CAT 10-K diff: FY 2023-12-31 → FY 2025-12-31
Paragraph-level diff of Risk Factors (Item 1A) and Management's Discussion & Analysis (Item 7).
Item 1A · Risk Factors
+10 paragraphs −11 paragraphs ~10 changed
FY 2023-12-31 (earlier)
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The statements in this section describe the most significant risks to our business and should be considered carefully in conjunction with Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” to this Form 10-K. In addition, the statements in this section and other sections of this Form 10-K, including in Part II, Item 7 “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” include “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve uncertainties that could significantly impact results. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events about the company or our outlook. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact they do not relate to historical or current facts and by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “will be,” “should,” “plan,” “forecast,” “target,” “guide,” “project,” “intend,” “could” and similar words or expressions.
Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and on known risks and uncertainties. Although we believe we have been prudent in our assumptions, any or all of our forward-looking statements may prove to be inaccurate, and we can make no guarantees about our future performance. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize or underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could materially differ from past results and/or those anticipated, estimated or projected.We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should, however, consult any subsequent disclosures we make in our filings with the SEC on Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.9
Table of ContentsThe following is a cautionary discussion of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that we believe are material to our business. In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this report, the following are some of the important factors that, individually or in the aggregate, we believe could make our actual results differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements. It is impossible to predict or identify all such factors and, as a result, you should not consider the following factors to be a complete discussion of risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
MACROECONOMIC RISKS
Our business and the industries we serve are highly sensitive to global and regional economic conditions.
Our results of operations are materially affected by economic conditions globally and regionally and in the particular industries we serve. The demand for our products and services tends to be cyclical and can be significantly reduced in periods of economic weakness characterized by lower levels of government and business investment, lower levels of business confidence, lower corporate earnings, high real interest rates, lower credit activity or tighter credit conditions, perceived or actual industry overcapacity, higher unemployment and lower consumer spending. A prolonged period of economic weakness may also result in increased expenses due to higher allowances for doubtful accounts and potential goodwill and asset impairment charges. Economic conditions vary across regions and countries, and demand for our products and services generally increases in those regions and countries experiencing economic growth and investment. Slower economic growth or a change in the global mix of regions and countries experiencing economic growth and investment could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The energy, transportation, and mining industries are significant adopters of Caterpillar products. In these industries customers are likely to base their purchase decisions upon expected future commodity dynamics, including price. Commodity price volatility may be abrupt and unpredictable in response to global economic conditions, government actions, regulatory changes, supply/demand dynamics, innovation, and commodity substitutions among others. Economic conditions affecting the industries we serve may reduce capital expenditures in response to a variety of the aforementioned conditions. Reduction in these capital expenditures may lead to decreased demand for Caterpillar products and services as well as aftermarket parts as customers may choose to extend preventative maintenance and delay overhauls when possible.
The rates of infrastructure spending, commercial construction and housing starts also play a significant role in our results. Our products are an integral component of these activities, and as these activities decrease, demand for our products and services may be significantly impacted, which could negatively impact our results.Catastrophic events, including global pandemics, could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.
The occurrence of a major earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami or other weather event, power loss, telecommunications failure, software or hardware malfunctions, pandemics, cyber-attack, war, terrorist attack or other catastrophic event that our disaster recovery plans do not adequately address, could adversely affect our employees, our systems, our ability to produce and distribute our products, and our reputation. For example, a pandemic had a significant impact around the world, prompting governments and businesses to take unprecedented measures in response. Such measures included travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter in place orders and shutdowns. Those measures impacted or could again impact all or portions of our workforce and operations and the operations of our customers, dealers and suppliers. Current material and component shortages, logistics constraints and labor inefficiencies limited and or could continue to limit our ability to meet customer demand, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.
Pandemics can significantly increase economic and customer demand uncertainty, cause inflationary pressure in the U.S. and elsewhere and lead to volatility in customer demand for the Company’s products and services and cause supply chain disruptions. Economic uncertainties could continue to affect customer demand for the Company’s products and services, the value of the equipment financed or leased, the demand for financing and the financial condition and credit risk of our dealers and customers.A catastrophic event resulting in the destruction or disruption of our workforce, our systems, our ability to produce and distribute our products, any of our data centers or our critical business or information technology systems could adversely affect our ability to conduct normal business operations and our operating results or cash flows. The adverse effects of any such catastrophic event would be exacerbated if experienced at the same time as another unexpected and adverse event.
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Commodity price changes, material price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products and services, significant disruptions to our supply chains or significant shortages of labor and material may adversely impact our financial results or our ability to meet commitments to customers.
We are a significant user of steel and many other commodities required for the manufacture of our products. Increases in the prices of such commodities would increase our costs, negatively impacting our business, results of operations and financial condition if we are unable to fully offset the effect of these increased costs through price increases, productivity improvements, cost reduction programs or hedging programs.
We rely on suppliers to produce or secure material required for the manufacture of our products. Production challenges at suppliers (including suppliers of semiconductors), a disruption in deliveries to or from suppliers or decreased availability of raw materials or commodities could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet our commitments to customers or increase our operating costs. On the other hand, in circumstances where demand for our products is less than we expect, we may experience excess inventories and be forced to incur additional costs and our profitability may suffer. Our business, competitive position, results of operations or financial condition could be negatively impacted if supply is insufficient for our operations, if significant transportation delays interfere with deliveries, if we experience excess inventories or if we are unable to adjust our production schedules or our purchases from suppliers to reflect changes in customer demand and market fluctuations on a timely basis.
Changes in government monetary or fiscal policies may negatively impact our results .
Most countries where our products and services are sold have established central banks to regulate monetary systems and influence economic activities, generally by adjusting interest rates. Interest rate changes affect overall economic growth, which affects demand for residential and nonresidential structures, as well as energy and mined products, which in turn affects sales of our products and services that support these activities. Interest rate changes may also affect our customers’ ability to finance machine purchases, can change the optimal time to keep machines in a fleet and can impact the ability of our suppliers to finance the production of parts and components necessary to manufacture and support our products. Increases in interest rates could negatively impact sales and create supply chain inefficiencies.
Central banks and other policy arms of many countries may take actions to vary the amount of liquidity and credit available in an economy. The impact from a change in liquidity and credit policies could negatively affect the customers and markets we serve or our suppliers, create supply chain inefficiencies and could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in monetary and fiscal policies, along with other factors, may cause currency exchange rates to fluctuate. Actions that lead the currency exchange rate of a country where we manufacture products to increase relative to other currencies could reduce the competitiveness of products made in that country, which could adversely affect our competitive position, results of operations and financial condition.
Government policies on taxes and spending also affect our business. Throughout the world, government spending finances a significant portion of infrastructure development, such as highways, rail systems, airports, sewer and water systems, waterways and dams. Tax regulations determine asset depreciation lives and impact the after-tax returns on business activity and investment, both of which influence investment decisions. Unfavorable developments, such as decisions to reduce public spending or to increase taxes, could negatively impact our results.
Our global operations are exposed to political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate.
Our global operations are dependent upon products manufactured, purchased and sold in the U.S. and internationally, including in countries with political and economic instability or uncertainty. Some countries have greater political and economic volatility and greater vulnerability to infrastructure and labor disruptions than others. Our business could be negatively impacted by adverse fluctuations in freight costs, fuel costs (e.g., diesel, bunker, jet), limitations on shipping and receiving capacity, and other disruptions in the transportation and shipping infrastructure at important geographic points of exit and entry for our products. Operating in different regions and countries exposes us to numerous risks, including:
• multiple and potentially conflicting laws, regulations and policies that are subject to change;
• imposition of currency restrictions, restrictions on repatriation of earnings or other restraints;
• imposition of new or additional tariffs or quotas;
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• withdrawal from or modification of trade agreements or the negotiation of new trade agreements;
• imposition of new or additional trade and economic sanctions laws imposed by the U.S. or foreign governments;
• war or acts of terrorism; and
• political and economic instability or civil unrest that may severely disrupt economic activity in affected countries.
The occurrence of one or more of these events may negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
OPERATIONAL RISKS
The success of our business depends on our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers’ needs.
Our business relies on continued global demand for our brands and products. To achieve business goals, we must develop and sell products that appeal to our dealers, OEMs and end-user customers. This is dependent on a number of factors, including our ability to maintain key dealer relationships; our ability to produce products that meet the quality, performance and price expectations of our customers and our ability to develop effective sales, advertising and marketing programs. In addition, our continued success in selling products that appeal to our customers is dependent on leading-edge innovation, with respect to both products and operations, and on the availability and effectiveness of legal protection for our innovations. Failure to continue to deliver high quality, innovative, competitive products to the marketplace, to adequately protect our intellectual property rights; to supply products that meet applicable regulatory requirements, including engine exhaust emission requirements or to predict market demands for, or gain market acceptance of, our products, could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We operate in a highly competitive environment, which could adversely affect our sales and pricing.
We operate in a highly competitive environment. We compete on the basis of a variety of factors, including product performance, customer service, quality and price. There can be no assurance that our products will be able to compete successfully with other companies’ products. Thus, our share of industry sales could be reduced due to aggressive pricing or product strategies pursued by competitors, unanticipated product or manufacturing difficulties, our failure to price our products competitively, our failure to produce our products at a competitive cost or an unexpected buildup in competitors’ new machine or dealer-owned rental fleets, which could lead to downward pressure on machine rental rates and/or used equipment prices.
Lack of customer acceptance of price increases we announce from time to time, changes in customer requirements for price discounts, changes in our customers’ behavior or a weak pricing environment could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, our results and ability to compete may be impacted negatively by changes in our geographic and product mix of sales.
Increased information technology security threats and more sophisticated computer crime pose a risk to our systems, networks, products and services.We rely upon information technology systems and networks, some of which are managed by third parties, in connection with a variety of business activities. Additionally, we collect and store sensitive information relating to our business, customers, dealers, suppliers and employees. Operating these information technology systems and networks and processing and maintaining this data in a secure manner, is critical to our business operations and strategy. Information technology security threats -- from user error to cybersecurity attacks designed to gain unauthorized access to our systems, networks and data -- are increasing in frequency and sophistication. Cybersecurity attacks from threat actors globally range from random attempts to coordinated and targeted attacks, including sophisticated computer crime and advanced persistent threats. These threats pose a risk to the security of our systems and networks and the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data. Cybersecurity attacks could also include attacks targeting customer data or the security, integrity and/or reliability of the hardware and software installed in our products. It is possible that our information technology systems and networks, or those managed or provided by third parties, could have vulnerabilities, which could go unnoticed for a period of time. While various procedures and controls have been and are being utilized to mitigate such risks, there can be no guarantee that the actions and controls we have implemented and are implementing, or which we cause or have caused third-party service providers to implement, will be sufficient to protect and mitigate associated risks to our systems, information or other property.12
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We have experienced cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities in our systems and those of our third party providers, and we have experienced viruses and attacks targeting our information technology systems and networks. Such prior events, to date, have not had a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, the potential consequences of a future material cybersecurity attack include reputational damage, litigation with third parties, government enforcement actions, penalties, disruption to systems, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information, corruption of data, diminution in the value of our investment in research, development and engineering, and increased cybersecurity protection and remediation costs, which in turn could adversely affect our competitiveness, results of operations and financial condition. Due to the evolving nature of such security threats, the potential impact of any future incident cannot be predicted. Further, the amount of insurance coverage we maintain may be inadequate to cover claims or liabilities relating to a cybersecurity attack.
In addition, data we collect, store and process are subject to a variety of U.S. and international laws and regulations, such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act, which may carry significant potential penalties for noncompliance.
Our business is subject to the inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers.
We sell finished products primarily through an independent dealer network and directly to OEMs and are subject to risks relating to their inventory management decisions and operational and sourcing practices. Both carry inventories of finished products as part of ongoing operations and adjust those inventories based on their assessments of future needs and market conditions, including levels of used equipment inventory and machine rental usage rates. Such adjustments may impact our results positively or negatively. If the inventory levels of our dealers and OEM customers are higher than they desire, they may postpone product purchases from us, which could cause our sales to be lower than the end-user demand for our products and negatively impact our results. Similarly, our results could be negatively impacted through the loss of time-sensitive sales if our dealers and OEM customers do not maintain inventory levels sufficient to meet customer demand.
We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures, or these benefits may take longer to realize than expected.
In pursuing our business strategy, we routinely evaluate targets and enter into agreements regarding possible acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. We often compete with others for the same opportunities. To be successful, we conduct due diligence to identify valuation issues and potential loss contingencies, negotiate transaction terms, complete complex transactions and manage post-closing matters such as the integration of acquired businesses. Further, while we seek to mitigate risks and liabilities of such transactions through due diligence, among other things, there may be risks and liabilities that our due diligence efforts fail to discover, that are not accurately or completely disclosed to us or that we inadequately assess. We may incur unanticipated costs or expenses following a completed acquisition, including post-closing asset impairment charges, expenses associated with eliminating duplicate facilities, litigation, and other liabilities. Risks associated with our past or future acquisitions also include the following:
• the failure to achieve the acquisition's revenue or profit forecast;
• the business culture of the acquired business may not match well with our culture;
• technological and product synergies, economies of scale and cost reductions may not occur as expected;
• unforeseen expenses, delays or conditions may be imposed upon the acquisition, including due to required regulatory approvals or consents;
• we may acquire or assume unexpected liabilities or be subject to unexpected penalties or other enforcement actions;
• faulty assumptions may be made regarding the macroeconomic environment or the integration process;
• unforeseen difficulties may arise in integrating operations, processes and systems;
• higher than expected investments may be required to implement necessary compliance processes and related systems, including information technology systems, accounting systems and internal controls over financial reporting;
• we may fail to retain, motivate and integrate key management and other employees of the acquired business;
• higher than expected costs may arise due to unforeseen changes in tax, trade, environmental, labor, safety, payroll or pension policies in any jurisdiction in which the acquired business conducts its operations; and
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• we may experience problems in retaining customers and integrating customer bases.
Many of these factors will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management’s time and attention. They may also delay the realization of the benefits we anticipate when we enter into a transaction.
In order to conserve cash for operations, we may undertake acquisitions financed in part through public offerings or private placements of debt or equity securities, or other arrangements. Such acquisition financing could result in a decrease in our earnings and adversely affect other leverage measures. If we issue equity securities or equity-linked securities, the issued securities may have a dilutive effect on the interests of the holders of our common shares.
Failure to implement our acquisition strategy, including successfully integrating acquired businesses, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, we make strategic divestitures from time to time. In the case of divestitures, we may agree to indemnify acquiring parties for certain liabilities arising from our former businesses. These divestitures may also result in continued financial involvement in the divested businesses following the transaction, including through guarantees or other financial arrangements. Lower performance by those divested businesses could affect our future financial results.
Union disputes or other labor matters could adversely affect our operations and financial results.
Some of our employees are represented by labor unions in a number of countries under various collective bargaining agreements with varying durations and expiration dates. There can be no assurance that any current or future issues with our employees will be resolved or that we will not encounter future strikes, work stoppages or other disputes with labor unions or our employees. We may not be able to satisfactorily renegotiate collective bargaining agreements in the United States and other countries when they expire. If we fail to renegotiate our existing collective bargaining agreements, we could encounter strikes or work stoppages or other disputes with labor unions. In addition, existing collective bargaining agreements may not prevent a strike or work stoppage at our facilities in the future. We may also be subject to general country strikes or work stoppages unrelated to our business or collective bargaining agreements. A work stoppage or other limitations on production at our facilities for any reason could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, many of our customers and suppliers have unionized work forces. Strikes or work stoppages experienced by our customers or suppliers could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Unexpected events may increase our cost of doing business or disrupt our operations.
The occurrence of one or more unexpected events, including war, acts of terrorism or violence, civil unrest, fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other forms of severe weather in the United States or in other countries in which we operate or in which our suppliers are located could adversely affect our operations and financial performance. Natural disasters, pandemic illness, equipment failures, power outages or other unexpected events could result in physical damage to and complete or partial closure of one or more of our manufacturing facilities or distribution centers, temporary or long-term disruption in the supply of component products from some local and international suppliers, and disruption and delay in the transport of our products to dealers, end-users and distribution centers. Existing insurance coverage may not provide protection for all of the costs that may arise from such events.
FINANCIAL RISKS
Disruptions or volatility in global financial markets could limit our sources of liquidity, or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers.Continuing to meet our cash requirements over the long-term requires substantial liquidity and access to varied sources of funds, including capital and credit markets. Global economic conditions may cause volatility and disruptions in capital and credit markets. Market volatility, changes in counterparty credit risk, the impact of government intervention in financial markets and general economic conditions may also adversely impact our ability to access capital and credit markets to fund operating needs. Global or regional economic downturns could cause financial markets to decrease the availability of liquidity, credit and credit capacity for certain issuers, including certain customers, dealers and suppliers. An inability to access capital and credit markets may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position. Furthermore, changes in global economic conditions, including material cost increases and decreases in economic activity in key markets we serve, and the success of plans to manage cost increases, inventory and other important elements of our business may significantly impact our ability to generate funds from operations.14
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In addition, demand for our products generally depends on customers’ ability to pay for our products, which, in turn, depends on their access to funds. Changes in global economic conditions may result in customers experiencing increased difficulty in generating funds from operations. Capital and credit market volatility and uncertainty may cause financial institutions to revise their lending standards, resulting in customers’ decreased access to capital. If capital and credit market volatility occurs, customers’ liquidity may decline which, in turn, would reduce their ability to purchase our products.
Failure to maintain our credit ratings could increase our cost of borrowing and could adversely affect our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets.
Each of Caterpillar’s and Cat Financial’s costs of borrowing and their respective ability to access the capital markets are affected not only by market conditions but also by the short- and long-term credit ratings assigned to their respective debt by the major credit rating agencies. These ratings are based, in significant part, on each of Caterpillar’s and Cat Financial’s performance as measured by financial metrics such as net worth, profitability, interest coverage and leverage ratios, as well as transparency with rating agencies and timeliness of financial reporting. There can be no assurance that Caterpillar and Cat Financial will be able to maintain their credit ratings. We receive debt ratings from the major credit rating agencies. A downgrade of our credit rating by any of the major credit rating agencies could result in increased borrowing costs and could adversely affect Caterpillar’s and Cat Financial’s liquidity, competitive position and access to the capital markets, including restricting, in whole or in part, access to the commercial paper market. There can be no assurance that the commercial paper market will continue to be a reliable source of short-term financing for Cat Financial or an available source of short-term financing for Caterpillar. An inability to access the capital markets could have an adverse effect on our cash flow, results of operations and financial condition.
Our Financial Products segment is subject to risks associated with the financial services industry.
