Caterpillar's quarterly profit rises on strong construction, power equipment sales

A worker washes a Caterpillar crawler dozer at Ideal Tractor in West Sacramento, California, on Aug. 1, 2022. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Caterpillar reported a higher first-quarter ⁠profit on Thursday, led by strong demand for ​its power ​generation and ​construction equipment, sending its shares up nearly 5% in premarket trading. The company, seen ⁠as ‌a bellwether for the global ⁠industrial economy, reported an adjusted per-share profit of $5.54 in the January-March period, compared with $4.25 a year ‌earlier. Over the last year, Caterpillar's power and energy segment has seen ​a windfall from data center clients seeking power generation and backup equipment to fuel surging use ⁠of artificial intelligence. The company's overall revenue rose 22% ‌to $17.42 billion. Its core construction segment ‌revenue jumped 38%, while the power and energy segment revenue was up 22%. Analysts ⁠had noted in a pre-earnings note that ⁠the company's earnings would have ⁠benefited from dealers building fresh inventory of its construction equipment and strong ​execution of its ‌pending AI orders. Caterpillar said its construction equipment segment was aided by higher sales volume and better pricing, but partly offset by ​higher manufacturing costs tied to ‌tariff costs.