Caterpillar Inc. · CAT · FY2024 Q4 · Calendar Q1 2025

Caterpillar pairs softer sales outlook with data-center capacity plans

Caterpillar's demand and services initiatives provide support, but the lowered sales outlook and execution risks make the near-term growth case mixed.

Reported Before market openNYSEIndustrials $335.91B market cap
70quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS — Consensus $5.06
EPS surprise — Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue — Consensus $16.48B
Revenue surprise — Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move -4.6% Event window
SPY move +0.5% Same window
Abnormal move -5.2% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.0× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -8.3% Up to 20 sessions
CATSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

The outlook shifted toward slightly lower 2025 sales, while management emphasized capacity expansion for large engines, the Titan 350 launch, and AI-enabled service tools as longer-term growth initiatives.

Guidance delta

Management lowered its outlook for 2025 sales, while expecting margins and free cash flow in the top half of target ranges.

Key takeaways

  • Management highlighted resilient services, power-generation demand, and a strong backlog as supports.
  • Large-engine capacity expansion and the Titan 350 launch are intended to address data-center demand.
  • The central tension is between growth investment and risks from weaker construction, inventory absorption, and sourcing costs.

Management priorities

  • Expand large-engine production capacity
  • Scale the Titan 350 solar turbine
  • Invest in digital and AI-enabled service tools

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
CAT REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 3 future estimate-only quarters. Q1 '24 estimate $16B Q1 '24 actual $16B, miss Q2 '24 estimate $17B Q2 '24 actual $17B, miss Q3 '24 estimate $16B Q3 '24 actual $16B, miss Q2 '25 estimate $16B Q2 '25 actual $17B, beat Q3 '25 estimate $17B Q3 '25 actual $18B, beat Q4 '25 estimate $18B Q4 '25 actual $19B, beat Q1 '26 estimate $17B Q1 '26 actual $17B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $19B Q2 '26 actual $21B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $21B Q4 '26 estimate $21B Q1 '27 estimate $19B
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Analyst Consensus ?

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

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$730.76Current
$164Low
$622.17Average
$1,165High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 17, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

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

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Citigroup Buy BuyMaintainOct 12, 2026
Truist Securities Buy BuyMaintainOct 5, 2026
Freedom Broker Buy HoldUpgradeSep 10, 2026
Evercore ISI Group Outperform OutperformMaintainAug 11, 2026
DA Davidson Neutral NeutralMaintainAug 6, 2026
Show 52 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $730.76. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
BernsteinChad Dillard$749$762.17 +2.5%Oct 14, 2026
Truist FinancialJamie Cook$1,100$838.47 +50.5%Oct 5, 2026
NeedhamAnalyst unavailable$980$815.56 +34.1%Sep 10, 2026
D.A. DavidsonAnalyst unavailable$882$870.11 +20.7%Aug 6, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$900$871.08 +23.2%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

All CAT earnings

Industrials peers this season

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JBHT J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 +0.6% -2.0% J.B. Hunt: Strong demand, but margin repair remains central
FAST Fastenal Company FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 +3.3% +1.1% Fastenal Q3: Share Gains and Digital Adoption Lift Growth

Latest beats and misses

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2025-01-17T13:49:13.789875+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-17T13:00:41.772405+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-17T13:00:41.769599+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 2026-10-17. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.