Caterpillar Inc. · CAT · FY2024 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2024

Caterpillar Raises Profit Outlook Despite Lower Revenue

Caterpillar’s Q2 analysis supports a constructive operating thesis: resilient Energy & Transportation demand, services growth and pricing helped offset lower revenue, while raised profit guidance indicates earnings durability. The main test is whether those supports persist as construction demand, dealer inventories and price-versus-cost trends remain uneven.

Reported Before market openNYSEIndustrials $315.80B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $5.99 Consensus $5.54
EPS surprise +8.1% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $16.69B Consensus $16.91B
Revenue surprise -1.3% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +3.0% Event window
SPY move +0.9% Same window
Abnormal move +2.1% Stock minus SPY
Volume 1.7× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +3.2% Up to 20 sessions
CATSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Compared with the prior quarter’s maintained outlook, management raised full-year profit and margin guidance. Revenue was lower year over year, while margin, adjusted EPS, free cash flow and backlog improved to the levels described in the current analysis; Energy & Transportation and services remained key supports.

Guidance delta

Management raised full-year adjusted profit and margin guidance above the top of the target range; free-cash-flow guidance remained in the top half of its target range.

Key takeaways

  • Revenue declined year over year, but operating margin and adjusted EPS reached quarterly records.
  • Energy & Transportation strength, services growth and higher rebuild activity supported the quarter.
  • Management highlighted battery-electric trucks, hydrogen-capable generators and solar turbines as ongoing growth initiatives.

Management priorities

  • Expand large-engine and solar-turbine capacity over multiple years
  • Grow services revenue toward the 2026 target
  • Develop lower-carbon offerings, including electric trucks and hydrogen-capable generators

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
CAT EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 3 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $4.75 Q4 '23 actual $5.23, beat Q1 '24 estimate $5.14 Q1 '24 actual $5.60, beat Q2 '24 estimate $5.54 Q2 '24 actual $5.99, beat Q3 '24 estimate $5.34 Q3 '24 actual $5.17, miss Q2 '25 estimate $4.89 Q2 '25 actual $4.72, miss Q3 '25 estimate $4.53 Q3 '25 actual $4.95, beat Q4 '25 estimate $4.71 Q4 '25 actual $5.16, beat Q1 '26 estimate $4.65 Q1 '26 actual $5.54, beat Q2 '26 estimate $6.22 Q2 '26 actual $8.17, beat Q3 '26 estimate $7.04 Q4 '26 estimate $6.71 Q1 '27 estimate $6.24
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusHold57 ratings
Bullish3154.4%
Neutral2238.6%
Bearish47.0%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$687Current
$164Low
$622.17Average
$1,165High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 25, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Oppenheimer Outperform OutperformMaintainOct 14, 2026
Citigroup Buy BuyMaintainOct 12, 2026
Truist Securities Buy BuyMaintainOct 5, 2026
Freedom Broker Buy HoldUpgradeSep 10, 2026
Evercore ISI Group Outperform OutperformMaintainAug 11, 2026
Show 52 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $687. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
BernsteinChad Dillard$749$762.17 +9.0%Oct 14, 2026
Truist FinancialJamie Cook$1,100$838.47 +60.1%Oct 5, 2026
NeedhamAnalyst unavailable$980$815.56 +42.6%Sep 10, 2026
D.A. DavidsonAnalyst unavailable$882$870.11 +28.4%Aug 6, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$900$871.08 +31.0%Aug 6, 2026
See 110 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Caterpillar Inc., a global enterprise founded in 1925 and headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois (having previously operated as Caterpillar Tractor Co. until its rebranding in 1986), is a premier manufacturer and vendor of heavy construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas power units, and industrial gas turbines across the world. The company's extensive offerings are organized into several operational divisions: Construction Industries: This segment delivers a broad spectrum of machinery for construction projects, including asphalt pavers, versatile backhoe and skid steer loaders, various sizes of excavators (from compact to heavy-duty), compactors, road-building equipment like cold planers and motorgraders, pipelayers, site preparation tractors, telehandlers, and utility vehicles, alongside a range of wheel loaders and track-type equipment.…

Historical context

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2024-10-17T05:10:49.140638+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-25T13:30:42.895058+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-25T13:30:42.892303+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-10-25. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.