Caterpillar Poised to Reap Rewards from AI-Driven Data Center Boom

Caterpillar Inc., with the ticker symbol CAT, is experiencing significant growth in demand for its heavy machinery due to the artificial intelligence (AI) data center boom. The company's broad demand across construction, mining, and power markets has led to a record backlog of $72 billion at the end of second-quarter 2026, up 92% year over year.

The AI-driven data center growth is driving robust order levels for reciprocating engines in Caterpillar. The company expects full-year 2026 power generation growth in both reciprocating engines and Solar Turbines as cloud computing and generative AI support data-center build-outs. Caterpillar aims to add capacity against this multi-year opportunity, planning to nearly triple its large reciprocating engine capacity by 2030.

The company is also investing in digital capabilities, connected assets, services, and more productive equipment to deepen customer relationships beyond new-machine sales. Caterpillar targets services revenues of $30 billion by 2030, up from $24 billion in 2025. The company is extending its digital and AI capabilities through Cat AI Assistant, an expanded collaboration with NVIDIA Corp., RPMGlobal, and Skycatch.