Cat Financial is significant to our operations and provides financing support for a significant share of our global sales. The inability of Cat Financial to access funds to support its financing activities to our customers could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Continuing to meet Cat Financial's cash requirements over the long-term could require substantial liquidity and access to sources of funds, including capital and credit markets. Cat Financial has continued to maintain access to key global medium-term note and commercial paper markets, but there can be no assurance that such markets will continue to represent a reliable source of financing. If global economic conditions were to deteriorate, Cat Financial could face materially higher financing costs, become unable to access adequate funding to operate and grow its business and/or meet its debt service obligations as they mature. Cat Financial also could be required to draw upon contractually committed lending agreements and/or seek other funding sources. However, there can be no assurance that such agreements and other funding sources would be sufficient or even available under extreme market conditions. Any of these events could negatively impact Cat Financial’s business, as well as our and Cat Financial's results of operations and financial condition.
Market disruption and volatility may also lead to numerous risks in connection with these events, including but not limited to:
• Market developments that may affect customer confidence levels and cause declines in the demand for financing and adverse changes in payment patterns, causing increases in delinquencies and default rates, which could increase Cat Financial’s write-offs and provision for credit losses.
• The process Cat Financial uses to estimate losses inherent in its credit exposure requires a high degree of management’s judgment regarding numerous subjective qualitative factors, including forecasts of economic conditions and how economic predictors might impair the ability of its borrowers to repay their loans. Financial market disruption and volatility may impact the accuracy of these judgments.
• Cat Financial’s ability to engage in routine funding transactions or to borrow from other financial institutions on acceptable terms or at all could be adversely affected by disruptions in the capital markets or other events, including actions by rating agencies and deteriorating investor expectations.
• As Cat Financial’s borrowing agreements are primarily with financial institutions, their ability to perform in accordance with any of our underlying agreements could be adversely affected by market volatility and/or disruptions in financial markets.
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Changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions could adversely affect Cat Financial's and our earnings and/or cash flow.Changes in interest rates and market liquidity conditions could have an adverse impact on Cat Financial's and our earnings and cash flows. Changes in market interest rates may influence its and our borrowing costs, returns on financial investments and the valuation of derivative contracts. Because a significant number of the loans made by Cat Financial are made utilizing fixed interest rates, its business results are subject to fluctuations in interest rates. Certain loans made by Cat Financial and various financing extended to Cat Financial are made at variable rates that use floating reference rates or indices, including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, an index calculated by short-term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities,as a benchmark for establishing the interest rate.
Together with Cat Financial we created a cross-functional team that assesses risk across multiple categories as it relates to the use of floating reference rates or indices, such as SOFR, in securities, loans, derivatives, and other financial obligations or extensions of credit held by or due to us. Cat Financial manages interest rate and market liquidity risks through a variety of techniques that include a match funding strategy, the selective use of derivatives and a broadly diversified funding program. There can be no assurance, however, that fluctuations in interest rates and market liquidity conditions will not have an adverse impact on its and our earnings and cash flows. If any of the variety of instruments and strategies Cat Financial uses to hedge its exposure to these types of risk is ineffective, this may have an adverse impact on our earnings and cash flows. With respect to Insurance Services' investment activities, changes in equity and bond markets could result in a decline in value of its investment portfolio, resulting in an unfavorable impact to earnings.An increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial customers could adversely affect its results.
Inherent in the operation of Cat Financial is the credit risk associated with its customers. The creditworthiness of each customer and the rate of delinquencies, repossessions and net losses on customer obligations are directly impacted by several factors, including relevant industry and economic conditions, the availability of capital, the experience and expertise of the customer's management team, commodity prices, political events and the sustained value of the underlying collateral. Any increase in delinquencies, repossessions and net losses on customer obligations could have a material adverse effect on Cat Financial's and our earnings and cash flows. Cat Financial evaluates and adjusts its allowance for credit losses related to past due and non-performing receivables on a regular basis. However, adverse economic conditions or other factors that might cause deterioration of the financial health of its customers could change the timing and level of payments received and necessitate an increase in Cat Financial's estimated losses, which could also have a material adverse effect on Cat Financial's and our earnings and cash flows.
Currency exchange rate fluctuations affect our results of operations.
We conduct operations in many countries involving transactions denominated in a variety of currencies. We are subject to currency-exchange rate risk to the extent that our costs are denominated in currencies other than those in which we earn revenues. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates have had, and will continue to have, an impact on our results as expressed in U.S. dollars. There can be no assurance that currency exchange rate fluctuations will not adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. While the use of currency hedging instruments may provide us with protection from adverse fluctuations in currency exchange rates, by utilizing these instruments we potentially forego the benefits that might result from favorable fluctuations in currency exchange rates. In addition, our outlooks do not assume fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Adverse fluctuations in currency exchange rates from the date of our outlooks could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in any outlooks and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We also face risks arising from the imposition of exchange controls and currency devaluations. Exchange controls may limit our ability to convert foreign currencies into U.S. dollars or to remit dividends and other payments by our foreign subsidiaries or businesses located in or conducted within a country imposing controls. Currency devaluations result in a diminished value of funds denominated in the currency of the country instituting the devaluation.Restrictive covenants in our debt agreements could limit our financial and operating flexibility.
We maintain a number of credit facilities to support general corporate purposes (facilities) and have issued debt securities to manage liquidity and fund operations (debt securities). The agreements relating to a number of the facilities and the debt securities contain certain restrictive covenants applicable to us and certain subsidiaries, including Cat Financial. These covenants include maintaining a minimum consolidated net worth (defined as the consolidated shareholder’s equity including16
Table of Contentspreferred stock but excluding the pension and other post-retirement benefits balance within accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)), limitations on the incurrence of liens and certain restrictions on consolidation and merger. Cat Financial has also agreed under certain of these agreements not to exceed a certain leverage ratio (consolidated debt to consolidated net worth, calculated (1) on a monthly basis as the average of the leverage ratios determined on the last day of each of the six preceding calendar months and (2) at each December 31), to maintain a minimum interest coverage ratio (calculated as (1) profit excluding income taxes, interest expense and net gain (loss) from interest rate derivatives to (2) interest expense calculated at the end of each fiscal quarter for the prior four consecutive fiscal quarter period and not to terminate, amend or modify its support agreement with us.A breach of one or more of the covenants could result in adverse consequences that could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. These consequences may include the acceleration of amounts outstanding under certain of the facilities, triggering of an obligation to redeem certain debt securities, termination of existing unused commitments by our lenders, refusal by our lenders to extend further credit under one or more of the facilities or to enter into new facilities or the lowering or modification of our credit ratings or those of one or more of our subsidiaries.
Sustained increases in funding obligations under our pension plans may impair our liquidity or financial condition.We maintain certain defined benefit pension plans for our employees, which impose on us certain funding obligations. We use many assumptions in determining our future payment obligations under the plans. Significant adverse changes in credit or capital markets could result in actual rates of return on pension investments being materially lower than projected and result in increased contribution requirements. These factors could significantly increase our payment obligations under the plans, and as a result, adversely affect our business and overall financial condition. We may be required to make material contributions to our pension plans in the future and may fund contributions through the use of cash on hand, the proceeds of borrowings, shares of our common stock or a combination of the foregoing, as permitted by applicable law.LEGAL & REGULATORY RISKSOur global operations are subject to a wide-range of trade and anti-corruption laws and regulations.Due to the international scope of our operations, we are subject to a complex system of import- and export-related laws and regulations. These include U.S. regulations issued by Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Antiboycott Compliance, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, as well as the counterparts of these agencies in other countries. Any alleged or actual violations may subject us to increased government scrutiny, investigation and civil and criminal penalties, and may limit our ability to import or export our products or to provide services outside the United States. Furthermore, embargoes and sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other governments restricting or prohibiting sales to specific persons or countries or based on product classification may expose us to potential criminal and civil sanctions. We cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which our operations might be subject. We also cannot predict in certain locations the manner in which existing laws might be administered or interpreted.
In addition, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar foreign anti-corruption laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments or providing anything of value to improperly influence foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or obtaining an unfair advantage. Recent years have seen a substantial increase in the global enforcement of anti-corruption laws. Our operations outside the United States, including in developing countries, expose us to the risk of such violations. Violations of anti-corruption laws or regulations by our employees, intermediaries acting on our behalf, or our joint venture partners may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions. Violations may also disrupt our business, and may result in an adverse effect on our reputation, business and results of operations or financial condition.International trade policies may impact demand for our products and our competitive position.
Government policies on international trade and investment such as import quotas, capital controls or tariffs, whether adopted by individual governments or addressed by regional trade blocs, can affect the demand for our products and services, impact the competitive position of our products or prevent us from being able to sell products in certain countries. The implementation of more restrictive trade policies (such as more detailed inspections, higher tariffs or new barriers to entry) in countries where we sell large quantities of products and services could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. For example, a government’s adoption of “buy national” policies or retaliation by another government against such policies could have a negative impact on our results of operations.17
Table of ContentsWe may incur additional tax expense or become subject to additional tax exposure.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and numerous other jurisdictions. Our future results of operations could be adversely affected by changes in the effective tax rate as a result of a change in the mix of earnings between U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions or among jurisdictions with differing statutory tax rates. In addition, our future results of operations could also be adversely affected by changes in our overall profitability, changes in tax laws or treaties or in their application or interpretation, changes in tax rates, changes in generally accepted accounting principles, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in the amount of earnings indefinitely reinvested in certain non-U.S. jurisdictions, the results of audits and examinations of previously filed tax returns and continuing assessments of our tax exposures. We are also subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these examinations. If our effective tax rates were to increase, or if the ultimate determination of our taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, our operating results, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely affected. For information regarding additional legal matters related to our taxes, please see Note 6 — “Income taxes” and Note 22 — “Environmental and legal matters” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” to this Annual Report on Form 10-K .
Costs associated with lawsuits or investigations or adverse rulings in enforcement or other legal proceedings may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We are subject to a variety of legal proceedings and legal compliance risks in virtually every part of the world. We face risk of exposure to various types of claims, lawsuits and government investigations. We are involved in various claims and lawsuits related to product design, manufacture and performance liability (including claimed asbestos exposure), contracts, employment issues, environmental matters, intellectual property rights, tax, securities and other legal proceedings that arise in and outside of the ordinary course of our business. The industries in which we operate are also periodically reviewed or investigated by regulators, which could lead to enforcement actions, fines and penalties or the assertion of private litigation claims. It is not possible to predict with certainty the outcome of claims, investigations and lawsuits, and we could in the future incur judgments, fines or penalties or enter into settlements of lawsuits and claims that could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations or financial condition in any particular period.
The global and diverse nature of our operations means that legal and compliance risks will continue to exist and additional legal proceedings and other contingencies, the outcome of which cannot be predicted with certainty, may arise from time to time. In addition, subsequent developments in legal proceedings may affect our assessment and estimates of loss contingencies recorded as a reserve and require us to make payments in excess of our reserves. Such payments could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business and results of operations or financial condition.
New regulations or changes in financial services regulation could adversely impact Caterpillar and Cat Financial.
Cat Financial’s operations are highly regulated by governmental authorities in the locations where it operates, which can impose significant additional costs and/or restrictions on its business. In the United States, for example, certain Cat Financial activities are subject to the U.S. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), which includes extensive provisions regulating the financial services industry. As a result, Cat Financial has become and could continue to become subject to additional regulatory costs that could be significant and have an adverse effect on Cat Financial ’ s and our results of operations and financial condition. Changes in regulations or additional regulations in the United States or internationally impacting the financial services industry could also add significant cost or operational constraints that might have an adverse effect on Cat Financial ’ s and our results of operations and financial condition.
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We are subject to stringent environmental laws and regulations that impose significant compliance costs.
Our facilities, operations and products are subject to increasingly stringent environmental laws and regulations globally, including laws and regulations governing emissions to noise, air, releases to soil and discharges to water and the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste materials. Some environmental laws impose strict, retroactive and joint and several liability for the remediation of the release of hazardous substances, even for conduct that was lawful at the time it occurred, or for the conduct of, or conditions caused by, prior operators, predecessors or other third parties. Failure to comply with environmental laws could expose us to penalties or clean-up costs, civil or criminal liability and sanctions on certain of our activities, as well as damage to property or natural resources. The potential liabilities, sanctions, damages and remediation efforts related to any non-compliance with such laws and regulations could negatively impact our ability to conduct our operations and our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, there can be no assurances that we will not be adversely affected by costs, liabilities or claims with respect to existing or subsequently acquired operations or under present laws and regulations or those that may be adopted or imposed in the future.
Environmental laws and regulations may change from time to time, as may related interpretations and other guidance. Changes in environmental laws or regulations could result in higher expenses and payments. Uncertainty relating to environmental laws or regulations may also affect how we conduct our operations and structure our investments and could limit our ability to enforce our rights. Changes in environmental and climate change laws or regulations, including laws relating to greenhouse gas emissions, could lead to new or additional investment in product designs and could increase environmental compliance expenditures. Changes in climate change concerns, or in the regulation of such concerns, including greenhouse gas emissions, could subject us to additional costs and restrictions, including increased energy and raw materials costs. If environmental laws or regulations are either changed or adopted and impose significant operational restrictions and compliance requirements upon us or our products, they could negatively impact our reputation, business, capital expenditures, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position.
The Company’s amended and restated bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for certain legal actions between the Company and its shareholders, which could discourage claims or limit the ability of the Company’s shareholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum viewed by the shareholders as more favorable for disputes with the Company or the Company’s directors, officers or other employees.
The Company’s amended and restated bylaws provide to the fullest extent permitted by law that unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the Company to the Company or the Company’s shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer or other employee of the Company arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws (as either may be amended from time to time) or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer or other employee of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
The exclusive forum provisions in our bylaws could limit our shareholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company or its directors, officers or other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the Company’s amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, the Company may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions. The exclusive forum provision in the Company’s amended and restated bylaws will not preclude or contract the scope of exclusive federal or concurrent jurisdiction for actions brought under the federal securities laws including the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the respective rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
FY 2025-12-31 (later)
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The statements in this section describe the most significant risks to our business and should be considered carefully in conjunction with Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” to this Form 10-K. In addition, the statements in this section and other sections of this Form 10-K, including in Part II, Item 7 “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” include “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve uncertainties that could significantly impact results. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events about the company or our outlook. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact they do not relate to historical or current facts and by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “will be,” “should,” “plan,” “forecast,” “target,” “guide,” “project,” “intend,” “could” and similar words or expressions.
Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and on known risks and uncertainties. Although we believe we have been prudent in our assumptions, any or all of our forward-looking statements may prove to be inaccurate, and we can make no guarantees about our future performance. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize or underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could materially differ from past results and/or those anticipated, estimated or projected.9
Table of ContentsWe undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should, however, consult any subsequent disclosures we make in our filings with the SEC on Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.The following is a cautionary discussion of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that we believe are material to our business. In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this report, the following are some of the important factors that, individually or in the aggregate, we believe could make our actual results differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements. It is impossible to predict or identify all such factors and, as a result, you should not consider the following factors to be a complete discussion of risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
MACROECONOMIC RISKS
Our business and the industries we serve are highly sensitive to global and regional economic conditions.
Our results of operations are materially affected by economic conditions globally and regionally and in the particular industries we serve. The demand for our products and services tends to be cyclical and can be significantly reduced in periods of economic weakness characterized by lower levels of government and business investment, lower levels of business confidence, lower corporate earnings, high real interest rates, lower credit activity or tighter credit conditions, perceived or actual industry overcapacity, higher unemployment and lower consumer spending. A prolonged period of economic weakness may also result in increased expenses due to higher allowances for doubtful accounts and potential goodwill and asset impairment charges. Economic conditions vary across regions and countries, and demand for our products and services generally increases in those regions and countries experiencing economic growth and investment. Slower economic growth or a change in the global mix of regions and countries experiencing economic growth and investment could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The energy, transportation, and mining industries are significant adopters of Caterpillar products. In these industries customers are likely to base their purchase decisions upon expected future commodity dynamics, including price. Commodity price volatility may be abrupt and unpredictable in response to global economic conditions, government actions, regulatory changes, supply/demand dynamics, innovation, and commodity substitutions among others. Economic conditions affecting the industries we serve may reduce capital expenditures in response to a variety of the aforementioned conditions. Reduction in these capital expenditures may lead to decreased demand for Caterpillar products and services as well as aftermarket parts as customers may choose to extend preventative maintenance and delay overhauls when possible.
The rates of infrastructure spending, commercial construction and housing starts also play a significant role in our results. Our products are an integral component of these activities, and as these activities decrease, demand for our products and services may be significantly impacted, which could negatively impact our results.Catastrophic events could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.
The occurrence of a major earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami or other weather event, power loss, telecommunications failure, software or hardware malfunctions, pandemics, cyber-attack, war, terrorist attack or other catastrophic event that our disaster recovery plans do not adequately address, could adversely affect our employees, our systems, our ability to produce and distribute our products, and our reputation. Pandemics can have a significant impact around the world, prompting governments and businesses to take unprecedented measures in response. Such measures could include travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter in place orders and shutdowns. Those measures could impact all or portions of our workforce and operations and the operations of our customers, dealers and suppliers. Material and component shortages, logistics constraints and labor inefficiencies could limit our ability to meet customer demand, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.
These catastrophic events can significantly increase economic and customer demand uncertainty, cause inflationary pressure in the U.S. and elsewhere and lead to volatility in customer demand for the Company’s products and services and cause supply chain disruptions. Economic uncertainties could affect customer demand for the Company’s products and services, the value of the equipment financed or leased, the demand for financing and the financial condition and credit risk of our dealers and customers.A catastrophic event resulting in the destruction or disruption of our workforce, our systems, our ability to produce and distribute our products, any of our data centers or our critical business or information technology systems could adversely affect our ability to conduct normal business operations and our operating results or cash flows. The adverse effects of any such catastrophic event would be exacerbated if experienced at the same time as another unexpected and adverse event.
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Commodity price changes, material price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products and services, significant disruptions to our supply chains or significant shortages of labor and material may adversely impact our financial results or our ability to meet commitments to customers.
We are a significant user of steel and many other commodities required for the manufacture of our products. Increases in the prices of such commodities would increase our costs, negatively impacting our business, results of operations and financial condition if we are unable to fully offset the effect of these increased costs through price increases, productivity improvements, cost reduction programs or hedging programs.
We rely on suppliers to produce or secure material required for the manufacture of our products. Production challenges at suppliers (including suppliers of semiconductors), a disruption in deliveries to or from suppliers or decreased availability of raw materials or commodities could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet our commitments to customers or increase our operating costs. On the other hand, in circumstances where demand for our products is less than we expect, we may experience excess inventories and be forced to incur additional costs and our profitability may suffer. Our business, competitive position, results of operations or financial condition could be negatively impacted if supply is insufficient for our operations, if significant transportation delays interfere with deliveries, if we experience excess inventories or if we are unable to adjust our production schedules or our purchases from suppliers to reflect changes in customer demand and market fluctuations on a timely basis.
Changes in government monetary or fiscal policies may negatively impact our results .
