Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) heads into its third-quarter earnings with an order backlog of about $72.1 billion as of June 30, nearly double the $37.5 billion of a year earlier. The machinery maker holds its earnings call at 8:30 a.m. ET on Oct. 29 and expects 2026 sales and revenues to grow in the mid-to-high teens.
Key points
Backlog reached about $72.1 billion on June 30, up 92% from a year earlier.
Second-quarter sales and revenues rose 24% to $20.5 billion, from $16.6 billion.
Profit per share was $7.77 in the second quarter, up from $4.62.
What is Caterpillar's order backlog?
Backlog is the value of orders the company considers firm but has not yet filled. Caterpillar's rose from $28.7 billion at the end of September 2024 to $72.1 billion at the end of June 2026, and about $29.2 billion of the latest total was not expected to be filled within 12 months.
In the second quarter, backlog rose about $9.4 billion from March, with the largest increase in Power & Energy, the unit that sells engines and turbines, according to the company's second-quarter report. Caterpillar tied expected power generation growth to "increasing energy demand to support data center build-out related to cloud computing and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)."
What does Caterpillar expect for the third quarter?
The company said it anticipates "strong sales and revenues growth" from a year earlier, driven by higher sales volume and higher prices in all three of its main segments. It expects tariff costs of about $600 million in the quarter and around $2.2 billion for 2026, excluding expected refunds of struck-down tariffs it recorded in the second quarter.
Third-quarter 2025 sales and revenues were $17.6 billion, with profit per share of $4.88, the company reported a year ago.
Chief Executive Joe Creed called the second quarter "the first time in company history that we have generated over $20 billion in sales and revenues in a single quarter."
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What to watch
Oct. 29, 6:30 a.m. ET: Caterpillar releases third-quarter results.
Oct. 29, 8:30 a.m. ET: Caterpillar's third-quarter earnings call and webcast.
Sources: Caterpillar Inc., Q2 2026 Form 10-Q, Q2 2026 earnings release, Q3 2025 earnings release, order backlog from the Q3 2024 Form 10-Q, 2024 Form 10-K, Q1 2025 Form 10-Q, Q2 2025 Form 10-Q, Q3 2025 Form 10-Q, 2025 Form 10-K and Q1 2026 Form 10-Q; Caterpillar Investor Relations, results date announcement, Oct. 15, 2026, and 3Q 2026 earnings call. Backlog change is a Silvia calc: (72.1 − 37.5) / 37.5.
Silvia News is for information only and is not investment advice.
