Caterpillar FY2026 EPS Forecast Raised by Erste Group Bank

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) – Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Caterpillar in a report issued on Wednesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the industrial products company will earn $24.56 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $24.44. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar’s current full-year earnings is $24.87 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Caterpillar’s FY2027 earnings at $30.31 EPS.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. The business had revenue of $17.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.25 earnings per share.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $769.00 to $879.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $1,043.00 to $1,218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $650.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $900.00 to $1,045.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $980.57.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $881.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.90 billion, a PE ratio of 43.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.57. Caterpillar has a one year low of $405.46 and a one year high of $1,073.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $931.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $793.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Caterpillar by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,385,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,572,681,000 after buying an additional 442,164 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,388,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,273,039,000 after acquiring an additional 385,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,072,572,000 after acquiring an additional 94,524 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,438,408,000 after acquiring an additional 54,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,860,457,000 after acquiring an additional 928,974 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 16,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $916.80, for a total value of $14,928,254.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,210,388.80. This trade represents a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 5,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $883.03, for a total transaction of $4,982,055.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,789.82. This represents a 37.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,773 shares of company stock worth $87,642,635. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is 30.06%.

Caterpillar News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst updates turned incrementally more optimistic on Caterpillar’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group Bank and Zacks Research lifting FY2026, FY2027, FY2028 and several quarterly EPS estimates. Higher profit expectations can support the stock by reinforcing the view that CAT’s long-term demand and pricing power remain solid.
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentary pieces highlighted Caterpillar as a leading industrial and equipment name versus peers like Volvo, citing stronger earnings momentum, rising estimates, and long-term growth tied to infrastructure, electrification, automation, and AI data-center buildout demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-earnings coverage noted Wall Street is expecting Caterpillar’s upcoming Q2 2026 report to show another double-digit profit increase, which keeps investor attention focused on whether results can justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles framed Caterpillar as a high-quality company with a strong brand and global dealer network, but also warned that the valuation looks rich. That limits near-term upside unless earnings growth continues to outpace expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Caterpillar was also mentioned in broader market weakness and “AI selloff” coverage, and Zacks Research downgraded the stock from strong-buy to hold. That suggests some investors are becoming more cautious after the recent run-up.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.