Most countries where our products and services are sold have established central banks to regulate monetary systems and influence economic activities, generally by adjusting interest rates. Interest rate changes affect overall economic growth, which affects demand for residential and nonresidential structures, as well as energy and mined products, which in turn affects sales of our products and services that support these activities. Interest rate changes may also affect our customers’ ability to finance machine purchases, can change the optimal time to keep machines in a fleet and can impact the ability of our suppliers to finance the production of parts and components necessary to manufacture and support our products. Increases in interest rates could negatively impact sales and create supply chain inefficiencies.
Central banks and other policy arms of many countries may take actions to vary the amount of liquidity and credit available in an economy. The impact from a change in liquidity and credit policies could negatively affect the customers and markets we serve or our suppliers, create supply chain inefficiencies and could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in monetary and fiscal policies, along with other factors, may cause currency exchange rates to fluctuate. Actions that lead the currency exchange rate of a country where we manufacture products to increase relative to other currencies could reduce the competitiveness of products made in that country, which could adversely affect our competitive position, results of operations and financial condition.
Government policies on taxes and spending also affect our business. Throughout the world, government spending finances a significant portion of infrastructure development, such as highways, rail systems, airports, sewer and water systems, waterways and dams. Tax regulations determine asset depreciation lives and impact the after-tax returns on business activity and investment, both of which influence investment decisions. Unfavorable developments, such as decisions to reduce public spending or to increase taxes, could negatively impact our results.
Our global operations are exposed to political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate.
Our global operations are dependent upon products manufactured, purchased and sold in the U.S. and internationally, including in countries with political and economic instability or uncertainty. Some countries have greater political and economic volatility and greater vulnerability to infrastructure and labor disruptions than others. Our business could be negatively impacted by adverse fluctuations in freight costs, fuel costs (e.g., diesel, bunker, jet), limitations on shipping and receiving capacity, and other disruptions in the transportation and shipping infrastructure at important geographic points of exit and entry for our products. Operating in different regions and countries exposes us to numerous risks, including:
• multiple and potentially conflicting laws, regulations and policies that are subject to change;
• imposition of currency restrictions, restrictions on repatriation of earnings or other restraints;
• imposition of new or additional tariffs or quotas;
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• withdrawal from or modification of trade agreements or the negotiation of new trade agreements;
• imposition of new or additional trade and economic sanctions laws imposed by the U.S. or foreign governments;
• war or acts of terrorism; and
• political and economic instability or civil unrest that may severely disrupt economic activity in affected countries.
The occurrence of one or more of these events may negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
OPERATIONAL RISKS
The success of our business depends on our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers’ needs.
Our business relies on continued global demand for our brands and products. To achieve business goals, we must develop and sell products that appeal to our dealers, OEMs and end-user customers. This is dependent on a number of factors, including our ability to maintain key dealer relationships; our ability to produce products that meet the quality, performance and price expectations of our customers and our ability to develop effective sales, advertising and marketing programs. In addition, our continued success in selling products that appeal to our customers is dependent on leading-edge innovation, with respect to both products and operations, and on the availability and effectiveness of legal protection for our innovations. Failure to continue to deliver high quality, innovative, competitive products to the marketplace, to adequately protect our intellectual property rights; to supply products that meet applicable regulatory requirements, including engine exhaust emission requirements or to predict market demands for, or gain market acceptance of, our products, could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We operate in a highly competitive environment, which could adversely affect our sales and pricing.
We operate in a highly competitive environment. We compete on the basis of a variety of factors, including product performance, customer service, quality and price. There can be no assurance that our products will be able to compete successfully with other companies’ products. Thus, our share of industry sales could be reduced due to aggressive pricing or product strategies pursued by competitors, unanticipated product or manufacturing difficulties, our failure to price our products competitively, our failure to produce our products at a competitive cost or an unexpected buildup in competitors’ new machine or dealer-owned rental fleets, which could lead to downward pressure on machine rental rates and/or used equipment prices.
Lack of customer acceptance of price increases we announce from time to time, changes in customer requirements for price discounts, changes in our customers’ behavior or a weak pricing environment could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, our results and ability to compete may be impacted negatively by changes in our geographic and product mix of sales.
Increased information technology security threats and more sophisticated computer crime pose a risk to our systems, networks, products and services.We rely upon information technology systems and networks, some of which are managed by third parties, in connection with a variety of business activities. Additionally, we collect and store sensitive information relating to our business, customers, dealers, suppliers and employees. Operating these information technology systems and networks and processing and maintaining this data in a secure manner are critical to our business operations and strategy. Information technology security threats -- from user error to cybersecurity attacks designed to gain unauthorized access to our systems, networks and data -- are increasing in frequency and sophistication. Cybersecurity attacks from threat actors globally range from random attempts to coordinated and targeted attacks, including sophisticated computer crime and advanced persistent threats. These threats pose a risk to the security of our systems and networks and the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data. Cybersecurity attacks could also include attacks targeting customer data or the security, integrity and/or reliability of the hardware and software installed in our products. It is possible that our information technology systems and networks, or those managed or provided by third parties, could have vulnerabilities, which could go unnoticed for a period of time. While various procedures and controls have been and are being utilized to mitigate such risks, there can be no guarantee that the actions and controls we have implemented and are implementing, or which we cause or have caused third-party service providers to implement, will be sufficient to protect and mitigate associated risks to our systems, information or other property.12
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We have experienced cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities in our systems and those of our third party providers, and we have experienced viruses and attacks targeting our information technology systems and networks. Such prior events, to date, have not had a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, the potential consequences of a future material cybersecurity attack include reputational damage, litigation with third parties, government enforcement actions, penalties, disruption to systems, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information, corruption of data, diminution in the value of our investment in research, development and engineering, and increased cybersecurity protection and remediation costs, which in turn could adversely affect our competitiveness, results of operations and financial condition. Due to the evolving nature of such security threats, the potential impact of any future incident cannot be predicted. Further, the amount of insurance coverage we maintain may be inadequate to cover claims or liabilities relating to a cybersecurity attack.
In addition, data we collect, store and process are subject to a variety of U.S. and international laws and regulations, such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act, which may carry significant potential penalties for noncompliance.
Our business is subject to the inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers.
We sell finished products primarily through an independent dealer network and directly to OEMs and are subject to risks relating to their inventory management decisions and operational and sourcing practices. Both carry inventories of finished products as part of ongoing operations and adjust those inventories based on their assessments of future needs and market conditions, including levels of used equipment inventory and machine rental usage rates. Such adjustments may impact our results positively or negatively. If the inventory levels of our dealers and OEM customers are higher than they desire, they may postpone product purchases from us, which could cause our sales to be lower than the end-user demand for our products and negatively impact our results. Similarly, our results could be negatively impacted through the loss of time-sensitive sales if our dealers and OEM customers do not maintain inventory levels sufficient to meet customer demand.
We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures, or these benefits may take longer to realize than expected.
In pursuing our business strategy, we routinely evaluate targets and enter into agreements regarding possible acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. We often compete with others for the same opportunities. To be successful, we conduct due diligence to identify valuation issues and potential loss contingencies, negotiate transaction terms, complete complex transactions and manage post-closing matters such as the integration of acquired businesses. Further, while we seek to mitigate risks and liabilities of such transactions through due diligence, among other things, there may be risks and liabilities that our due diligence efforts fail to discover, that are not accurately or completely disclosed to us or that we inadequately assess. We may incur unanticipated costs or expenses following a completed acquisition, including post-closing asset impairment charges, expenses associated with eliminating duplicate facilities, litigation, and other liabilities. Risks associated with our past or future acquisitions also include the following:
• the failure to achieve the acquisition's revenue or profit forecast;
• the business culture of the acquired business may not match well with our culture;
• technological and product synergies, economies of scale and cost reductions may not occur as expected;
• unforeseen expenses, delays or conditions may be imposed upon the acquisition, including due to required regulatory approvals or consents;
• we may acquire or assume unexpected liabilities or be subject to unexpected penalties or other enforcement actions;
• faulty assumptions may be made regarding the macroeconomic environment or the integration process;
• unforeseen difficulties may arise in integrating operations, processes and systems;
• higher than expected investments may be required to implement necessary compliance processes and related systems, including information technology systems, accounting systems and internal controls over financial reporting;
• we may fail to retain, motivate and integrate key management and other employees of the acquired business;
• higher than expected costs may arise due to unforeseen changes in tax, trade, environmental, labor, safety, payroll or pension policies in any jurisdiction in which the acquired business conducts its operations; and
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• we may experience problems in retaining customers and integrating customer bases.
Many of these factors will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management’s time and attention. They may also delay the realization of the benefits we anticipate when we enter into a transaction.
In order to conserve cash for operations, we may undertake acquisitions financed in part through public offerings or private placements of debt or equity securities, or other arrangements. Such acquisition financing could result in a decrease in our earnings and adversely affect other leverage measures. If we issue equity securities or equity-linked securities, the issued securities may have a dilutive effect on the interests of the holders of our common shares.
Failure to implement our acquisition strategy, including successfully integrating acquired businesses, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, we make strategic divestitures from time to time. In the case of divestitures, we may agree to indemnify acquiring parties for certain liabilities arising from our former businesses. These divestitures may also result in continued financial involvement in the divested businesses following the transaction, including through guarantees or other financial arrangements. Lower performance by those divested businesses could affect our future financial results.
Union disputes or other labor matters could adversely affect our operations and financial results.
Some of our employees are represented by labor unions in a number of countries under various collective bargaining agreements with varying durations and expiration dates. There can be no assurance that any current or future issues with our employees will be resolved or that we will not encounter future strikes, work stoppages or other disputes with labor unions or our employees. We may not be able to satisfactorily renegotiate collective bargaining agreements in the United States and other countries when they expire. If we fail to renegotiate our existing collective bargaining agreements, we could encounter strikes or work stoppages or other disputes with labor unions. In addition, existing collective bargaining agreements may not prevent a strike or work stoppage at our facilities in the future. We may also be subject to general country strikes or work stoppages unrelated to our business or collective bargaining agreements. A work stoppage or other limitations on production at our facilities for any reason could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, many of our customers and suppliers have unionized work forces. Strikes or work stoppages experienced by our customers or suppliers could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Unexpected events may increase our cost of doing business or disrupt our operations.
The occurrence of one or more unexpected events, including war, acts of terrorism or violence, civil unrest, fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other forms of severe weather in the United States or in other countries in which we operate or in which our suppliers are located could adversely affect our operations and financial performance. Natural disasters, pandemic illness, equipment failures, power outages or other unexpected events could result in physical damage to and complete or partial closure of one or more of our manufacturing facilities or distribution centers, temporary or long-term disruption in the supply of component products from some local and international suppliers, and disruption and delay in the transport of our products to dealers, end-users and distribution centers. Existing insurance coverage may not provide protection for all of the costs that may arise from such events.
FINANCIAL RISKS
Disruptions or volatility in global financial markets could limit our sources of liquidity, or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers.Continuing to meet our cash requirements over the long-term requires substantial liquidity and access to varied sources of funds, including capital and credit markets. Global economic conditions may cause volatility and disruptions in capital and credit markets. Market volatility, changes in counterparty credit risk, the impact of government intervention in financial markets and general economic conditions may also adversely impact our ability to access capital and credit markets to fund operating needs. Global or regional economic downturns could cause financial markets to decrease the availability of liquidity, credit and credit capacity for certain issuers, including certain customers, dealers and suppliers. An inability to access capital and credit markets may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position. Furthermore, changes in global economic conditions, including material cost increases and decreases in key markets we serve, and the success of plans to manage cost increases, inventory and other important elements of our business may significantly impact our ability to generate funds from operations.14
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In addition, demand for our products generally depends on customers’ ability to pay for our products, which, in turn, depends on their access to funds. Changes in global economic conditions may result in customers experiencing increased difficulty in generating funds from operations. Capital and credit market volatility and uncertainty may cause financial institutions to revise their lending standards, resulting in customers’ decreased access to capital. If capital and credit market volatility occurs, customers’ liquidity may decline which, in turn, would reduce their ability to purchase our products.
Failure to maintain our credit ratings could increase our cost of borrowing and could adversely affect our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets.
Each of Caterpillar’s and Cat Financial’s costs of borrowing and their respective ability to access the capital markets are affected not only by market conditions but also by the short- and long-term credit ratings assigned to their respective debt by the major credit rating agencies. These ratings are based, in significant part, on each of Caterpillar’s and Cat Financial’s performance as measured by financial metrics such as net worth, profitability, interest coverage and leverage ratios, as well as transparency with rating agencies and timeliness of financial reporting. There can be no assurance that Caterpillar and Cat Financial will be able to maintain their credit ratings. We receive debt ratings from the major credit rating agencies. A downgrade of our credit rating by any of the major credit rating agencies could result in increased borrowing costs and could adversely affect Caterpillar’s and Cat Financial’s liquidity, competitive position and access to the capital markets, including restricting, in whole or in part, access to the commercial paper market. There can be no assurance that the commercial paper market will continue to be a reliable source of short-term financing for Cat Financial or an available source of short-term financing for Caterpillar. An inability to access the capital markets could have an adverse effect on our cash flow, results of operations and financial condition.
Our Financial Products segment is subject to risks associated with the financial services industry.
Cat Financial is significant to our operations and provides financing support for a significant share of our global sales. The inability of Cat Financial to access funds to support its financing activities to our customers could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Continuing to meet Cat Financial's cash requirements over the long-term could require substantial liquidity and access to sources of funds, including capital and credit markets. Cat Financial has continued to maintain access to key global medium-term note and commercial paper markets, but there can be no assurance that such markets will continue to represent a reliable source of financing. If global economic conditions were to deteriorate, Cat Financial could face materially higher financing costs, become unable to access adequate funding to operate and grow its business and/or meet its debt service obligations as they mature. Cat Financial also could be required to draw upon contractually committed lending agreements and/or seek other funding sources. However, there can be no assurance that such agreements and other funding sources would be sufficient or even available under extreme market conditions. Any of these events could negatively impact Cat Financial’s business, as well as our and Cat Financial's results of operations and financial condition.
Market disruption and volatility may also lead to numerous risks in connection with these events, including but not limited to:
• Market developments that may affect customer confidence levels and cause declines in the demand for financing and adverse changes in payment patterns, causing increases in delinquencies and default rates, which could increase Cat Financial’s write-offs and provision for credit losses.
• The process Cat Financial uses to estimate losses inherent in its credit exposure requires a high degree of management’s judgment regarding numerous subjective qualitative factors, including forecasts of economic conditions and how economic predictors might impair the ability of its borrowers to repay their loans. Financial market disruption and volatility may impact the accuracy of these judgments.
• Cat Financial’s ability to engage in routine funding transactions or to borrow from other financial institutions on acceptable terms or at all could be adversely affected by disruptions in the capital markets or other events, including actions by rating agencies and deteriorating investor expectations.
• As Cat Financial’s borrowing agreements are primarily with financial institutions, their ability to perform in accordance with any of our underlying agreements could be adversely affected by market volatility and/or disruptions in financial markets.
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Changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions could adversely affect Cat Financial's and our earnings and/or cash flow.Changes in interest rates and market liquidity conditions could have an adverse impact on Cat Financial's and our earnings and cash flows. Changes in market interest rates may influence its and our borrowing costs, returns on financial investments and the valuation of derivative contracts. Because a significant number of the loans made by Cat Financial are made utilizing fixed interest rates, its business results are subject to fluctuations in interest rates. Certain loans made by Cat Financial and various financing extended to Cat Financial are made at variable rates that use floating reference rates or indices, including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) as a benchmark for establishing the interest rate.
Cat Financial manages interest rate and market liquidity risks through a variety of techniques that include a match funding strategy, the selective use of derivatives and a broadly diversified funding program. There can be no assurance, however, that fluctuations in interest rates and market liquidity conditions will not have an adverse impact on its and our earnings and cash flows. If any of the variety of instruments and strategies Cat Financial uses to hedge its exposure to these types of risk is ineffective, this may have an adverse impact on our earnings and cash flows. With respect to Insurance Services' investment activities, changes in equity and bond markets could result in a decline in value of its investment portfolio, resulting in an unfavorable impact to earnings.An increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial customers could adversely affect its results.
Inherent in the operation of Cat Financial is the credit risk associated with its customers. The creditworthiness of each customer and the rate of delinquencies, repossessions and net losses on customer obligations are directly impacted by several factors, including relevant industry and economic conditions, the availability of capital, the experience and expertise of the customer's management team, commodity prices, political events and the sustained value of the underlying collateral. Any increase in delinquencies, repossessions and net losses on customer obligations could have a material adverse effect on Cat Financial's and our earnings and cash flows. Cat Financial evaluates and adjusts its allowance for credit losses related to past due and non-performing receivables on a regular basis. However, adverse economic conditions or other factors that might cause deterioration of the financial health of its customers could change the timing and level of payments received and necessitate an increase in Cat Financial's estimated losses, which could also have a material adverse effect on Cat Financial's and our earnings and cash flows.
Currency exchange rate fluctuations affect our results of operations.
We conduct operations in many countries involving transactions denominated in a variety of currencies. We are subject to currency-exchange rate risk to the extent that our costs are denominated in currencies other than those in which we earn revenues. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates have had, and will continue to have, an impact on our results as expressed in U.S. dollars. There can be no assurance that currency exchange rate fluctuations will not adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. While the use of currency hedging instruments may provide us with protection from adverse fluctuations in currency exchange rates, by utilizing these instruments we potentially forego the benefits that might result from favorable fluctuations in currency exchange rates. In addition, our outlooks do not assume fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Adverse fluctuations in currency exchange rates from the date of our outlooks could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in any outlooks and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We also face risks arising from the imposition of exchange controls and currency devaluations. Exchange controls may limit our ability to convert foreign currencies into U.S. dollars or to remit dividends and other payments by our foreign subsidiaries or businesses located in or conducted within a country imposing controls. Currency devaluations result in a diminished value of funds denominated in the currency of the country instituting the devaluation.16
Table of ContentsRestrictive covenants in our debt agreements could limit our financial and operating flexibility.
We maintain a number of credit facilities to support general corporate purposes (facilities) and have issued debt securities to manage liquidity and fund operations (debt securities). The agreements relating to a number of the facilities and the debt securities contain certain restrictive covenants applicable to us and certain subsidiaries, including Cat Financial. These covenants include maintaining a minimum consolidated net worth (defined as the consolidated shareholder’s equity including preferred stock but excluding the pension and other post-retirement benefits balance within accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)), limitations on the incurrence of liens and sales and leaseback transactions, restrictions on the transfer of certain property and certain restrictions on consolidation and merger. Cat Financial has also agreed under certain of these agreements not to exceed a certain leverage ratio (consolidated debt to consolidated net worth, calculated (1) on a monthly basis as the average of the leverage ratios determined on the last day of each of the six preceding calendar months and (2) at each December 31), to maintain a minimum interest coverage ratio (calculated as (1) profit excluding income taxes, interest expense and net gain (loss) from interest rate derivatives to (2) interest expense calculated at the end of each fiscal quarter for the prior four consecutive fiscal quarter period) and not to terminate, amend or modify its support agreement with us.A breach of one or more of the covenants could result in adverse consequences that could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. These consequences may include the acceleration of amounts outstanding under certain of the facilities, triggering of an obligation to redeem certain debt securities, termination of existing unused commitments by our lenders, refusal by our lenders to extend further credit under one or more of the facilities or to enter into new facilities or the lowering or modification of our credit ratings or those of one or more of our subsidiaries.
