A record order backlog, the stack of customer orders placed but not yet shipped, reached $72 billion at Caterpillar (CAT) at the end of the second quarter of 2026. That is up 92% from the same quarter in 2025 and $9 billion above the prior quarter. Second-quarter revenues came in at $20.5 billion, up 24% year-over-year and the first time the company has cleared $20 billion in a single quarter.
What the quarter actually showed
Profit per share came in at $7.77, up from $4.62 a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $8.17 per share versus $4.72. Operating profit reached $4.295 billion, pushing the operating margin to 20.9% from 17.3% and the adjusted margin to 21.9% from 17.6%. Operating cash flow for the period was $4.4 billion. The company ended the quarter with $6.7 billion in cash and returned $2.2 billion to shareholders: $1.5 billion in buybacks and $0.7 billion in dividends. Management raised its full-year 2026 sales growth outlook to the mid-to-high teens, citing solid demand. For the full year, analysts expect earnings of $24.95 per share, up from $19.06 in 2025.
Where the $72 billion sits
The backlog spans all three segments: Construction Industries, Power & Energy, and Resource Industries. About 59% is expected to ship within the next 12 months. Power & Energy carries the longest-dated orders, with some customers booking deliveries as far out as 2029 and 2030. CEO Joe Creed cited those order rates and the growing backlog as evidence of broad demand.
Two recent deals show where some of that demand is coming from. PROPWR signed a framework agreement to purchase up to 2.1 gigawatts of Caterpillar generation assets, with the deal locking in at least 1.5 gigawatts of new capacity plus roughly 550 megawatts already on order, targeting about 2.6 gigawatts deployed by 2032, funded through a mix of free cash flow, power segment growth, and flexible financing. Caterpillar also acquired Skycatch, a mining-tech company whose tools capture site data and generate near-real-time digital models of active mine sites.
The stock has gained 50.7% year-to-date and 101.8% over the past 52 weeks, yet it still trades at 35.25 times forward earnings. Forward P/E is the ratio of today's share price to the per-share profit analysts expect over the next year. The broader industrials sector, by the same measure, trades at 21.49 times. Caterpillar pays an annual dividend yield of 0.71% and has raised that dividend for 32 straight years; the most recent quarterly payment of $1.630 per share went out on July 20.
RBC Capital's Seth Weber raised his price target to $897 from $877 while keeping a "Sector Perform" rating. Truist Securities' Jamie Cook maintained a "Buy" and nudged his target to $1,225 from $1,218. Across 23 analysts surveyed, the consensus is "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $996.14, implying 16.24% upside from current levels. Caterpillar's next earnings release is scheduled for November 4.