US construction and mining equipment major Caterpillar grew its sales backlog by US$9 billion to $72 billion in a June quarter in which it passed $20 billion of sales for the first time in its 100-year history.
CEO Joe Creed told analysts the order book was up a whopping 92%, or circa-$35 billion, compared with the same time last year with its power and energy, construction and resources segments all contributing to the result. “Strong order rates and a growing backlog reflect broadening momentum across our business,” he said.
Power and energy revenues were up 17% year-on-year at $8.238 billion in Q2 2026, construction sales were up a hefty 35% yoy at $8.346 billion and mining-dominated resources climbed 20% yoy to $4.648 billion.
Creed said resources and construction segment revenues were above expectations.
Higher sales volume and pricing drove resources revenues.
“We’re seeing continued positive momentum in resource industries with robust order rates and strong backlog growth,” Creed said.
“For 2026 [full-year] sales to users are expected to increase, primarily driven by rising demand for copper and gold and positive dynamics in heavy construction and in quarry and aggregates. Most key commodities remain above investment thresholds.
“Customer product utilisation is high and the age of the fleet remains elevated. While some commodity prices have increased recently customers remain focused on the long term.
“We now expect rebuild activity to increase moderately compared to last year.”
CFO Kyle Epley said: “In resource industries we also expect strong sales growth in the third quarter versus the prior year, primarily due to higher sales to users and services growth. We also anticipate favourable price realisation but to a lesser extent than the second quarter.”