Sustained increases in funding obligations under our pension plans may impair our liquidity or financial condition.We maintain certain defined benefit pension plans for our employees, which impose on us certain funding obligations. We use many assumptions in determining our future payment obligations under the plans. Significant adverse changes in credit or capital markets could result in actual rates of return on pension investments being materially lower than projected and result in increased contribution requirements. These factors could increase our payment obligations under the plans and, as a result, adversely affect our business and overall financial condition. We may be required to make material contributions to our pension plans in the future and may fund contributions through the use of cash on hand, the proceeds of borrowings, shares of our common stock or a combination of the foregoing, as permitted by applicable law. We employ a liability-driven investment strategy, where the interest rate sensitivity of the pension investments and pension obligations are aligned to reduce funded status volatility.LEGAL & REGULATORY RISKSOur global operations are subject to a wide range of trade and anti-corruption laws and regulations.Due to the international scope of our operations, we are subject to a complex system of import- and export-related laws and regulations. These include U.S. regulations issued by Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Antiboycott Compliance, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, as well as the counterparts of these agencies in other countries. Any alleged or actual violations may subject us to increased government scrutiny, investigation and civil and criminal penalties, and may limit our ability to import or export our products or to provide services outside the United States. Furthermore, embargoes and sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other governments restricting or prohibiting sales to specific persons or countries or based on product classification may expose us to potential criminal and civil sanctions. We cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which our operations might be subject. We also cannot predict in certain locations the manner in which existing laws might be administered or interpreted.
In addition, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar foreign anti-corruption laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments or providing anything of value to improperly influence foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or obtaining an unfair advantage. Recent years have seen a substantial increase in the global enforcement of anti-corruption laws. Our operations outside the United States, including in developing countries, expose us to the risk of such violations. Violations of anti-corruption laws or regulations by our employees, intermediaries acting on our behalf, or our joint venture partners may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions. Violations may also disrupt our business, and may result in an adverse effect on our reputation, business and results of operations or financial condition.17
Table of ContentsInternational trade policies may impact demand for our products and our competitive position.
Government policies on international trade and investment such as import quotas, capital controls or tariffs, whether adopted by individual governments or addressed by regional trade blocs, can affect the demand for our products and services, impact the competitive position of our products or prevent us from being able to sell products in certain countries. The implementation of more restrictive trade policies (such as more detailed inspections, higher tariffs or new barriers to entry) in countries where we sell large quantities of products and services could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. For example, a government’s adoption of “buy national” policies or retaliation by another government against such policies could have a negative impact on our results of operations.We may incur additional tax expense or become subject to additional tax exposure.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and numerous other jurisdictions. Our future results of operations could be adversely affected by changes in the effective tax rate as a result of a change in the mix of earnings between U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions or among jurisdictions with differing statutory tax rates. In addition, our future results of operations could also be adversely affected by changes in our overall profitability, changes in tax laws or treaties or in their application or interpretation, changes in tax rates, changes in generally accepted accounting principles, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in the amount of earnings indefinitely reinvested in certain non-U.S. jurisdictions, the results of audits and examinations of previously filed tax returns and continuing assessments of our tax exposures. We are also subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these examinations. If our effective tax rates were to increase, or if the ultimate determination of our taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, our operating results, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely affected. For information regarding additional legal matters related to our taxes, please see Note 6 — “Income taxes” and Note 22 — “Environmental and legal matters” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” to this Annual Report on Form 10-K .
Costs associated with lawsuits or investigations or adverse rulings in enforcement or other legal proceedings may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We are subject to a variety of legal proceedings and legal compliance risks in virtually every part of the world. We face risk of exposure to various types of claims, lawsuits and government investigations. We are involved in various claims and lawsuits related to product design, manufacture and performance liability (including claimed asbestos exposure), contracts, employment issues, environmental matters, intellectual property rights, tax, securities and other legal proceedings that arise in and outside of the ordinary course of our business. The industries in which we operate are also periodically reviewed or investigated by regulators, which could lead to enforcement actions, fines and penalties or the assertion of private litigation claims. It is not possible to predict with certainty the outcome of claims, investigations and lawsuits, and we could in the future incur judgments, fines or penalties or enter into settlements of lawsuits and claims that could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations or financial condition in any particular period.
The global and diverse nature of our operations means that legal and compliance risks will continue to exist and additional legal proceedings and other contingencies, the outcome of which cannot be predicted with certainty, may arise from time to time. In addition, subsequent developments in legal proceedings may affect our assessment and estimates of loss contingencies recorded as a reserve and require us to make payments in excess of our reserves. Such payments could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business and results of operations or financial condition.
New regulations or changes in financial services regulation could adversely impact Caterpillar and Cat Financial.
Cat Financial’s operations are highly regulated by governmental authorities in the locations where it operates, which can impose significant additional costs and/or restrictions on its business. In the United States, for example, certain Cat Financial activities are subject to the U.S. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), which includes extensive provisions regulating the financial services industry. As a result, Cat Financial has become and could continue to become subject to additional regulatory costs that could be significant and have an adverse effect on Cat Financial ’ s and our results of operations and financial condition. Changes in regulations or additional regulations in the United States or internationally impacting the financial services industry could also add significant cost or operational constraints that might have an adverse effect on Cat Financial ’ s and our results of operations and financial condition.
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We are subject to stringent environmental laws and regulations that impose significant compliance costs.
Our facilities, operations and products are subject to increasingly stringent environmental laws and regulations globally, including laws and regulations governing emissions to noise, air, releases to soil and discharges to water and the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste materials. Some environmental laws impose strict, retroactive and joint and several liability for the remediation of the release of hazardous substances, even for conduct that was lawful at the time it occurred, or for the conduct of, or conditions caused by, prior operators, predecessors or other third parties. Failure to comply with environmental laws could expose us to penalties or clean-up costs, civil or criminal liability and sanctions on certain of our activities, as well as damage to property or natural resources. The potential liabilities, sanctions, damages and remediation efforts related to any non-compliance with such laws and regulations could negatively impact our ability to conduct our operations and our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, there can be no assurances that we will not be adversely affected by costs, liabilities or claims with respect to existing or subsequently acquired operations or under present laws and regulations or those that may be adopted or imposed in the future.
Environmental laws and regulations may change from time to time, as may related interpretations and other guidance. Changes in environmental laws or regulations could result in higher expenses and payments. Uncertainty relating to environmental laws or regulations may also affect how we conduct our operations and structure our investments and could limit our ability to enforce our rights. Changes in environmental and climate change laws or regulations, including laws relating to greenhouse gas emissions, could lead to new or additional investment in product designs and could increase environmental compliance expenditures. Changes in climate change concerns, or in the regulation of such concerns, including greenhouse gas emissions, could subject us to additional costs and restrictions, including increased energy and raw materials costs. If environmental laws or regulations are either changed or adopted and impose significant operational restrictions and compliance requirements upon us or our products, they could negatively impact our reputation, business, capital expenditures, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position.
The Company’s amended and restated bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for certain legal actions between the Company and its shareholders, which could discourage claims or limit the ability of the Company’s shareholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum viewed by the shareholders as more favorable for disputes with the Company or the Company’s directors, officers or other employees.
The Company’s amended and restated bylaws provide to the fullest extent permitted by law that unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the Company to the Company or the Company’s shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer or other employee of the Company arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws (as either may be amended from time to time) or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer or other employee of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
The exclusive forum provisions in our bylaws could limit our shareholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company or its directors, officers or other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the Company’s amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, the Company may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions. The exclusive forum provision in the Company’s amended and restated bylaws will not preclude or contract the scope of exclusive federal or concurrent jurisdiction for actions brought under the federal securities laws including the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the respective rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
Item 7 · Management's Discussion & Analysis
+438 paragraphs −406 paragraphs ~406 changed
FY 2023-12-31 (earlier)
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is intended to provide information that will assist the reader in understanding the company’s Consolidated Financial Statements, the changes in certain key items in those financial statements between select periods and the primary factors that accounted for those changes. In addition, we discuss how certain accounting principles, policies and critical estimates affect our Consolidated Financial Statements. Our discussion also contains certain forward-looking statements related to future events and expectations. This MD&A should be read in conjunction with our discussion of cautionary statements and significant risks to the company’s business under Item 1A. Risk Factors of the 2023 Form 10-K.
Highlights for the full-year 2023 include:
• Sales and revenues for 2023 were $67.060 billion, an increase of $7.633 billion, or 13 percent, compared with $59.427 billion for 2022. Sales were higher across the three primary segments.
• Operating profit as a percent of sales and revenues was 19.3 percent in 2023, compared with 13.3 percent in 2022. Adjusted operating profit margin was 20.5 percent in 2023, compared with 15.4 percent in 2022.
• Profit per share for 2023 was $20.12, and excluding the items in the table below, adjusted profit per share was $21.21. Profit per share for 2022 was $12.64, and excluding the items in the table below, adjusted profit per share was $13.84.
• In order for our results to be more meaningful to our readers, we have separately quantified the impact of several significant items. A detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is included on page 47.
Full Year 2023 Full Year 2022(Dollars in millions except per share data) Profit Before Taxes Profit Per Share Profit Before Taxes Profit Per ShareProfit $ 13,050 $ 20.12 $ 8,752 $ 12.64
Restructuring costs - Longwall divestiture
586 1.14 — —
Other restructuring costs
194 0.30 299 0.43
Mark-to-market (gains) losses (97) (0.14) (606) (0.91)
Deferred tax valuation allowance adjustments — (0.21) — —
Goodwill impairment — — 925 1.68
Adjusted profit $ 13,733 $ 21.21 $ 9,370 $ 13.84
• Enterprise operating cash flow was $12.9 billion in 2023. Caterpillar ended 2023 with $7.0 billion of enterprise cash.OVERVIEWTotal sales and revenues for 2023 were $67.060 billion, an increase of $7.633 billion, or 13 percent, compared with $59.427 billion for 2022. The increase was primarily due to favorable price realization and higher sales volume. Profit per share was $20.12 in 2023, compared with profit per share of $12.64 in 2022. Profit was $10.335 billion in 2023, compared with $6.705 billion in 2022. The increase was primarily due to favorable price realization, higher sales volume and the absence of a 2022 goodwill impairment charge related to the Rail division, partially offset by higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and research and development (R&D) expenses, unfavorable manufacturing costs , the impact of the divestiture of the company's Longwall business and lower mark-to-market gains for remeasurement of pension and other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plans.Trends and Economic Conditions
Outlook for Key End MarketsOverall demand remains healthy across most of our end markets for our products and services.
In Construction Industries , we expect North America to remain healthy in 2024. We expect non-residential construction in North America to remain at similar demand levels as 2023 due to government-related infrastructure investments. Residential construction is expected to remain healthy relative to historical levels. In Asia Pacific, excluding China, we expect some softening in economic conditions. We anticipate China will remain at a relatively low level in the excavator industry above 10-tons. In EAME , we anticipate the region will be slightly down due to economic uncertainty in Europe, partially offset by continuing strong construction demand in the Middle East. Construction activity in Latin America is expected to increase due to easing financial conditions. In addition, we anticipate the ongoing benefit of our services initiatives will positively impact Construction Industries in 2024.
27Table of ContentsIn Resource Industries , in 2024, for both mining and heavy construction and quarry and aggregates, we anticipate lower sales volume compared to 2023, primarily due to off-highway and articulated trucks. While we continue to see a high level of quoting activity overall, we anticipate lower order rates as customers display capital discipline. Customer product utilization remains high, the number of parked trucks remains low, the age of the fleet remains elevated and our autonomous solutions continue to have strong customer acceptance. We expect higher services revenues, including robust rebuild activity in 2024. We continue to believe the energy transition will support increased commodity demand over time, expanding our total addressable market and providing further opportunities for long-term profitable growth.
In Energy & Transportation , in Oil & Gas, we expect reciprocating engines and services to increase slightly in 2024 compared to 2023. Well servicing in North America is showing some short-term moderation. Gas compression order backlog remains healthy and we continue to remain optimistic about future demand. Power Generation reciprocating engine demand is expected to remain strong due to continued data center growth. Solar Turbines has a strong backlog and continues to experience robust quoting activity. Industrial demand is expected to soften from a strong 2023. In Transportation, we anticipate high-speed marine to increase slightly as customers continue to upgrade aging fleets.
Company Trends and Expectations
For the full-year 2024, we anticipate sales and revenues will be broadly similar to 2023, supported by continued healthy underlying demand across most of our end markets for our products and services and slightly favorable price realization. We anticipate another year of services growth in 2024. We do not expect a significant change in machine dealer inventories in 2024, compared to an increase in 2023. In Construction Industries, sales of equipment to end users is expected to be broadly similar to 2023. In Construction Industries, we do not expect dealer inventory to increase in 2024 as it did in 2023. We also anticipate services initiatives will benefit the segment. Resource Industries' sales in 2024 are expected to be lower, driven by lower sales volume primarily in off-highway and articulated trucks. We also expect an unfavorable impact from changes in dealer inventories in Resource Industries. In 2024, we expect services revenues will increase in Resource Industries. Within Energy & Transportation in 2024, we expect slightly higher sales. Power Generation, Oil & Gas and Transportation sales are expected to increase. Industrial sales are expected to be lower compared to historically strong levels in 2023.
In 2024, we expect a small benefit from price realization during the first half of the year from price actions taken in the second half of 2023. We expect price realization to modestly exceed manufacturing costs, with moderation throughout the year as we lap favorable price trends from 2023. For 2024, we expect short-term incentive compensation expense to be about $1.2 billion, compared to $1.7 billion in 2023. We expect the short-term incentive compensation expense benefit year over year to be offset by increases in SG&A/R&D expenses as we continue to invest in strategic initiatives aimed at future long-term profitable growth, such as services growth and technology, including autonomy, alternative fuels, connectivity and digital and electrification. In addition, we anticipate an impact due to an unfavorable mix of products. In 2024, we expect restructuring costs to be between $300 million and $450 million and expect capital expenditures to be in the range of $2.0 billion to $2.5 billion. We expect the global annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items, to be between 22.5 percent and 23.5 percent.
In the first quarter of 2024, we expect sales and revenues to be broadly similar to the first quarter of 2023. We expect demand to remain healthy, but anticipate slightly lower machine dealer inventory build as compared to the first quarter of 2023. We anticipate price realization will remain favorable. We expect Construction Industries' sales to remain flat to slightly higher, including favorable price realization. Resource Industries' sales are expected to be lower driven by lower sales volume, partially offset by favorable price realization. In Energy & Transportation, we expect sales to be flat to slightly higher.
In the first quarter of 2024, we expect favorable price realization to more than offset unfavorable manufacturing costs. We expect manufacturing costs to increase primarily due to cost absorption. We do not expect an inventory increase as compared to the increase in the first quarter of 2023. We also anticipate an increase in SG&A/R&D expenses due to investment in strategic initiatives. In Construction Industries, we expect favorable price realization to be offset by increased SG&A/R&D expenses and slightly higher manufacturing costs, including cost absorption. In Resource Industries, we expect the profit impact from lower sales volume to be partially offset by favorable price realization. In Energy & Transportation, we anticipate favorable price realization to be offset by higher manufacturing costs.Global Business ConditionsWe continue to monitor a variety of external factors around the world, such as supply chain disruptions, inflationary cost and labor pressures. Areas of particular focus include transportation, certain components and raw materials. We continue to work to minimize supply chain challenges that may impact our ability to meet customer demand. We continue to assess the environment to determine if additional actions need to be taken.Risk FactorsRisk factors are disclosed within Item 1A. Risk Factors of the 2023 Form 10-K.
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Table of ContentsNotes:• Glossary of terms included on pages 35-37; first occurrence of terms shown in bold italics.
• Information on non-GAAP financial measures is included on page 47.• Some amounts within this report are rounded to the millions or billions and may not add. In addition, the sum of the components reported across periods may not equal the total amount reported year-to-date due to rounding.29Table of Contents2023 COMPARED WITH 2022CONSOLIDATED SALES AND REVENUESThe chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated sales and revenues between 2022 (at left) and 2023 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company’s board of directors and employees.
Total sales and revenues for 2023 were $67.060 billion, an increase of $7.633 billion, or 13 percent, compared with $59.427 billion in 2022. The increase was primarily due to favorable price realization and higher sales volume. The increase in sales volume was driven by higher sales of equipment to end users, partially offset by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased about $2.4 billion during 2022, compared to an increase of about $2.1 billion during 2023.
Sales were higher in the three primary segments.
North America sales increased 25 percent driven by higher sales of equipment to end users, favorable price realization and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased more during 2023 than during 2022.
Sales decreased 2 percent in Latin America due to the impact from changes in dealer inventories and lower services sales volume, partially offset by favorable price realization and favorable currency impacts primarily related to the Brazilian real. Dealer inventory increased during 2022, compared to a decrease during 2023.
EAME sales increased 6 percent due to favorable price realization and higher sales of equipment to end users, partially offset by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased more during 2022 than during 2023.
Asia/Pacific sales increased 2 percent driven by favorable price realization, partially offset by unfavorable currency impacts, primarily related to the Australian dollar and Japanese yen, lower sales of equipment to end users and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased more during 2022 than during 2023.
Dealer inventory increased about $2.1 billion during 2023, compared to an increase of about $2.4 billion during 2022. Dealers are independent, and the reasons for changes in their inventory levels vary, including their expectations of future demand and product delivery times. Dealers’ demand expectations take into account seasonal changes, macroeconomic conditions, machine rental rates and other factors. Delivery times can vary based on availability of product from Caterpillar factories and product distribution centers. We do not expect a significant change in machine dealer inventories in 2024.
