Caterpillar Shares Slide Despite Strong Q3 as Investors Focus on Unchanged Outlook

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) is down 7.4% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The selloff appears tied less to the quarter itself and more to expectations. Caterpillar posted strong third-quarter growth and higher profit, but investors seem disappointed that the company did not deliver a more upbeat full-year outlook despite continued strength in data-center-related power demand and a record backlog. This could be because the shares had already been pricing in an even stronger upgrade.

Details:

Caterpillar reported third-quarter 2026 sales and revenue of $20.7 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, with adjusted profit per share of $7.20.

Management highlighted strong order rates and a record backlog, signaling that demand remains healthy across its end markets.

Power & Energy was a major driver, with segment sales rising 18% and power generation sales climbing 30%, helped by turbine and large engine demand tied to data-center applications.

Even with those results, the market reaction suggests investors were looking for a higher annual growth target, and the unchanged sales outlook overshadowed the earnings beat.

Sources:

Caterpillar, MarketScreener, Yahoo Finance

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$CAT Insider Trading Activity

$CAT insiders have traded $CAT stock on the open market 34 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 33 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CAT stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

JOSEPH E CREED (Chief Executive Officer) has made 0 purchases and 14 sales selling 32,401 shares for an estimated $26,211,763.
LANGE BOB DE (Group President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 24,222 shares for an estimated $22,354,977.
DENISE C JOHNSON (Group President) has made 0 purchases and 10 sales selling 18,801 shares for an estimated $17,081,250.
ANDREW R J BONFIELD (CFO Emeritus) sold 15,674 shares for an estimated $14,399,860
ANTHONY D. FASSINO (Group President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 9,152 shares for an estimated $8,477,066.
RODNEY MICHAEL SHURMAN (Group President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 5,639 shares for an estimated $5,093,006.
JASON KAISER (Group President) sold 5,642 shares for an estimated $4,982,055
WILLIAM E SCHAUPP (Chief Accounting Officer) sold 360 shares for an estimated $326,160
DAVID MACLENNAN purchased 250 shares for an estimated $219,210

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

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$CAT Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 1,766 institutional investors add shares of $CAT stock to their portfolio, and 1,769 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 7,325,731 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $7,801,170,941
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 3,322,782 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $3,538,430,551
DIAMANT ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC. removed 3,136,170 shares (-99.9%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $3,339,707,433
CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS removed 2,008,509 shares (-58.1%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $2,138,861,234
FMR LLC added 1,957,676 shares (+51.2%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $2,084,729,172
CAPITAL RESEARCH GLOBAL INVESTORS removed 1,002,120 shares (-31.3%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $1,067,157,588
BARCLAYS PLC removed 830,562 shares (-47.5%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $884,465,473

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$CAT Government Contracts

We have seen $186,886,439 of award payments to $CAT over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

CAT EARTHMOVING SLEP: $13,940,446
DELIVERY ORDER W912CH-26-F-0058 IS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF 33 CDRL'S TO INCORPORATE THE ELECTRO-OVER HYDRAUL...: $6,502,066
8512141206!CMPCT LDR: $6,475,745
8512072121!10K AT NUCLEAR CERTIFIED FORK: $4,576,079

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard. You can access data on government contracts through the Quiver Quantitative API government contracts endpoint.

$CAT Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $CAT stock 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 0 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CAT stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE LISA C. MCCLAIN purchased up to $15,000 on 09/28.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$CAT Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $CAT recently. We have seen 5 analysts offer price targets for $CAT in the last 6 months, with a median target of $1020.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Jamie Cook from Truist Securities set a target price of $1218.0 on 07/02/2026
Jerry Revich from Wells Fargo set a target price of $1155.0 on 06/23/2026
John Eade from Argus Research set a target price of $990.0 on 05/05/2026
Michael Shlisky from DA Davidson set a target price of $845.0 on 05/04/2026
Kyle Menges from Citigroup set a target price of $1020.0 on 05/04/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.