Infrastructure · 30 October 2026 · 4 min read

Caterpillar’s power-generation sales rose 30 percent. The release does not say a plant is on

In the quarter reported on 29 October, Power Generation sales were $3.421 billion, against $2.634 billion a year earlier. Caterpillar says the increase was mainly turbines, turbine services and large reciprocating engines, primarily in data-centre applications. The Power & Energy segment was $8.784 billion, up 18 percent. Joe Creed called the backlog a record. The release does not give its size.

Two people in a dark training room sit in equipment simulators, each holding a control stick, with screens in front of them. — Caterpillar’s photograph of operators in training simulators. Not a turbine, and not a data centre.

Caterpillar’s third-quarter release, dated 29 October, puts company sales and revenues at $20.7 billion, up 17 percent from $17.6 billion. Profit per share was $7.13, or $7.20 on the company’s adjusted figure, against $4.88 a year earlier. Those are the group numbers. The line that meets a data centre is narrower, and it sits inside Power & Energy.

Power & Energy sales were $8.784 billion, up $1.321 billion, or 18 percent, from $7.463 billion. Of that, Power Generation was $3.421 billion, against $2.634 billion, a rise of $787 million, or 30 percent. Oil and gas was $2.236 billion, up 13 percent. Industrial was $1.631 billion, up 4 percent. The release says Power Generation sales increased mainly in turbines and turbine-related services and in large reciprocating engines, primarily in data-centre applications. “Primarily” is the company’s word. It is not a split between data centres and everyone else, and it is not a count of machines shipped.

The profit on the segment moved with the volume. Segment profit was $2.143 billion, up $510 million, or 31 percent, and the margin was 24.4 percent against 21.9 percent. The release says the increase was mainly the profit impact of higher sales volume, with favourable price realisation of $216 million inside the segment’s sales bridge. A higher price on a generator is revenue. It is not evidence that the generator has been installed, fuelled and connected.

Joe Creed, the chairman and chief executive, said the quarter reflected the durability of Caterpillar’s end markets, with strong order rates and a record backlog. The release does not print the backlog in dollars, and it does not say how much of it is data-centre equipment rather than trucks or mining machines. The large gas turbines from the bigger makers were already booked through 2029. Caterpillar’s quarter is a different set of machines, and a sale in the quarter is a machine that has been sold. It is not a megawatt on a meter.