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Sales and Revenues by Segment(Millions of dollars) 2022 Sales Volume Price Realization Currency Inter-Segment / Other 2023 $ Change % Change
Construction Industries $ 25,269 $ (314) $ 2,678 $ (197) $ (18) $ 27,418 $ 2,149 9 %
Resource Industries 12,314 (114) 1,422 (77) 38 13,583 1,269 10 %
Energy & Transportation 23,752 2,529 1,500 (11) 231 28,001 4,249 18 %
All Other Segment 450 (8) (5) (1) 13 449 (1) — %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (5,211) (115) 1 7 (264) (5,582) (371)
Machinery, Energy & Transportation 56,574 1,978 5,596 (279) — 63,869 7,295 13 %
Financial Products Segment 3,253 — — — 532 3,785 532 16 %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (400) — — — (194) (594) (194)Financial Products Revenues2,853 — — — 338 3,191 338 12 %
Consolidated Sales and Revenues $ 59,427 $ 1,978 $ 5,596 $ (279) $ 338 $ 67,060 $ 7,633 13 %Sales and Revenues by Geographic Region
North America Latin America EAME Asia/Pacific External Sales and Revenues Inter-Segment Total Sales and Revenues
(Millions of dollars) $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg2023
Construction Industries $ 15,343 24% $ 2,307 (19%) $ 5,254 3% $ 4,390 (9%) $ 27,294 9% $ 124 (13%) $ 27,418 9 %
Resource Industries 5,256 16% 2,040 11% 2,069 (6%) 3,879 13% 13,244 10% 339 13% 13,583 10 %
Energy & Transportation 11,982 31% 1,983 11% 5,929 13% 3,461 10% 23,355 21% 4,646 5% 28,001 18 %
All Other Segment 65 2% (1) (150%) 18 127% 49 (66%) 131 (10%) 318 4% 449 — %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (133) (3) (5) (14) (155) (5,427) (5,582)
Machinery, Energy & Transportation 32,513 25% 6,326 (2%) 13,265 6% 11,765 2% 63,869 13% — —% 63,869 13 %
Financial Products Segment 2,440 17% 416 20% 491 24% 438 2% 3,785 1
16% — —% 3,785 16 %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (347) (77) (83) (87) (594) — (594)
Financial Products Revenues 2,093 12% 339 26% 408 17% 351 (3%) 3,191 12% — —% 3,191 12 %
Consolidated Sales and Revenues $ 34,606 24% $ 6,665 (1%) $ 13,673 7% $ 12,116 2% $ 67,060 13% $ — —% $ 67,060 13 %
2022
Construction Industries $ 12,367 $ 2,843 $ 5,099 $ 4,818 $ 25,127 $ 142 $ 25,269
Resource Industries 4,531 1,840 2,205 3,437 12,013 301 12,314
Energy & Transportation 9,175 1,784 5,232 3,146 19,337 4,415 23,752
All Other Segment 64 2 (66) 145 145 305 450
Corporate Items and Eliminations (29) (1) (5) (13) (48) (5,163) (5,211)
Machinery, Energy & Transportation 26,108 6,468 12,465 11,533 56,574 — 56,574
Financial Products Segment 2,078 348 396 431 3,253 1
— 3,253
Corporate Items and Eliminations (205) (78) (47) (70) (400) — (400)
Financial Products Revenues 1,873 270 349 361 2,853 — 2,853
Consolidated Sales and Revenues $ 27,981 $ 6,738 $ 12,814 $ 11,894 $ 59,427 $ — $ 59,427
1 Includes revenues from Machinery, Energy & Transportation of $690 million and $478 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
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CONSOLIDATED OPERATING PROFITThe chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated operating profit between 2022 (at left) and 2023 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company’s board of directors and employees. The bar entitled Other includes consolidating adjustments and Machinery, Energy & Transportation other operating (income) expenses .
Operating profit was $12.966 billion in 2023, an increase of $5.062 billion, or 64 percent, compared with $7.904 billion in 2022. The increase was primarily due to favorable price realization, higher sales volume and the absence of a 2022 goodwill impairment charge related to the Rail division, partially offset by higher SG&A/R&D expenses, unfavorable manufacturing costs and the impact of the divestiture of the company's Longwall business. The increase in SG&A/R&D expenses was primarily driven by investments aligned with strategic initiatives, higher short-term incentive compensation expense and an unfavorable change in fair value adjustments related to deferred compensation plans. Unfavorable manufacturing costs reflected lower freight being more than offset by higher material costs, increased period manufacturing costs, the impact of manufacturing inefficiencies and unfavorable cost absorption. Cost absorption was unfavorable as inventory increased more during 2022 than during 2023.
Short-term incentive compensation expense is directly related to financial and operational performance, measured against targets set annually. Expense for 2023 was about $1.7 billion, compared with $1.4 billion in 2022. For 2024, we expect short-term incentive compensation expense will be about $1.2 billion.
In the first quarter of 2023, the divestiture of the company’s Longwall business was finalized, resulting in an unfavorable impact to operating profit of $586 million, primarily a non-cash item driven by the release of accumulated foreign currency translation.
Operating profit margin was 19.3 percent in 2023, compared with 13.3 percent in 2022.Profit (Loss) by Segment(Millions of dollars) 2023 2022 $ Change % Change
Construction Industries $ 6,975 $ 4,743 $ 2,232 47 %
Resource Industries 2,834 1,827 1,007 55 %
Energy & Transportation 4,936 3,309 1,627 49 %
All Other Segment 18 (11) 29 264 %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (2,104) (2,435) 331
Machinery, Energy & Transportation 12,659 7,433 5,226 70 %
Financial Products Segment 909 864 45 5 %
Corporate Items and Eliminations 14 26 (12)
Financial Products 923 890 33 4 %
Consolidating Adjustments (616) (419) (197)
Consolidated Operating Profit $ 12,966 $ 7,904 $ 5,062 64 %
32Table of Contents
Other Profit/Loss and Tax Items• Interest expense excluding Financial Products in 2023 was $511 million, compared with $443 million in 2022. The increase was due to higher average borrowing rates.
• Other income (expense) in 2023 was income of $595 million, compared with income of $1.291 billion in 2022. The change was primarily driven by lower mark-to-market gains for remeasurement of pension and OPEB plans and unfavorable impacts from pension and OPEB plan costs and foreign currency exchange, partially offset by higher investment and interest income.
• The provision for income taxes for 2023 reflected an annual effective tax rate of 21.4 percent, compared with 23.2 percent for 2022, excluding the discrete items discussed below. The decrease from 2022 was primarily related to changes in the geographic mix of profits from a tax perspective.
The 2023 annual effective tax rate excludes the impact of the nondeductible loss of $586 million related to the divestiture of the company’s Longwall business. The company also recorded a tax charge of $26 million related to $97 million of pension and OPEB mark-to-market gains in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to a tax charge of $124 million related to $606 million of mark-to-market gains in the fourth quarter of 2022. In addition, the company recorded a discrete tax benefit of $57 million in 2023 for the settlement of stock-based compensation awards with associated tax deductions in excess of cumulative U.S. GAAP compensation expense, compared with a $33 million benefit for 2022. In 2023, the company recorded a discrete tax benefit of $88 million due to a change in the valuation allowance for certain non-U.S. deferred tax assets. In 2022, the company also recorded discrete benefits of $90 million to reflect changes in estimates related to prior years and a tax benefit of $36 million related to the goodwill impairment charge of $925 million.Construction IndustriesConstruction Industries’ total sales were $27.418 billion in 2023, an increase of $2.149 billion, or 9 percent, compared with $25.269 billion in 2022. The increase was due to favorable price realization, partially offset by lower sales volume. The decrease in sales volume was driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories, partially offset by higher sales of equipment to end users. Dealer inventory increased more during 2022 than during 2023.
• In North America, sales increased due to favorable price realization and higher sales volume. Higher sales volume was driven by higher sales of equipment to end users and the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased more during 2023 than during 2022.
• Sales decreased in Latin America primarily due to lower sales volume, partially offset by favorable price realization. Lower sales volume was driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories and lower sales of equipment to end users. Dealer inventory increased during 2022, compared with a decrease during 2023.
• In EAME, sales increased due to favorable price realization and favorable currency impacts, primarily related to the euro, partially offset by lower sales volume. Lower sales volume was due to the impact from changes in dealer inventories and lower sales of equipment to end users. Dealer inventory increased during 2022, compared with a decrease during 2023.
• Sales decreased in Asia/Pacific due to lower sales volume and unfavorable currency impacts, primarily related to the Japanese yen, Australian dollar and Chinese yuan, partially offset by favorable price realization. Lower sales volume was driven by lower sales of equipment to end users.
Construction Industries’ profit was $6.975 billion in 2023, an increase of $2.232 billion, or 47 percent, compared with $4.743 billion in 2022. The increase was mainly due to favorable price realization.
Construction Industries’ profit as a percent of total sales was 25.4 percent in 2023, compared with 18.8 percent in 2022.Resource IndustriesResource Industries’ total sales were $13.583 billion in 2023, an increase of $1.269 billion, or 10 percent, compared with $12.314 billion in 2022. The increase was due to favorable price realization, partially offset by lower sales volume. Sales volume decreased as higher sales of equipment to end users were more than offset by the impact from changes in dealer inventories and lower aftermarket parts sales volume. Dealer inventory increased more during 2022 than during 2023.
Resource Industries’ profit was $2.834 billion in 2023, an increase of $1.007 billion, or 55 percent, compared with $1.827 billion in 2022. The increase was mainly due to favorable price realization, partially offset by unfavorable manufacturing costs and currency impacts. Unfavorable manufacturing costs were driven by higher materials costs, the impact of manufacturing inefficiencies and unfavorable cost absorption, partially offset by lower freight. Cost absorption was unfavorable as inventory increased more during 2022 than during 2023.
33Table of ContentsResource Industries’ profit as a percent of total sales was 20.9 percent for 2023, compared with 14.8 percent for 2022.
Energy & TransportationSales by Application(Millions of dollars) 2023 2022 $ Change %ChangeOil and Gas $ 6,988 $ 5,330 $ 1,658 31 %
Power Generation 6,362 4,940 1,422 29 %
Industrial 4,871 4,426 445 10 %
Transportation 5,134 4,641 493 11 %
External Sales 23,355 19,337 4,018 21 %
Inter-Segment 4,646 4,415 231 5 %
Total Sales $ 28,001 $ 23,752 $ 4,249 18 %
Energy & Transportation’s total sales were $28.001 billion in 2023, an increase of $4.249 billion, or 18 percent, compared with $23.752 billion in 2022. Sales increased across all applications and inter-segment sales. The increase in sales was primarily due to higher sales volume and favorable price realization.
• Oil and Gas – Sales increased for turbines and turbine-related services. Sales also increased in reciprocating engines used in well servicing and gas compression applications.
• Power Generation – Sales increased in large reciprocating engines, primarily data center applications, and small reciprocating engines. Turbines and turbine-related services increased as well.
• Industrial – Sales were up across all regions.
• Transportation – Sales increased in rail services and marine. International locomotive deliveries were also higher.
Energy & Transportation’s profit was $4.936 billion in 2023, an increase of $1.627 billion, or 49 percent, compared with $3.309 billion in 2022. The increase was mainly due to favorable price realization and higher sales volume, partially offset by unfavorable manufacturing costs and higher SG&A/R&D expenses. Unfavorable manufacturing costs were driven by higher material costs, increased period manufacturing costs and the impact of manufacturing inefficiencies, partially offset by lower freight. The increase in SG&A/R&D expenses was primarily driven by investments aligned with strategic initiatives and higher short-term incentive compensation expense.
Energy & Transportation’s profit as a percent of total sales was 17.6 percent in 2023, compared with 13.9 percent in 2022.Financial Products SegmentFinancial Products’ segment revenues were $3.785 billion in 2023, an increase of $532 million, or 16 percent, compared with $3.253 billion in 2022. The increase was primarily due to higher average financing rates across all regions.
Financial Products’ segment profit was $909 million in 2023, an increase of $45 million, or 5 percent, compared with $864 million in 2022. The increase was mainly due to higher net yield on average earning assets and lower provision for credit losses at Cat Financial, partially offset by an increase in SG&A expenses.Corporate Items and EliminationsExpense for corporate items and eliminations was $2.090 billion in 2023, a decrease of $319 million from 2022, primarily driven by the absence of a 2022 goodwill impairment charge related to the Rail division and decreased expenses due to timing differences, partially offset by higher restructuring costs, which included the impact of the divestiture of the company's Longwall business and other restructuring costs, higher corporate costs, an unfavorable change in fair value adjustments related to deferred compensation plans and unfavorable impacts of segment reporting methodology differences.
In the first quarter of 2023, the divestiture of the company’s Longwall business was finalized, resulting in an unfavorable impact to operating profit of $586 million, primarily a non-cash item driven by the release of accumulated foreign currency translation. This impact was included in total restructuring costs.
34Table of Contents2022 COMPARED WITH 2021
For discussions related to the consolidated sales and revenue and consolidated operating profit between 2022 and 2021, refer to Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on February 15, 2023 and hereby incorporated by reference.RESTRUCTURING COSTSIn 2024, we expect to incur about $300 to $450 million of restructuring costs. We expect that prior restructuring actions will result in an incremental benefit to operating costs, primarily Costs of goods sold and SG&A expenses of about $25 million in 2024 compared with 2023.
Additional information related to restructuring costs is included in Note 25 — "Restructuring Costs" of Part II, Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplemental Data."GLOSSARY OF TERMS1. Adjusted Operating Profit Margin – Operating profit excluding restructuring costs, which include the divestiture of the company's Longwall business, and 2022 goodwill impairment charges as a percent of sales and revenues.
2. Adjusted Profit Per Share – Profit per share excluding restructuring costs, which include the divestiture of the company's Longwall business, certain deferred tax valuation allowance adjustments, pension and OPEB mark-to-market gains/losses and 2022 goodwill impairment charges.
3. All Other Segment – Primarily includes activities such as: business strategy; product management and development; manufacturing and sourcing of filters and fluids, undercarriage, ground-engaging tools, fluid transfer products, precision seals, rubber sealing and connecting components primarily for Cat® products; parts distribution; integrated logistics solutions; distribution services responsible for dealer development and administration, including a wholly owned dealer in Japan; dealer portfolio management and ensuring the most efficient and effective distribution of machines, engines and parts; brand management and marketing strategy; and digital investments for new customer and dealer solutions that integrate data analytics with state-of-the-art digital technologies while transforming the buying experience.
4. Consolidating Adjustments – Elimination of transactions between Machinery, Energy & Transportation and Financial Products.5. Construction Industries – A segment primarily responsible for supporting customers using machinery in infrastructure and building construction applications. Responsibilities include business strategy, product design, product management and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales and product support. The product portfolio includes asphalt pavers; backhoe loaders; cold planers; compactors; compact track loaders; forestry machines; material handlers; motor graders; pipelayers; road reclaimers; skid steer loaders; telehandlers; track-type loaders; track-type tractors (small, medium); track excavators (mini, small, medium, large); wheel excavators; wheel loaders (compact, small, medium); and related parts and work tools.
6. Corporate Items and Eliminations – Includes corporate-level expenses, timing differences (as some expenses are reported in segment profit on a cash basis), methodology differences between segment and consolidated external reporting, certain restructuring costs and inter-segment eliminations.7. Currency – With respect to sales and revenues, currency represents the translation impact on sales resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates versus the U.S. dollar. With respect to operating profit, currency represents the net translation impact on sales and operating costs resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates versus the U.S. dollar. Currency only includes the impact on sales and operating profit for the Machinery, Energy & Transportation line of business; currency impacts on Financial Products revenues and operating profit are included in the Financial Products portions of the respective analyses. With respect to other income/expense, currency represents the effects of forward and option contracts entered into by the company to reduce the risk of fluctuations in exchange rates (hedging) and the net effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on our foreign currency assets and liabilities for consolidated results (translation).8. Dealer Inventories – Represents dealer machine and engine inventories, excluding aftermarket parts.
9. EAME – A geographic region including Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia.35
Table of Contents10. Earning Assets – Assets consisting primarily of total finance receivables net of unearned income, plus equipment on operating leases net of accumulated depreciation at Cat Financial.11. Energy & Transportation – A segment primarily responsible for supporting customers using reciprocating engines, turbines, diesel-electric locomotives and related services across industries serving Oil and Gas, Power Generation, Industrial and Transportation applications, including marine- and rail-related businesses. Responsibilities include business strategy, product design, product management, development and testing manufacturing, marketing and sales and product support. The product and services portfolio includes turbines, centrifugal gas compressors, and turbine-related services; reciprocating engine-powered generator sets; integrated systems and solutions used in the electric power generation industry; reciprocating engines, drivetrain and integrated systems and solutions for the marine and oil and gas industries; reciprocating engines, drivetrain and integrated systems and solutions supplied to the industrial industry as well as Caterpillar machines; electrified powertrain and zero-emission power sources and service solutions development; and diesel-electric locomotives and components and other rail-related products and services, including remanufacturing and leasing. Responsibilities also include the remanufacturing of Caterpillar reciprocating engines and components and remanufacturing services for other companies; and product support of on-highway vocational trucks for North America.
12. Financial Products – The company defines Financial Products as our finance and insurance subsidiaries, primarily Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Financial) and Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc. (Insurance Services). Financial Products’ information relates to the financing to customers and dealers for the purchase and lease of Caterpillar and other equipment.
13. Financial Products Segment – Provides financing alternatives to customers and dealers around the world for Caterpillar products and services, as well as financing for power generation facilities that, in most cases, incorporate Caterpillar products. Financing plans include operating and finance leases, revolving charge accounts, installment sale contracts, repair/rebuild financing, working capital loans and wholesale financing plans. The segment also provides insurance and risk management products and services that help customers and dealers manage their business risk. Insurance and risk management products offered include physical damage insurance, inventory protection plans, extended service coverage and maintenance plans for machines and engines, and dealer property and casualty insurance. The various forms of financing, insurance and risk management products offered to customers and dealers help support the purchase and lease of Caterpillar equipment. The segment also earns revenues from Machinery, Energy & Transportation, but the related costs are not allocated to operating segments. Financial Products’ segment profit is determined on a pretax basis and includes other income/expense items.
14. Latin America – A geographic region including Central and South American countries and Mexico.
15. Machinery, Energy & Transportation (ME&T) – The company defines ME&T as Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries, excluding Financial Products. ME&T’s information relates to the design, manufacturing and marketing of its products.
16. Machinery, Energy & Transportation Other Operating (Income) Expenses – Comprised primarily of gains/losses on disposal of long-lived assets, gains/losses on divestitures and legal settlements and accruals.
17. Manufacturing Costs – Manufacturing costs exclude the impacts of currency and represent the volume-adjusted change for variable costs and the absolute dollar change for period manufacturing costs. Variable manufacturing costs are defined as having a direct relationship with the volume of production. This includes material costs, direct labor and other costs that vary directly with production volume, such as freight, power to operate machines and supplies that are consumed in the manufacturing process. Period manufacturing costs support production but are defined as generally not having a direct relationship to short-term changes in volume. Examples include machinery and equipment repair, depreciation on manufacturing assets, facility support, procurement, factory scheduling, manufacturing planning and operations management.
18. Mark-to-market gains/losses – Represents the net gain or loss of actual results differing from the company’s assumptions and the effects of changing assumptions for our defined benefit pension and OPEB plans. These gains and losses are immediately recognized through earnings upon the annual remeasurement in the fourth quarter, or on an interim basis as triggering events warrant remeasurement.
19. Pension and Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) – The company’s defined-benefit pension and postretirement benefit plans.
20. Price Realization – The impact of net price changes excluding currency and new product introductions. Price realization includes geographic mix of sales, which is the impact of changes in the relative weighting of sales prices between geographic regions.
