Caterpillar Inc., best known for its bulldozers and mining trucks, is seeing major growth from its power generation business as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure accelerates, according to Bill McColl of Investopedia. The company reported a 31% surge in generator and turbine sales last quarter.
Caterpillar’s Energy & Transportation unit — once a smaller part of the company — now accounts for about 40% of total revenue, fueled by global data center expansion. The trend reflects how the AI boom is benefiting traditional industrial firms, not just tech giants like Nvidia. Analysts expect Caterpillar’s energy-related revenue to potentially double or triple in the coming years. McColl writes:
Caterpillar (CAT) shares skyrocketed to an all-time high when the big farm and construction machines maker easily beat profit and sales expectations, with strong demand for data center power-generation equipment more than offsetting tariff headwinds. […]
All three of Caterpillar’s business segments posted quarterly gains, but a key driver of its future growth may be an unexpected one for the construction equipment maker: AI data centers’ demand for electricity. That helps explain why Caterpillar stock is one of the year’s top performers.
All three of Caterpillar’s segments posted gains, but the Energy and Transportation unit was the big story, with sales jumping 17% to $8.4 billion. Within the energy segment, power generation sales surged 31%, easily outpacing other applications. Sales rose 7% to $6.76 billion in Caterpillar’s Construction Industries segment, and increased 2% to $3.11 billion in Resource Industries. […]
Shares of Caterpillar were up 12% in midday trading on Wednesday and are up more than 60% in 2025.
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