Caterpillar Inc
Q1 2025 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +6.88%.
Did CAT Beat Earnings? Q1 2025 Results
Caterpillar delivered a disappointing start to 2025, missing on both the top and bottom lines as a sharp pullback in dealer inventory rebuilding weighed heavily on shipments. The industrial giant posted adjusted EPS of $4.25 for Q1 2025, falling 2.31% short of the $4.35 consensus estimate, while revenue slid 9.8% year-over-year to $14.25 billion, trailing analyst expectations of $14.58 billion by 2.28%. The central culprit was dealer inventory dynamics: dealers added just $100 million to their stocks during the quarter versus a $1.40 billion build in Q1 2024, creating a substantial drag on volumes that cascaded through results. Construction Industries bore the sharpest pain, with sales tumbling 19% to $5.18 billion as unfavorable price realization compounded the volume shortfall. Operating profit margin contracted to 18.1% from 22.3% a year ago. Looking ahead, the company faces an additional headwind, with tariff exposure expected to dent second-quarter sales by as much as $350 million, complicating the outlook under newly appointed CEO Joe Creed.
- Lower sales volume of $1.1 billion mainly driven by changes in dealer inventories
- Unfavorable price realization of $250 million across all three primary segments
- Power Generation sales surged 23% driven by large reciprocating engines for data center applications
- Construction Industries sales declined 19% with North America down 24% due to dealer destocking
- Unfavorable currency impacts primarily from Brazilian real, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, and euro
- Dealer inventory increased $100 million in Q1 2025 versus $1.4 billion increase in Q1 2024
“I'm proud of our global team's continued support of our customers and for delivering another quarter of solid results. Our strong balance sheet allowed us to deploy over $4 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends during the quarter.”
Caterpillar CEO, on the earnings call
CAT YoY Financials
CAT Revenue by Segment
CAT Revenue by Geography
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.