21. Resource Industries – A segment primarily responsible for supporting customers using machinery in mining, heavy construction and quarry and aggregates. Responsibilities include business strategy, product design, product management36
Table of Contentsand development, manufacturing, marketing and sales and product support. The product portfolio includes large track-type tractors; large mining trucks; hard rock vehicles; electric rope shovels; draglines; hydraulic shovels; rotary drills; large wheel loaders; off-highway trucks; articulated trucks; wheel tractor scrapers; wheel dozers; landfill compactors; soil compactors; select work tools; machinery components; electronics and control systems and related parts. In addition to equipment, Resource Industries also develops and sells technology products and services to provide customers fleet management, equipment management analytics, autonomous machine capabilities, safety services and mining performance solutions. Resource Industries also manages areas that provide services to other parts of the company, including strategic procurement, lean center of excellence, integrated manufacturing, research and development for hydraulic systems, automation, electronics and software for Cat machines and engines.
22. Restructuring Costs – May include costs for employee separation, long-lived asset impairments, contract terminations and divestiture impacts. These costs are included in Other operating (income) expenses except for defined-benefit plan curtailment losses and special termination benefits, which are included in Other income (expense). Restructuring costs also include other exit-related costs, which may consist of accelerated depreciation, inventory write-downs, building demolition, equipment relocation and project management costs and LIFO inventory decrement benefits from inventory liquidations at closed facilities, all of which are primarily included in Cost of goods sold.
23. Sales Volume – With respect to sales and revenues, sales volume represents the impact of changes in the quantities sold for Machinery, Energy & Transportation as well as the incremental sales impact of new product introductions, including emissions-related product updates. With respect to operating profit, sales volume represents the impact of changes in the quantities sold for Machinery, Energy & Transportation combined with product mix as well as the net operating profit impact of new product introductions, including emissions-related product updates. Product mix represents the net operating profit impact of changes in the relative weighting of Machinery, Energy & Transportation sales with respect to total sales. The impact of sales volume on segment profit includes inter-segment sales.
24. Services – Enterprise services include, but are not limited to, aftermarket parts, Financial Products revenues and other service-related revenues. Machinery, Energy & Transportation segments exclude most Financial Products revenues.LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Sources of fundsWe generate significant capital resources from operating activities, which are the primary source of funding for our ME&T operations. Funding for these businesses is also available from commercial paper and long-term debt issuances. Financial Products’ operations are funded primarily from commercial paper, term debt issuances and collections from its existing portfolio. During 2023, we had positive operating cash flow within both our ME&T and Financial Products' operations. On a consolidated basis, we ended 2023 with $6.98 billion of cash, a decrease of $26 million from year-end 2022. In addition, ME&T has invested in available-for-sale debt securities and bank time deposits that are considered highly liquid and are available for current operations. These ME&T securities were $3.85 billion as of December 31, 2023 and are included in Prepaid expenses and other current assets and Other assets in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position. We intend to maintain a strong cash and liquidity position.
Consolidated operating cash flow for 2023 was $12.89 billion, up $5.12 billion compared to 2022. The increase was primarily due to higher profit before taxes adjusted for non-cash items and lower working capital requirements. Within working capital, changes in inventories and accrued expenses favorably impacted cash flow partially offset by changes in accounts payable and customer advances.
Total debt as of December 31, 2023 was $37.88 billion, an increase of $885 million from year-end 2022. Debt related to ME&T increased $18 million in 2023. Debt related to Financial Products increased by $883 million due to portfolio funding requirements.
We have three global credit facilities with a syndicate of banks totaling $10.50 billion (Credit Facility) available in the aggregate to both Caterpillar and Cat Financial for general liquidity purposes. Based on management’s allocation decision, which can be revised from time to time, the portion of the Credit Facility available to ME&T as of December 31, 2023 was $2.75 billion. Information on our Credit Facility is as follows:
• In August 2023, we entered into a new 364-day facility. The 364-day facility of $3.15 billion (of which $825 million is available to ME&T) expires in August 2024.
37Table of Contents• In August 2023, we amended and extended the three-year facility (as amended and restated, the "three-year facility"). The three-year facility of $2.73 billion (of which $715 million is available to ME&T) expires in August 2026.
• In August 2023, we amended and extended the five-year facility (as amended and restated, the "five-year facility"). The five-year facility of $4.62 billion (of which $1.21 billion is available to ME&T) expires in August 2028.
At December 31, 2023, Caterpillar’s consolidated net worth was $19.55 billion, which was above the $9.00 billion required under the Credit Facility. The consolidated net worth is defined as the consolidated shareholders' equity including preferred stock but excluding the pension and other postretirement benefits balance within AOCI.
At December 31, 2023, Cat Financial’s covenant interest coverage ratio was 1.73 to 1. This was above the 1.15 to 1 minimum ratio, calculated as (1) profit excluding income taxes, interest expense and net gain/(loss) from interest rate derivatives to (2) interest expense calculated at the end of each fiscal quarter for the prior four consecutive fiscal quarter period, required by the Credit Facility.
In addition, at December 31, 2023, Cat Financial’s six-month covenant leverage ratio was 6.88 to 1 and year-end covenant leverage ratio was 6.95 to 1. This was below the maximum ratio of debt to net worth of 10 to 1, calculated (1) on a monthly basis as the average of the leverage ratios determined on the last day of each of the six preceding calendar months and (2) at each December 31, required by the Credit Facility.
In the event Caterpillar or Cat Financial does not meet one or more of their respective financial covenants under the Credit Facility in the future (and are unable to obtain a consent or waiver), the syndicate of banks may terminate the commitments allocated to the party that does not meet its covenants. Additionally, in such event, certain of Cat Financial's other lenders under other loan agreements where similar financial covenants or cross default provisions are applicable may, at their election, choose to pursue remedies under those loan agreements, including accelerating the repayment of outstanding borrowings. At December 31, 2023, there were no borrowings under the Credit Facility.
Our total credit commitments and available credit as of December 31, 2023 were:
December 31, 2023
(Millions of dollars) Consolidated Machinery, Energy & Transportation Financial ProductsCredit lines available:Global credit facilities $ 10,500 $ 2,750 $ 7,750
Other external 4,164 625 3,539
Total credit lines available 14,664 3,375 11,289
Less: Commercial paper outstanding (4,069) — (4,069)
Less: Utilized credit (853) — (853)
Available credit $ 9,742 $ 3,375 $ 6,367
The other consolidated credit lines with banks as of December 31, 2023 totaled $4.16 billion. These committed and uncommitted credit lines, which may be eligible for renewal at various future dates or have no specified expiration date, are used primarily by our subsidiaries for local funding requirements. Caterpillar or Cat Financial may guarantee subsidiary borrowings under these lines.
We receive debt ratings from the major credit rating agencies. Fitch maintains a "high-A" debt rating, while Moody’s and S&P maintain a “mid-A” debt rating. A downgrade of our credit ratings by any of the major credit rating agencies could result in increased borrowing costs and could make access to certain credit markets more difficult. In the event economic conditions deteriorate such that access to debt markets becomes unavailable, ME&T’s operations would rely on cash flow from operations, use of existing cash balances, borrowings from Cat Financial and access to our committed credit facilities. Our Financial Products’ operations would rely on cash flow from its existing portfolio, existing cash balances, access to our committed credit facilities and other credit line facilities of Cat Financial, and potential borrowings from Caterpillar. In addition, we maintain a support agreement with Cat Financial, which requires Caterpillar to remain the sole owner of Cat Financial and may, under certain circumstances, require Caterpillar to make payments to Cat Financial should Cat Financial fail to maintain certain financial ratios.
38Table of ContentsWe facilitate voluntary supplier finance programs (the “Programs”) through participating financial institutions. We account for the payments made under the Programs, the same as our other accounts payable, as a reduction to our cash flows from operations. We do not believe that changes in the availability of the Programs will have a significant impact on our liquidity. Additional information related to the Programs is included in Note 1J — "New accounting guidance" of Part II, Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data".Material cash requirements for contractual obligationsWe believe our balances of cash and cash equivalents of $6.98 billion and available-for-sale debt securities and bank time deposits of $3.85 billion as of December 31, 2023, along with cash generated by ongoing operations and continued access to debt markets, will be sufficient to satisfy our cash requirements over the next 12 months and beyond.We have committed cash outflows related to postretirement benefit obligations, long-term debt and operating lease agreements. See Notes 12, 14 and 20, respectively, of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information.We have short-term obligations related to the purchase of goods and services made in the ordinary course of business. These consist of invoices received and recorded as liabilities as of December 31, 2023, but scheduled for payment in 2024 of $7.91 billion. In addition, we have contractual obligations for material and services on order at December 31, 2023, but not yet invoiced or delivered, of $7.22 billion.
We also have long-term contractual obligations primarily for logistics services agreements; systems support, software licenses and development contracts; information technology consulting contracts and outsourcing contracts for benefit plan administration. These obligations total $1.49 billion, with $704 million due in the next 12 months.
Machinery, Energy & Transportation
Net cash provided by operating activities was $11.69 billion in 2023, compared with $6.36 billion in 2022. The increase was primarily due to higher profit before taxes adjusted for non-cash items and lower working capital requirements. Within working capital, changes in inventories and accrued expenses favorably impacted cash flow partially offset by changes in accounts payable and customer advances.
Net cash used for investing activities in 2023 was $3.92 billion, compared with net cash used of $1.81 billion in 2022. The change was primarily due to increased investments in securities, net of proceeds from maturities and sale of securities, and an increase in capital spend.
Net cash used for financing activities during 2023 was $7.65 billion, compared with net cash used of $6.80 billion in 2022. The change was primarily due to higher share repurchases and dividends paid in 2023.
While our short-term priorities for the use of cash may vary from time to time as business needs and conditions dictate, our long-term cash deployment strategy is focused on the following priorities. Our top priority is to maintain a strong financial position in support of a mid-A rating. Next, we intend to fund operational requirements and commitments. Then, we intend to fund priorities that profitably grow the company and return capital to shareholders through dividend growth and share repurchases. Additional information on cash deployment is as follows:
Strong financial position — Our top priority is to maintain a strong financial position in support of a mid-A rating. We track a diverse group of financial metrics that focus on liquidity, leverage, cash flow and margins which align with our cash deployment actions and the various methodologies used by the major credit rating agencies.
Operational excellence and commitments — Capital expenditures were $1.66 billion during 2023, compared to $1.30 billion in 2022. We expect ME&T’s capital expenditures in 2024 to be around $2.0 billion to $2.5 billion. We made $361 million of contributions to our pension and OPEB plans during 2023. In comparison, we made $346 million of contributions to our pension and OPEB plans in 2022. We expect to make approximately $273 million of contributions to our pension and OPEB plans in 2024.
Fund strategic growth initiatives and return capital to shareholders — We intend to utilize our liquidity and debt capacity to fund targeted investments that drive long-term profitable growth focused in the areas of expanded offerings, services and sustainability, including acquisitions.
39Table of ContentsAs part of our capital allocation strategy, ME&T free cash flow is a liquidity measure we use to determine the cash generated and available for financing activities including debt repayments, dividends and share repurchases. We define ME&T free cash flow as cash from ME&T operations less capital expenditures, excluding discretionary pension and other postretirement benefit plan contributions and cash payments related to settlements with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. A goal of our capital allocation strategy is to return substantially all ME&T free cash flow to shareholders over time in the form of dividends and share repurchases, while maintaining our mid-A rating.
Our share repurchase plans are subject to the company’s cash deployment priorities and are evaluated on an ongoing basis considering the financial condition of the company, corporate cash flow, the company's liquidity needs, the economic outlook, and the health and stability of global credit markets. The timing and amount of future repurchases may vary depending on market conditions and investing priorities. In May 2022, the Board approved a new share repurchase authorization (the 2022 Authorization) of up to $15.0 billion of Caterpillar common stock effective August 1, 2022 with no expiration. In 2023, we repurchased $4.98 billion of Caterpillar common stock, with $7.8 billion remaining under the 2022 Authorization as of December 31, 2023. Caterpillar's basic shares outstanding as of December 31, 2023 were approximately 499 million.
Each quarter, our Board of Directors reviews the company's dividend for the applicable quarter. The Board evaluates the financial condition of the company and considers corporate cash flow, the company's liquidity needs, the economic outlook, and the health and stability of global credit markets to determine whether to maintain or change the quarterly dividend. In December 2023, the Board of Directors approved maintaining our quarterly dividend representing $1.30 per share, and we continue to expect our strong financial position to support the dividend. Dividends paid totaled $2.56 billion in 2023.Financial ProductsFinancial Products operating cash flow was $1.11 billion in 2023, compared with $1.52 billion in 2022. Net cash used for investing activities was $1.42 billion in 2023, compared with $356 million used in 2022. The change was primarily due to portfolio related activity. Net cash provided by financing activities was $278 million in 2023, compared with net cash used of $964 million in 2022. The change was primarily due to higher portfolio funding requirements.Off-balance sheet arrangements
We are a party to certain off-balance sheet arrangements, primarily in the form of guarantees. Information related to guarantees appears in Note 21 — “Guarantees and product warranty” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
For a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements, see Note 1J — “New accounting guidance” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts. The more significant estimates include: residual values for leased assets, fair values for goodwill impairment tests, warranty liability, reserves for product liability and insurance losses, postretirement benefits, post-sale discounts, credit losses and income taxes. We have incorporated many years of data into the determination of each of these estimates and we have not historically experienced significant adjustments. We review these assumptions at least annually with the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. Following are the methods and assumptions used in determining our estimates and an indication of the risks inherent in each.
Residual values for leased assets — We determine the residual value of Cat Financial’s leased equipment based on its estimated end-of-term market value. We estimate the residual value of leased equipment at the inception of the lease based on a number of factors, including historical wholesale market sales prices, past remarketing experience and any known significant market/product trends. We also consider the following critical factors in our residual value estimates: lease term, market size and demand, total expected hours of usage, machine configuration, application, location, model changes, quantities, third-party residual guarantees and contractual customer purchase options.40
Table of ContentsUpon termination of the lease, the equipment is either purchased by the lessee or sold to a third-party, in which case we may record a gain or a loss for the difference between the estimated residual value and the sale proceeds.
During the term of our leases, we monitor residual values. For operating leases, we record adjustments to depreciation expense reflecting changes in residual value estimates prospectively on a straight-line basis. For finance leases, we recognize residual value adjustments through a reduction of finance revenue over the remaining lease term.
We evaluate the carrying value of equipment on operating leases for potential impairment when we determine a triggering event has occurred. When a triggering event occurs, we perform a test for recoverability by comparing projected undiscounted future cash flows to the carrying value of the equipment on operating leases. If the test for recoverability identifies a possible impairment, we measure the fair value of the equipment on operating leases in accordance with the fair value measurement framework. We recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying value of the equipment on operating leases exceeds its estimated fair value.At December 31, 2023, the aggregate residual value of equipment on operating leases was $1.70 billion. Without consideration of other factors such as third-party residual guarantees or contractual customer purchase options, a 10 percent non-temporary decrease in the market value of our equipment subject to operating leases would reduce residual value estimates and result in the recognition of approximately $75 million of additional annual depreciation expense.Fair values for goodwill impairment tests — We test goodwill for impairment annually, at the reporting unit level, and whenever events or circumstances make it more likely than not that an impairment may have occurred, such as a significant adverse change in the business climate or a decision to sell all or a portion of a reporting unit. We perform our annual goodwill impairment test as of October 1 and monitor for interim triggering events on an ongoing basis.
We review goodwill for impairment utilizing either a qualitative assessment or a quantitative goodwill impairment test. If we choose to perform a qualitative assessment and determine the fair value more likely than not exceeds the carrying value, no further evaluation is necessary. For reporting units where we perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test, we compare the fair value of each reporting unit, which we primarily determine using an income approach based on the present value of discounted cash flows, to the respective carrying value, which includes goodwill. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, we do not consider the goodwill impaired. If the carrying value is higher than the fair value, we recognize the difference as an impairment loss.
For reporting units where we perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test, the process requires valuation of the respective reporting unit, which we primarily determine using an income approach based on a discounted five year forecasted cash flow with a year-five residual value. We compute the residual value using the constant growth method, which values the forecasted cash flows in perpetuity. The assumptions about future cash flows and growth rates are based on each reporting unit's long-term forecast and are subject to review and approval by senior management. A reporting unit’s discount rate is a risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital, which we believe approximates the rate from a market participant’s perspective. The estimated fair value could be impacted by changes in market conditions, interest rates, growth rates, tax rates, costs, pricing and capital expenditures. We categorize the fair value determination as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy due to its use of internal projections and unobservable measurement inputs.We completed our annual assessment of goodwill in the fourth quarter of 2023 and determined that there was no impairment of goodwill. Caterpillar's market capitalization has remained significantly above the net book value of the Company.
An unfavorable change in our expectations for the financial performance of our reporting units, particularly long-term growth and profitability, would reduce the fair value of our reporting units. The demand for our equipment and related parts is highly cyclical and significantly impacted by commodity prices, although the impact may vary by reporting unit. The energy and mining industries are major users of our products, including the mineral extraction, oil and natural gas industries. Decisions to purchase our products are dependent upon the performance of those industries, which in turn are dependent in part on commodity prices. Lower commodity prices or industry specific circumstances that have a negative impact to the valuation assumptions may reduce the fair value of our reporting units. Should such events occur and it becomes more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value has fallen below its carrying value, we will perform an interim goodwill impairment test(s), in addition to the annual impairment test. Future impairment tests may result in a goodwill impairment, depending on the outcome of the quantitative impairment test. We would report a goodwill impairment as a non-cash charge to earnings.
Product warranty liability — At the time we recognize a sale, we record estimated future warranty costs. We determine the product warranty liability by applying historical claim rate experience to the current field population and dealer inventory. Generally, we base historical claim rates on actual warranty experience for each product by machine model/engine
41Table of Contentssize by customer or dealer location (inside or outside North America). We develop specific rates for each product shipment month and update them monthly based on actual warranty claim experience. Warranty costs may differ from those estimated if actual claim rates are higher or lower than our historical rates.
Product liability and insurance loss reserve — We determine these reserves based upon reported claims in process of settlement and actuarial estimates for losses incurred but not reported. Loss reserves, including incurred but not reported reserves, are based on estimates and ultimate settlements may vary significantly from such estimates due to increased claims frequency or severity over historical levels. The amount of these reserves totaled $1.4 billion and $1.3 billion at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The majority of the balance in both 2023 and 2022 consisted of unearned insurance premiums.
Postretirement benefits — We sponsor defined benefit pension plans and/or other postretirement benefit plans (retirement healthcare and life insurance) to employees in many of our locations throughout the world. There are assumptions used in the accounting for these defined benefit plans that include discount rate, expected return on plan assets, expected rate of compensation increase, the future health care trend rate, mortality and other economic and demographic assumptions. The actuarial assumptions we use may change or differ significantly from actual results, which may result in a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.The effects of actual results differing from our assumptions and the effects of changing assumptions are considered actuarial gains or losses. We utilize a mark-to-market approach in recognizing actuarial gains or losses immediately through earnings upon the annual remeasurement in the fourth quarter, or on an interim basis as triggering events warrant remeasurement.
