orders for large reciprocating engines now stretch into 2029 and turbine orders into 2030, according to the earnings call summary, a sign of how tight supply has become (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Construction Industries

Construction Industries, the segment that sells excavators, loaders and other machines to contractors, posted sales of nearly $8 billion, up 18%, and profit of $1.8 billion, up 33% (Construction Dive). Sales to users rose 20%, the seventh straight quarter of year over year growth (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance). North America accounted for more than half of the segment’s external sales, and Caterpillar plans a $1 billion facility in Sanford, North Carolina, announced last month (Construction Dive). WCG covered that plant announcement at the time (Caterpillar, Ultium, Genentech and Avio Commit $3.25 Billion to New U.S. Plants).

The company expects a larger than usual seasonal reduction in dealer inventory to cut about $1 billion from Construction Industries sales volume in the fourth quarter (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Resource Industries

Resource Industries, which serves mining and rail, had sales of $4.6 billion, up 15%, and profit of $622 million, up 14% (Construction Dive). The segment missed expectations because of mining shipment and commissioning delays and fewer locomotive deliveries (Construction Dive; GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Tariffs and Margins

Construction Industries carried about half of the third quarter tariff cost, with Power and Energy and Resource Industries at about a quarter each. The $600 million quarterly cost matched last year’s level and was $200 million below the fourth quarter of 2025 (Construction Dive). Adjusted operating margin, excluding IEEPA tariff recoveries, was near the bottom of the company’s target range because of strategic investments, tariffs and higher freight costs, and management said it aims to move back toward the midpoint over the next couple of years (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Where Things Stand

For the fourth quarter, Caterpillar expects moderate year over year sales growth and higher operating margins, and for the full year it expects sales growth in the mid to high teens compared with 2025 (Construction Dive). About 58% of the backlog is expected to ship within 12 months, compared with 59% last quarter, and the book to bill ratio fell from 1.7 to 1.3 (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance). On the call, management did not say what share of orders came from hyperscale data center customers, and it described mining orders, especially for copper and gold, as having been at their highest level since 2012 at the start of the year (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Implications for Owners, Developers, Contractors and Subs

• Generator and turbine lead times are long. With large engine orders reaching into 2029 and turbines into 2030, owners of data centers, hospitals, plants and other facilities that need standby or prime power should lock in equipment early and build realistic delivery dates into schedules (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).
• Equipment demand is still strong. Seven straight quarters of growth in construction equipment sales to users point to steady fleet investment by contractors (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).
• Tariffs are a real cost line. A manufacturer expecting about $2.2 billion in 2026 tariff costs shows how trade policy flows into equipment prices and, eventually, into bids (Construction Dive). WCG has tracked how tariffs reach construction budgets in earlier coverage (Tariff-Driven Materials Costs Squeeze Construction Budgets Heading into Summer 2026).
• Data centers keep pulling resources. The same data center wave lifting Caterpillar’s power business is also absorbing skilled labor and materials across the industry (Data Center Construction Starts Fall to $9.4B in September as Costs Climb 31%).

What to Watch

• Whether the expected $1 billion dealer inventory reduction softens fourth quarter construction equipment sales (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).
• Progress on Caterpillar’s capacity additions for reciprocating engines and turbines (Construction Dive).
• Full year tariff costs against the roughly $2.2 billion estimate (Construction Dive).

Bottom Line

Caterpillar’s third quarter of 2026 produced record sales of $20.7 billion and a $78 billion backlog, powered by data center demand for generators and turbines and steady contractor equipment purchases. For the construction market, the takeaway is long lead times on power equipment and tariff costs that continue to work their way into equipment pricing (Construction Dive; GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Key Questions

What were Caterpillar’s Q3 2026 results?

Caterpillar reported third quarter 2026 sales and revenues of $20.7 billion, up 17%, and profit of $3.3 billion, up 43% (Construction Dive).

How big is Caterpillar’s backlog?

Caterpillar’s order backlog reached $78 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2026, nearly double a year earlier (Construction Dive).

How much are tariffs costing Caterpillar in 2026?

Caterpillar had about $600 million in tariff costs in the third quarter of 2026 and expects about $2.2 billion for the full year, excluding IEEPA refunds (Construction Dive).

How long are Caterpillar engine and turbine lead times?

Caterpillar’s large reciprocating engine orders extend into 2029 and turbine orders into 2030, according to the third quarter 2026 earnings call (GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance).

Related Coverage

• Caterpillar, Ultium, Genentech and Avio Commit $3.25 Billion to New U.S. Plants
• Data Center Construction Starts Fall to $9.4B in September as Costs Climb 31%
• Tariff-Driven Materials Costs Squeeze Construction Budgets Heading into Summer 2026
• Contractor Backlog Rises to 8.7 Months in September as Data Centers Lead

Image credit: Unsplash photographer @jiorjegfirjg (Unsplash License).

Sources

• Construction Dive, Caterpillar posts ‘highest sales quarter ever,’ fueled by data centers, https://www.constructiondive.com/news/caterpillar-posts-highest-sales-quarter-ever-data-centers-q3-2026/873294/
• GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance, Caterpillar Inc (CAT) (Q3 2026) Earnings Call Highlights, https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/caterpillar-inc-cat-q3-2026-211113988.html