The Quarter in Brief
Caterpillar reported its third quarter of 2026, the three months to September 30, before the market opened on October 29. Sales and revenues were $20.7 billion, up 17% from $17.6 billion a year earlier, with all three of its main equipment businesses growing by 15% or more. Reported profit per share was $7.13, against $4.88. Adjusted profit per share, the company's measure that leaves out restructuring costs, was $7.20, up 45% from $4.95.
Analysts had expected adjusted profit of a little over $7.00 a share and sales and revenues of about $20.5 billion, according to consensus figures published by news outlets on the day, so both came in ahead. What set the quarter apart was the source of the growth and what lies behind it: sales of Power Generation equipment, mainly turbines and large engines for data centres, rose 30%, and the company said its order backlog reached a record $78 billion, about twice its size a year earlier.