Caterpillar
CATMarket price data through November 12, 2026.
Performance
Nov 2021 – Nov 2026
Track record
How this pick has done since Benson first called it.
- Benson Return
- -24%
- How much this stock is up since Benson first picked it — measured from the price at the time of that first pick, not from today.
- First pick price
- ~$800
- Roughly what one share cost when Benson first picked this stock. This is the starting line for the Benson Return.
- Tracking since
- April 2026
- The month this stock first became a Benson pick.
- Tracking duration
- 6 months
- How long Benson has been tracking this pick.
About Caterpillar
Caterpillar is the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, the yellow bulldozers and excavators you see on job sites everywhere. It also has a booming second act: its giant engines and turbines power AI data centers that cannot pull enough electricity from the grid. Think of it as selling the picks and shovels for both the building boom and the AI boom.
The case for and against
Both sides of the story, in plain English.
- Profits Outrun Sales
Sales rose 17 percent to 20.7 billion dollars, but profit from the core business jumped 38 percent to 4.2 billion dollars. Profit per share hit 7 dollars and 13 cents, up from 4 dollars and 88 cents a year ago. Caterpillar now keeps about 20 cents of every sales dollar as profit, up from about 17 cents.
- AI Power Play
AI data centers need huge amounts of on-site power, and Caterpillar's turbines and big engines are a go-to fix. Power generation sales grew 30 percent to 3.4 billion dollars, mostly from data centers. Profit in the whole power and energy business rose 31 percent to 2.1 billion dollars.
- Cycle Risk
Heavy machinery is a boom and bust business, and right now North America is carrying the load. Sales there rose 24 percent to about 12 billion dollars, more than half the total, while Asia Pacific slipped 2 percent. If US building or data center spending cools, growth could fade quickly.
- Tariff Tailwind
Profit this quarter included 128 million dollars of tariff refunds, which is money coming back from import taxes the company paid earlier. That is a nice boost, but it is not money the company earns every quarter. Trade rules keep shifting and could raise costs again.
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How to read this page
This automated research summary uses Financial Modeling Prep market data through 2026-11-12. Model signals, scores, and risk labels can change and may be incomplete or wrong.
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