Primary actuarial assumptions were determined as follows:• We use the assumed discount rate to discount future benefit obligations back to today’s dollars. The U.S. discount rate is based on a benefit cash flow-matching approach and represents the rate at which our benefit obligations could effectively be settled as of our measurement date, December 31. The benefit cash flow-matching approach involves analyzing Caterpillar’s projected cash flows against a high quality bond yield curve, calculated using a wide population of corporate Aa bonds available on the measurement date. We use a similar approach to determine the assumed discount rate for our most significant non-U.S. plans. In estimating the service and interest cost components of net periodic benefit cost, we utilize a full yield curve approach in determining a discount rate. This approach applies the specific spot rates along the yield curve used in the determination of the benefit obligation to the relevant projected cash flows. Discount rates are sensitive to changes in interest rates.
• The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is based on our estimate of long-term returns for equities and fixed income securities weighted by the allocation of our plan assets. This rate is impacted by changes in general market conditions, but because it represents a long-term rate, it is not significantly impacted by short-term market swings. Changes in our allocation of plan assets would also impact this rate. For example, a shift to more fixed income securities would lower the rate. The expected return on plan assets is based on the fair value of plan asset allocations as of our measurement date, December 31.• We use the expected rate of compensation increase to develop benefit obligations using projected pay at retirement. It represents average long-term salary increases. This rate is influenced by our long-term compensation policies.• The assumed health care trend rate represents the rate at which health care costs are assumed to increase and is based on historical and expected experience. Changes in our projections of future health care costs due to general economic conditions and those specific to health care (e.g., technology driven cost changes) will impact this trend rate.• We use the mortality assumption to estimate the life expectancy of plan participants.42Table of Contents
Postretirement Benefit Plan Actuarial Assumptions SensitivityThe effects of a one percentage-point change in certain actuarial assumptions on 2023 pension and OPEB costs and obligations are as follows:
2023 Benefit Cost Increase (Decrease) Year-end Benefit Obligation Increase (Decrease)(Millions of dollars) One percentage- point increase One percentage- point decrease One percentage- point increase One percentage- point decrease
U.S. Pension Benefits: 1Assumed discount rate $ 52 $ (66) $ (1,162) $ 1,375
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets (120) 120 — —Non-U.S. Pension Benefits:Assumed discount rate 7 (9) (353) 435
Expected rate of compensation increase 4 (3) 31 (25)
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets (32) 32 — —Other Postretirement Benefits:Assumed discount rate 6 (7) (215) 252Expected rate of compensation increase — — 1 (1)Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets (2) 2 — —1 Effective December 31, 2019, all U.S. pension benefits were frozen, and accordingly the expected rate of compensation increase assumption is no longer applicable.
Actuarial Assumptions
U.S. Pension Benefits Non-U.S. Pension Benefits Other Postretirement Benefits2023 2022 2021 2023 2022 2021 2023 2022 2021Weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligation, end of year:Discount rate 5.0 % 5.4 % 2.8 % 3.9 % 4.3 % 1.8 % 5.1 % 5.4 % 2.7 %
Rate of compensation increase 1
— % — % — % 2.3 % 2.3 % 2.0 % 4.0 % 4.0 % 4.0 %Weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost:
Discount rate used to measure service cost 1— % — % — % 3.8 % 1.7 % 1.4 % 5.4 % 2.8 % 2.5 %
Discount rate used to measure interest cost 5.2 % 2.3 % 1.8 % 4.2 % 1.7 % 1.2 % 5.3 % 2.2 % 1.6 %
Expected rate of return on plan assets 5.8 % 4.0 % 4.2 % 5.2 % 3.1 % 2.9 % 7.4 % 6.9 % 6.5 %
Rate of compensation increase 1
— % — % — % 2.3 % 2.0 % 2.0 % 4.0 % 4.0 % 4.0 %Health care cost trend rates at year-end:Health care trend rate assumed for next year 6.2 % 6.5 % 5.6 %
Rate that the cost trend rate gradually declines to 4.7 % 4.7 % 5.0 %
Year that the cost trend rate reaches ultimate rate 2030 2030 20251 Effective December 31, 2019, all U.S. pension benefits were frozen, and accordingly this assumption is no longer applicable.
See Note 12 — “Postemployment benefit plans” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statement and Supplemental Data” for further information regarding the accounting for postretirement benefits.43Table of ContentsPost-sale discount reserve — We provide discounts to dealers through merchandising programs. We have numerous programs that are designed to promote the sale of our products. The most common dealer programs provide a discount when the dealer sells a product to a targeted end user. The amount of accrued post-sale discounts was $2.1 billion and $1.6 billion at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The reserve represents discounts that we expect to pay on previously sold units and is reviewed at least quarterly. We adjust the reserve if discounts paid differ from those estimated. Historically, those adjustments have not been material.
Allowance for credit losses — The allowance for credit losses is management’s estimate of expected losses over the life of our finance receivable portfolio calculated using loss forecast models that take into consideration historical credit loss experience, current economic conditions and forecasts and scenarios that capture country and industry-specific economic factors. In addition, we consider qualitative factors not able to be fully captured in our loss forecast models, including borrower-specific and company-specific factors. These qualitative factors are subjective and require a degree of management judgment.
We measure the allowance for credit losses on a collective (pool) basis when similar risk characteristics exist and on an individual basis when we determine that similar risk characteristics do not exist. We identify finance receivables for individual evaluation based on past due status and information available about the customer, such as financial statements, news reports and published credit ratings, as well as general information regarding industry trends and the economic environment in which our customers operate. The allowance for credit losses attributable to finance receivables that are individually evaluated is based on the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the receivables' effective interest rate, the fair value of the collateral for collateral-dependent receivables or the observable market price of the receivable. In determining collateral value, we estimate the current fair market value of the collateral less selling costs. We also consider credit enhancements such as additional collateral and contractual third-party guarantees.While management believes it has exercised prudent judgment and applied reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that in the future, changes in economic conditions or other factors would not cause changes in the financial health of our customers. If the financial health of our customers deteriorates, the timing and level of payments received could be impacted and therefore, could result in a change to our estimated losses.
Income taxes — We are subject to the income tax laws of the many jurisdictions in which we operate. These tax laws are complex, and the manner in which they apply to our facts is sometimes open to interpretation. In establishing the provision for income taxes, we must make judgments about the application of these inherently complex tax laws. Our income tax positions and analysis are based on currently enacted tax law. Future changes in tax law or related interpretations could significantly impact the provision for income taxes, the amount of taxes payable, and the deferred tax asset and liability balances. Changes in tax law are reflected in the period of enactment with related interpretations considered in the period received.
Despite our belief that our tax return positions are consistent with applicable tax laws, we believe that taxing authorities could challenge certain positions. Settlement of any challenge can result in no change, a complete disallowance, or some partial adjustment reached through negotiations or litigation. We record tax benefits for uncertain tax positions based upon management’s evaluation of the information available at the reporting date. To be recognized in the financial statements, a tax benefit must be at least more likely than not of being sustained based on technical merits. The benefit for positions meeting the recognition threshold is measured as the largest benefit more likely than not of being realized upon ultimate settlement with a taxing authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. Significant judgment is required in making these determinations and adjustments to unrecognized tax benefits may be necessary to reflect actual taxes payable upon settlement. Adjustments related to positions impacting the effective tax rate affect the provision for income taxes. Adjustments related to positions impacting the timing of deductions impact deferred tax assets and liabilities.
Deferred tax assets generally represent tax benefits for tax deductions or credits available in future tax returns. Certain estimates and assumptions are required to determine whether it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the benefit of a deferred tax asset will not be realized. In making this assessment, management analyzes the trend of U.S. GAAP earnings and estimates the impact of future taxable income, reversing temporary differences and available prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. We give less weight in this analysis to mark-to-market adjustments to remeasure our pension and OPEB plans as we do not consider these adjustments indicative of ongoing earnings trends. Should a change in facts or circumstances lead to a change in judgment about the ultimate realizability of a deferred tax asset, we record or adjust the related valuation allowance in the period that the change in facts and circumstances occurs, along with a corresponding increase or decrease in the provision for income taxes.
Additional information related to income taxes is included in Note 6 — “Income taxes” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial statements and Supplementary Data.”44
Table of ContentsOTHER MATTERSInformation related to legal proceedings appears in Note 22 — Environmental and Legal Matters of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”RETIREMENT BENEFITS
We recognize mark-to-market gains and losses immediately through earnings upon the remeasurement of our pension and OPEB plans. Mark-to-market gains and losses represent the effects of actual results differing from our assumptions and the effects of changing assumptions. Changes in discount rates and differences between the actual return on plan assets and the expected return on plan assets generally have the largest impact on mark-to-market gains and losses.The table below summarizes the amounts of net periodic benefit cost recognized for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and includes expected cost for 2024.
(Millions of dollars) 2024 Expected
2023 2022 2021
U.S. Pension Benefits $ (74) $ (33) $ (268) $ (388)
Non-U.S. Pension Benefits (3) 2 (10) (19)
Other Postretirement Benefits 178 188 161 118Mark-to-market loss (gain) — 1(97) (606) (833)
Total net periodic benefit cost (benefit) $ 101 $ 60 $ (723) $ (1,122)1 Expected net periodic benefit cost (benefit) does not include an estimate for mark-to-market gains or losses.• Expected decrease in expense in 2024 compared to 2023 — Excluding the impact of mark-to-market gains and losses, our net periodic benefit cost is expected to decrease $56 million in 2024. This expected decrease is primarily due to lower interest cost in 2024 as a result of lower discount rates at year-end 2023 (U.S. pension plans discount rate for 2024 interest cost is 5.0 percent compared to 5.2 percent for 2023) and a higher expected return on assets due to a higher world-wide asset base at year-end 2023 ($16.3 billion) compared to year-end 2022 ($15.8 billion).
• Increase in expense in 2023 compared to 2022 — Primarily due to lower mark-to-market gains in 2023 compared to 2022 and higher interest cost in 2023 as a result of higher discount rates at year-end 2022.
• Increase in expense in 2022 compared to 2021 — Primarily due to lower mark-to-market gains in 2022 compared to 2021 and higher interest cost in 2022 as a result of higher discount rates at year-end 2021.
The primary factors that resulted in mark-to-market losses (gains) for 2023, 2022 and 2021 are described below. We include the net mark-to-market losses (gains) in Other income (expense) in the Results of Operations.• 2023 net mark-to-market gain of $97 million — Primarily due to higher actual return on plan assets compared to the expected return on plan assets (U.S. pension plans had an actual rate of return of 10.4 percent compared to an expected rate of return of 5.8 percent) and favorable claims experience related to our other postretirement benefit plans. This was partially offset by lower discount rates at the end of 2023 compared to the end of 2022.• 2022 net mark-to-market gain of $606 million — Primarily due to higher discount rates at the end of 2022 compared to the end of 2021. This was partially offset by a lower actual return on plan assets compared to the expected return on plan assets (U.S. pension plans had an actual loss rate of (22.6) percent compared to an expected rate of return of 4.0 percent).
• 2021 net mark-to-market gain of $833 million — Primarily due to higher discount rates at the end of 2021 compared to the end of 2020. This was partially offset by various assumption changes and a lower actual return on plan assets compared to the expected return on plan assets (U.S. pension plans had an actual rate of return of 3.6 percent compared to an expected rate of return of 4.2 percent).
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SENSITIVITY
Foreign Exchange Rate SensitivityME&T operations use foreign currency forward and option contracts to manage unmatched foreign currency cash inflow and outflow. Our objective is to minimize the risk of exchange rate movements that would reduce the U.S. dollar value of our foreign currency cash flow. Our policy allows for managing anticipated foreign currency cash flow for up to approximately five years. Based on the anticipated and firmly committed cash inflow and outflow for our ME&T operations for the next 12 months and the foreign currency derivative instruments in place at year-end, a hypothetical 10 percent weakening of the U.S. dollar relative to all other currencies would adversely affect our expected 2024 cash flow for our ME&T operations by approximately $200 million. Last year similar assumptions and calculations yielded a potential $98 million adverse impact on 2023 cash flow. We determine our net exposures by calculating the difference in cash inflow and outflow by currency and adding or subtracting outstanding foreign currency derivative instruments. We multiply these net amounts by 10 percent to determine the sensitivity.In managing foreign currency risk for our Financial Products operations, our objective is to minimize earnings volatility resulting from conversion and the remeasurement of net foreign currency balance sheet positions and future transactions denominated in foreign currencies. Since our policy allows the use of foreign currency forward, option and cross currency contracts to offset the risk of currency mismatch between our assets and liabilities and exchange rate risk associated with future transactions denominated in foreign currencies, a 10 percent change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to all other currencies would not have a material effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flow. Neither our policy nor the effect of a 10 percent change in the value of the U.S. dollar has changed from that reported at the end of last year.The effect of the hypothetical change in exchange rates ignores the effect this movement may have on other variables, including competitive risk. If it were possible to quantify this competitive impact, the results would probably be different from the sensitivity effects shown above. In addition, it is unlikely that all currencies would uniformly strengthen or weaken relative to the U.S. dollar. In reality, some currencies may weaken while others may strengthen. Our primary exposure (excluding competitive risk) is to exchange rate movements in the Chinese yuan, Australian dollar, Euro, British pound and Mexican peso.Interest Rate SensitivityFor our ME&T operations, we have the option to use interest rate contracts to lower the cost of borrowed funds by attaching fixed-to-floating interest rate contracts to fixed-rate debt, and by entering into forward rate agreements on future debt issuances. A hypothetical 100 basis point adverse move in interest rates along the entire interest rate yield curve would have a minimal impact to the 2024 pre-tax earnings of ME&T. Last year, similar assumptions and calculations yielded a minimal impact to 2023 pre-tax earnings.For our Financial Products operations, we use interest rate derivative instruments primarily to meet our match-funding objectives and strategies. We have a match-funding policy that addresses the interest rate risk by aligning the interest rate profile (fixed or floating rate and duration) of our debt portfolio with the interest rate profile of our finance receivable portfolio within a predetermined range on an ongoing basis. In connection with that policy, we use interest rate derivative instruments to modify the debt structure to match assets within the finance receivable portfolio. Match funding reduces the volatility of margins between interest-bearing assets and interest-bearing liabilities, regardless of which direction interest rates move.In order to properly manage sensitivity to changes in interest rates, Financial Products measures the potential impact of different interest rate assumptions on pre-tax earnings. All on-balance sheet positions, including derivative financial instruments, are included in the analysis. The primary assumptions included in the analysis are that there are no new fixed rate assets or liabilities, the proportion of fixed rate debt to fixed rate assets remains unchanged and the level of floating rate assets and debt remain constant. An analysis of the December 31, 2023 balance sheet, using these assumptions, estimates the impact of a 100 basis point immediate and sustained adverse change in interest rates to have a minimal impact on 2024 pre-tax earnings. Last year, similar assumptions and calculations yielded a minimal impact to 2023 pre-tax earnings.This analysis does not necessarily represent our current outlook of future market interest rate movement, nor does it consider any actions management could undertake in response to changes in interest rates. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that actual results would be consistent with the results of our estimate.46Table of Contents
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
We provide the following definitions for the non-GAAP financial measures used in this report. These non-GAAP financial measures have no standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to the calculation of similar measures for other companies. Management does not intend these items to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures.We believe it is important to separately quantify the profit impact of five significant items in order for our results to be meaningful to our readers. These items consist of (i) restructuring costs related to the divestiture of the company's Longwall business, (ii) other restructuring costs, (iii) pension and OPEB mark-to-market gains/losses resulting from plan remeasurements, (iv) certain deferred tax valuation allowance adjustments and (v) goodwill impairment in 2022. We do not consider these items indicative of earnings from ongoing business activities and believe the non-GAAP measures will provide investors with useful perspective on underlying business results and trends and aid with assessing our period-over-period results. In addition, we provide a calculation of ME&T free cash flow as we believe it is an important measure for investors to determine the cash generation available for financing activities including debt repayments, dividends and share repurchases.Reconciliations of adjusted results to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are as follows:(Dollars in millions except per share data) Operating Profit Operating Profit Margin Profit Before Taxes Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes Effective Tax Rate Profit Profit per Share
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2023 - U.S. GAAP $ 12,966 19.3 % $ 13,050 $ 2,781 21.3 % $ 10,335 $ 20.12
Restructuring costs - Longwall divestiture 586 0.9 % 586 — — % 586 1.14
Other restructuring costs 194 0.3 % 194 48 25.0 % 146 0.30
Pension/OPEB mark-to-market (gains) losses — — % (97) (26) 26.8 % (71) (0.14)
Deferred tax valuation allowance adjustments — — % — 106 — % (106) (0.21)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2023 - Adjusted $ 13,746 20.5 % $ 13,733 $ 2,909 21.2 % $ 10,890 $ 21.21
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2022 - U.S. GAAP $ 7,904 13.3 % $ 8,752 $ 2,067 23.6 % $ 6,705 $ 12.64
Goodwill impairment 925 1.6 % 925 36 3.9 % 889 1.68
Restructuring costs 299 0.5 % 299 72 24.0 % 227 0.43
Pension/OPEB mark-to-market (gains) losses — — % (606) (124) 20.5 % (482) (0.91)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2022 - Adjusted $ 9,128 15.4 % $ 9,370 $ 2,051 21.9 % $ 7,339 $ 13.84
Reconciliations of ME&T free cash flow to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net cash provided by operating activities are as follows:Millions of dollars Twelve Months Ended December 31,2023 2022
ME&T net cash provided by operating activities 1
$ 11,688 $ 6,358
ME&T capital expenditures (1,663) (1,298)
Cash payments related to settlements with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service — 717
ME&T free cash flow $ 10,025 $ 5,777
1 See reconciliation of ME&T net cash provided by operating activities to consolidated net cash provided by operating activities on page 51.
47Table of Contents
Supplemental Consolidating Data
We are providing supplemental consolidating data for the purpose of additional analysis. We have grouped the data as follows:
Consolidated – Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries.Machinery, Energy & Transportation – We define ME&T as it is presented in the supplemental data as Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries, excluding Financial Products. ME&T's information relates to the design, manufacturing and marketing of our products.
Financial Products – We define Financial Products as it is presented in the supplemental data as our finance and insurance subsidiaries, primarily Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Financial) and Cat Insurance Holdings Inc. (Insurance Services). Financial Products’ information relates to the financing to customers and dealers for the purchase and lease of Caterpillar and other equipment.
Consolidating Adjustments – Eliminations of transactions between ME&T and Financial Products.
The nature of the ME&T and Financial Products businesses is different, especially with regard to the financial position and cash flow items. Caterpillar management utilizes this presentation internally to highlight these differences. We believe this presentation will assist readers in understanding our business.
