Caterpillar posted record second-quarter 2026 sales and revenues of $20.5 billion, up 24% from a year earlier, as higher equipment demand helped lift the company to its strongest quarterly top line on record.
Construction Industries sales rose to $8.346 billion, up 35%, with Caterpillar citing higher sales volume, stronger end-user demand and favorable pricing across machines tied to site work, earthmoving, and general building activity.
North America Construction Industries sales climbed 50% to $5.065 billion, while growth in power and heavy construction-related segments pointed to continued demand from contractors, infrastructure work, and large industrial projects.
Caterpillar says demand from equipment buyers helped drive the strongest quarterly revenue in the company’s history, a signal that construction and heavy project work remained active across key markets in the second quarter. According to Caterpillar’s second-quarter 2026 earnings release, the company reported $20.5 billion in sales and revenues for the quarter, up 24% from $16.6 billion a year earlier.
Caterpillar’s Construction Industries segment, which includes many of the machines tied closely to site preparation, earthmoving and general building activity, posted $8.346 billion in second-quarter sales. That figure was up 35% from the same period in 2025.
Caterpillar said the increase was driven mainly by higher sales volume and favorable pricing, with stronger sales to equipment end users playing the biggest role.
"This is the first time in company history that we have generated over $20 billion in sales and revenues in a single quarter,” its Chairman and CEO Joe Creed said in a statement.
North America stood out. Construction Industries sales in the region climbed to $5.065 billion, up 50% year over year. Caterpillar said that increase reflected higher sales volume, favorable price realization and changes in dealer inventories.
That points to a market where fleets are still being refreshed and machines are still moving into active jobs, even as buyers remain focused on timing, availability, and cost.
Caterpillar's news comes as ConstructConnect reported last week that Total Nonresidential Construction Starts — the sum of Nonresidential Building and Civil Construction — reached $100.3 billion in June, up $24.8 billion from May.
The month’s gains, ConstructConnect Chief Economist Michael Guckes stated, "were sharply concentrated rather than broad-based, with Offices, including Data Centers, surging $14.5 billion to $23.5 billion."
The gains were not limited to building-site equipment. Caterpillar also reported higher results in Resource Industries, where mining, heavy construction, quarry and aggregates activity supported stronger sales. That matters for contractors tied to roadbuilding, site development and materials supply, where quarry output and heavy equipment demand often move together.
Another notable theme was power. Caterpillar’s Power & Energy segment grew 17% to $8.238 billion, helped in part by sales in large reciprocating engines and turbine-related services for data center applications. That suggests major project categories beyond traditional vertical construction are helping support equipment demand.
Caterpillar added that strong order rates and a growing backlog are showing broader momentum across the company’s three main business segments.
Caterpillar is a leading global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives.
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