Pages 49 to 51 reconcile ME&T and Financial Products to Caterpillar Inc. consolidated financial information. Certain amounts for prior periods have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation.
48Table of Contents
Supplemental Data for Results of Operations
For The Years Ended December 31,
Supplemental consolidating dataConsolidated Machinery, Energy & Transportation Financial Products Consolidating Adjustments
(Millions of dollars) 2023 2022 2021 2023 2022 2021 2023 2022 2021 2023 2022 2021Sales and revenues:Sales of Machinery, Energy & Transportation $ 63,869 $ 56,574 $ 48,188 $ 63,869 $ 56,574 $ 48,188 $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ —
Revenues of Financial Products 3,191 2,853 2,783 — — — 3,927 3,376 3,172 (736) 1 (523) 1 (389) 1
Total sales and revenues 67,060 59,427 50,971 63,869 56,574 48,188 3,927 3,376 3,172 (736) (523) (389)Operating costs:Cost of goods sold 42,767 41,350 35,513 42,776 41,356 35,521 — — — (9) 2 (6) 2 (8) 2
Selling, general and administrative expenses 6,371 5,651 5,365 5,696 4,999 4,724 704 672 654 (29) 2 (20) 2 (13) 2
Research and development expenses 2,108 1,814 1,686 2,108 1,814 1,686 — — — — — —
Interest expense of Financial Products 1,030 565 455 — — — 1,032 565 455 (2) 2 — —
Goodwill impairment charge — 925 — — 925 — — — — — — —
Other operating (income) expenses 1,818 1,218 1,074 630 47 (106) 1,268 1,249 1,247 (80) 2 (78) 2 (67) 2
Total operating costs 54,094 51,523 44,093 51,210 49,141 41,825 3,004 2,486 2,356 (120) (104) (88)
Operating profit 12,966 7,904 6,878 12,659 7,433 6,363 923 890 816 (616) (419) (301)
Interest expense excluding Financial Products 511 443 488 511 444 488 — — — — (1) 3 —
Other income (expense) 595 1,291 1,814 340 1,374 2,276 (16) (26) 87 271 4 (57) 4 (549) 4
Consolidated profit before taxes 13,050 8,752 8,204 12,488 8,363 8,151 907 864 903 (345) (475) (850)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes 2,781 2,067 1,742 2,560 1,858 1,517 221 209 225 — — —
Profit of consolidated companies 10,269 6,685 6,462 9,928 6,505 6,634 686 655 678 (345) (475) (850)
Equity in profit (loss) of unconsolidated affiliated companies 63 19 31 67 26 42 — — — (4) 5 (7) 5 (11) 5
Profit of consolidated and affiliated companies 10,332 6,704 6,493 9,995 6,531 6,676 686 655 678 (349) (482) (861)
Less: Profit (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (3) (1) 4 (4) (1) 3 5 7 12 (4) 6 (7) 6 (11) 6Profit 7$ 10,335 $ 6,705 $ 6,489 $ 9,999 $ 6,532 $ 6,673 $ 681 $ 648 $ 666 $ (345) $ (475) $ (850)
1 Elimination of Financial Products' revenues earned from ME&T.
2 Elimination of net expenses recorded between ME&T and Financial Products.
3 Elimination of interest expense recorded between Financial Products and ME&T.
4 Elimination of discount recorded by ME&T on receivables sold to Financial Products and of interest earned between ME&T and Financial Products as well as dividends paid by Financial Products to ME&T.
5 Elimination of equity profit (loss) earned from Financial Products’ subsidiaries partially owned by ME&T subsidiaries.
6 Elimination of noncontrolling interest profit (loss) recorded by Financial Products for subsidiaries partially owned by ME&T subsidiaries.7 Profit attributable to common shareholders.49Table of Contents
Supplemental Data for Financial Position
At December 31, Supplemental consolidating dataConsolidated Machinery, Energy & Transportation Financial Products Consolidating Adjustments
(Millions of dollars) 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022Assets
Current assets:Cash and cash equivalents $ 6,978 $ 7,004 $ 6,106 $ 6,042 $ 872 $ 962 $ — $ —
Receivables - trade and other 9,310 8,856 3,971 3,710 570 519 4,769 1,2
4,627 1,2
Receivables - finance 9,510 9,013 — — 14,499 13,902 (4,989) 2 (4,889) 2
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 4,586 2,642 4,327 2,488 341 290 (82) 3 (136) 3
Inventories 16,565 16,270 16,565 16,270 — — ——Total current assets 46,949 43,785 30,969 28,510 16,282 15,673 (302) (398)
Property, plant and equipment - net 12,680 12,028 8,694 8,186 3,986 3,842 ——Long-term receivables - trade and other 1,238 1,265 565 418 85 339 588 1,2
508 1,2
Long-term receivables - finance 12,664 12,013 — — 13,299 12,552 (635) 2 (539) 2
Noncurrent deferred and refundable income taxes 2,816 2,213 3,360 2,755 148 115 (692) 4 (657) 4
Intangible assets 564 758 564 758 — — — —
Goodwill 5,308 5,288 5,308 5,288 — — — —
Other assets 5,257 4,593 4,218 3,882 2,082 1,892 (1,043) 5 (1,181) 5
Total assets $ 87,476 $ 81,943 $ 53,678 $ 49,797 $ 35,882 $ 34,413 $ (2,084) $ (2,267)Liabilities
Current liabilities:Short-term borrowings $ 4,643 $ 5,957 $ — $ 3 $ 4,643 $ 5,954 $ — $ —
Accounts payable 7,906 8,689 7,827 8,657 314 294 (235) 6,7 (262) 6
Accrued expenses 4,958 4,080 4,361 3,687 597 393 — —
Accrued wages, salaries and employee benefits 2,757 2,313 2,696 2,264 61 49 — —
Customer advances 1,929 1,860 1,912 1,860 2 — 15 7 —
Dividends payable 649 620 649 620 — — — —
Other current liabilities 3,123 2,690 2,583 2,215 647 635 (107) 4,8 (160) 4,8
Long-term debt due within one year 8,763 5,322 1,044 120 7,719 5,202 — —
Total current liabilities 34,728 31,531 21,072 19,426 13,983 12,527 (327) (422)
Long-term debt due after one year 24,472 25,714 8,626 9,529 15,893 16,216 (47) 9 (31) 9
Liability for postemployment benefits 4,098 4,203 4,098 4,203 — — — —
Other liabilities 4,675 4,604 3,806 3,677 1,607 1,638 (738) 4 (711) 4
Total liabilities 67,973 66,052 37,602 36,835 31,483 30,381 (1,112) (1,164)Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders’ equityCommon stock 6,403 6,560 6,403 6,560 905 905 (905) 10 (905) 10
Treasury stock (36,339) (31,748) (36,339) (31,748) — — — —
Profit employed in the business 51,250 43,514 46,783 39,435 4,457 4,068 10 10 11 10
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (1,820) (2,457) (783) (1,310) (1,037) (1,147) — —
Noncontrolling interests 9 22 12 25 74 206 (77) 10 (209) 10
Total shareholders’ equity 19,503 15,891 16,076 12,962 4,399 4,032 (972) (1,103)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $ 87,476 $ 81,943 $ 53,678 $ 49,797 $ 35,882 $ 34,413 $ (2,084) $ (2,267)
1 Elimination of receivables between ME&T and Financial Products.
2 Reclassification of ME&T’s trade receivables purchased by Financial Products and Financial Products’ wholesale inventory receivables.
3 Elimination of ME&T's insurance premiums that are prepaid to Financial Products.
4 Reclassification reflecting required netting of deferred tax assets/liabilities by taxing jurisdiction.
5 Elimination of other intercompany assets between ME&T and Financial Products.
6 Elimination of payables between ME&T and Financial Products.
7 Reclassification of Financial Products' payables to accrued expenses or customer advances.
8 Elimination of prepaid insurance in Financial Products’ other liabilities.
9 Elimination of debt between ME&T and Financial Products.
10 Eliminations associated with ME&T’s investments in Financial Products’ subsidiaries.
50Table of ContentsSupplemental Data for Statement of Cash FlowFor the Years Ended December 31, Supplemental consolidating dataConsolidated Machinery, Energy & Transportation Financial Products Consolidating Adjustments
(Millions of dollars) 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022Cash flow from operating activities:Profit of consolidated and affiliated companies $ 10,332 $ 6,704 $ 9,995 $ 6,531 $ 686 $ 655 $ (349) 1,5
$ (482) 1,5
Adjustments for non-cash items:
Depreciation and amortization 2,144 2,219 1,361 1,439 783 780 ——Actuarial (gain) loss on pension and postretirement benefits (97) (606) (97) (606) — — — —
Provision (benefit) for deferred income taxes (592) (377) (576) (368) (16) (9) — —
Loss on divestiture 572 — 572 — — — — —
Goodwill impairment charge — 925 — 925 — — — —
Other 375 701 444 452 (577) (205) 508 2
454 2Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions and divestitures:Receivables - trade and other (437) (220) (367) (390) 61 143 (131) 2,3
27 2,3
Inventories (364) (2,589) (360) (2,572) — — (4) 2
(17) 2
Accounts payable (754) 798 (836) 811 41 82 41 2
(95) 2
Accrued expenses 796 317 690 274 106 43 — —
Accrued wages, salaries and employee benefits 486 90 474 97 12 (7) ——Customer advances 80 768 78 769 2 (1) — —
Other assets—net (95) (210) 94 (183) (110) (35) (79) 2
8 2
Other liabilities—net 439 (754) 216 (821) 118 71 105 2
(4) 2
Net cash provided by (used for) operating activities 12,885 7,766 11,688 6,358 1,106 1,517 91 (109)Cash flow from investing activities:Capital expenditures—excluding equipment leased to others (1,597) (1,296) (1,624) (1,279) (22) (20) 49 2
3 2
Expenditures for equipment leased to others (1,495) (1,303) (39) (19) (1,466) (1,310) 10 2
26 2
Proceeds from disposals of leased assets and property, plant and equipment 781 830 55 78 781 764 (55) 2
(12) 2
Additions to finance receivables (15,161) (13,239) — — (17,321) (14,223) 2,160 3
984 3
Collections of finance receivables 14,034 13,177 — — 15,634 14,052 (1,600) 3
(875) 3
Net intercompany purchased receivables — — — — 1,080 492 (1,080) 3
(492) 3
Proceeds from sale of finance receivables 63 57 — — 63 57 — —
Net intercompany borrowings — — — — 10 9 (10) 4
(9) 4
Investments and acquisitions (net of cash acquired) (75) (88) (75) (88) — — — —
Proceeds from sale of businesses and investments (net of cash sold) (4) 1 (4) 1 — — — —
Proceeds from maturities and sale of securities 1,891 2,383 1,642 1,948 249 435 ——Investments in securities (4,405) (3,077) (3,982) (2,549) (423) (528) ——Other—net 97 14 106 98 (9) (84) — —
Net cash provided by (used for) investing activities (5,871) (2,541) (3,921) (1,810) (1,424) (356) (526)
(375)Cash flow from financing activities:Dividends paid (2,563) (2,440) (2,563) (2,440) (425) (475) 425 5
475 5
Common stock issued, including treasury shares reissued 12 51 12 51 — — — —
Common shares repurchased (4,975) (4,230) (4,975) (4,230) — — — —
Net intercompany borrowings — — (10) (9) — — 10 4
9 4
Proceeds from debt issued (original maturities greater than three months) 8,257 6,674 — — 8,257 6,674 ——Payments on debt (original maturities greater than three months) (6,318) (7,728) (106) (25) (6,212) (7,703) ——Short-term borrowings - net (original maturities three months or less) (1,345) 402 (3) (138) (1,342) 540 ——Other—net — (10) — (10) — — ——Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities (6,932) (7,281) (7,645) (6,801) 278 (964) 435 484
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash (110) (194) (60) (131) (50) (63) ——Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (28) (2,250) 62 (2,384) (90) 134 ——Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period 7,013 9,263 6,049 8,433 964 830 ——Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period $ 6,985 $ 7,013 $ 6,111 $ 6,049 $ 874 $ 964 $ —$ —1 Elimination of equity profit earned from Financial Products’ subsidiaries partially owned by ME&T subsidiaries.2 Elimination of non-cash adjustments and changes in assets and liabilities related to consolidated reporting.
3 Reclassification of Financial Products’ cash flow activity from investing to operating for receivables that arose from the sale of inventory.4 Elimination of net proceeds and payments to/from ME&T and Financial Products.
5 Elimination of dividend activity between Financial Products and ME&T.
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FY 2025-12-31 (later)
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is intended to provide information that will assist the reader in understanding the company’s Consolidated Financial Statements, the changes in certain key items in those financial statements between select periods and the primary factors that accounted for those changes. In addition, we discuss how certain accounting principles, policies and critical estimates affect our Consolidated Financial Statements. Our discussion also contains certain forward-looking statements related to future events and expectations. This MD&A should be read in conjunction with our discussion of cautionary statements and significant risks to the company’s business under Item 1A. Risk Factors of the 2025 Form 10-K.
Highlights for the full-year 2025 include:
• Sales and revenues for 2025 were $67.589 billion, an increase of $2.780 billion, or 4 percent, compared with $64.809 billion for 2024. Sales were higher in Power & Energy , about flat in Resource Industries and slightly lower in Construction Industries .
• Operating profit as a percent of sales and revenues was 16.5 percent in 2025, compared with 20.2 percent in 2024. Adjusted operating profit margin was 17.2 percent in 2025, compared with 20.7 percent in 2024.
• Profit per share for 2025 was $18.81, and excluding the items in the table below, adjusted profit per share was $19.06. Profit per share for 2024 was $22.05, and excluding the items in the table below, adjusted profit per share was $21.90.
• Enterprise operating cash flow was $11.7 billion in 2025. Caterpillar ended 2025 with $10.0 billion of enterprise cash.
In order for our results to be more meaningful to our readers, we have separately quantified the impact of significant items.
Full Year 2025 Full Year 2024(Dollars in millions except per share data) Profit Before Taxes Profit Per Share Profit Before Taxes Profit Per ShareProfit $ 11,541 $ 18.81 $ 13,373 $ 22.05
Other restructuring (income) costs
445 0.73 195 0.32
Pension/OPEB mark-to-market (gains) losses
(294) (0.48) (154) (0.23)
Restructuring (income) costs - divestitures of certain non-U.S. entities — — 164 0.22
Tax law change related to currency translation
— — — (0.46)
Adjusted profit $ 11,692 $ 19.06 $ 13,578 $ 21.90
A detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is included on pages 48 - 49.OVERVIEWTotal sales and revenues for 2025 were $67.589 billion, an increase of $2.780 billion, or 4 percent, compared with $64.809 billion for 2024. The increase reflected higher sales volume , partially offset by unfavorable price realization . Higher sales volume was primarily driven by higher sales of equipment to end users. Profit per share was $18.81 in 2025, compared with profit per share of $22.05 in 2024. Profit was $8.884 billion in 2025, compared with $10.792 billion in 2024. The decrease was mainly due to unfavorable manufacturing costs and unfavorable price realization, partially offset by the profit impact of higher sales volume. Unfavorable manufacturing costs largely reflected the impact of higher tariffs.Trends and Economic Conditions
Outlook for Key End MarketsIn Construction Industries, we expect another year of sales of equipment to end users growth in 2026 compared to 2025, supported by elevated order rates and a robust backlog. The outlook for North America remains positive, as sales of equipment to end users should grow moderately compared to 2025 with construction spending remaining healthy due to Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding and other critical infrastructure programs. We also anticipate accelerated investment in data centers, which will further bolster overall construction spending. In 2026, dealer rental fleet loading and dealer's rental revenue are both projected to increase, compared to 2025. In EAME , economic conditions in Europe are expected to strengthen, and construction activity in Africa and the Middle East is projected to remain strong. In Asia Pacific, outside of China, moderate economic conditions are expected in 2026. We anticipate positive momentum in China from low levels, with growth in the above 10-ton excavator industry in 2026. Growth in Latin America is expected to continue in 2026 at a similar rate to 2025.
28Table of ContentsIn Resource Industries, sales of equipment to end users is expected to increase in 2026 as compared to 2025, primarily driven by rising demand for copper and gold, and positive growth trends in heavy construction and quarry and aggregates. In mining, most key commodities remain above investment thresholds, and customer product utilization is high while the age of the fleet remains elevated. With modest increases in commodity prices projected in 2026, we expect rebuild activity to increase slightly compared to 2025.
In Power & Energy, we anticipate growth in Power Generation for both reciprocating engines and turbines and turbine-related services in 2026, driven by increasing energy demand to support data center build-out related to cloud computing and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). Additionally, we are starting to see orders for prime power trend higher as data center customers look for alternative power solutions to keep pace with their growth. After reaching record levels in 2025, Oil & Gas is expected to see moderate growth in 2026. Reciprocating engine sales are expected to increase, driven by strong demand in gas compression applications. For turbines and turbine-related services used in Oil & Gas applications, we expect another year of strong sales in 2026 comparable to our record 2025 performance as backlog remains healthy, with continued solid order and inquiry activity. Demand for products in Industrial applications is expected to grow moderately in 2026 as we see continued recovery from previous lows. In Transportation, we anticipate growth in rail services and locomotive deliveries in 2026 compared to 2025.
Full-Year 2026 Company Trends and Expectations
Our expectations assume the Rail division within Power & Energy, as was the case through year-end 2025. In March 2026, we will file a Form 8-K recasting historical periods to reflect the movement of the Rail division to Resource Industries. This will establish an appropriate baseline for evaluating future segment-level performance and expectations. If necessary, we will also update any segment specific forward-looking assumptions impacted by this change. There will be no impact on the enterprise-wide assumptions due to the Rail division recast.
For the full-year 2026, we anticipate sales and revenues to grow around the top end of our 5 to 7 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) target, as compared to 2025. The strong backlog coupled with healthy end markets supports our expectations for sales volume growth in all three primary segments, as well as favorable price realization of about 2 percent of sales and revenues. We expect machine dealer inventory to increase in 2026 and offset the $500 million decrease in 2025. Services revenues are also expected to grow in 2026 as compared to 2025.
Based on the incremental tariffs announced in 2025 and in place by January 29, 2026, we expect the impact from tariffs to be around $2.6 billion in 2026, which is $800 million higher than incurred in 2025. If we do not take the mitigating actions we plan to take in 2026, the impact from tariffs could be around 20 percent higher. We remain confident that we will manage the impact of tariffs over time.
In 2026, we expect restructuring costs of approximately $300 million to $350 million and capital expenditures of around $3.5 billion. We anticipate our 2026 estimated annual effective tax rate to be 23.0 percent, excluding discrete items.
First-Quarter 2026 Company Trends and Expectations
In the first quarter of 2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025, we expect stronger sales and revenues primarily due to higher sales volume and favorable price realization. We expect higher sales volume to be mainly driven by higher sales of equipment to end users and by the impact from changes in machine dealer inventories . We expect machine dealer inventory to increase in excess of $1.0 billion during the first quarter of 2026, aligning with the seasonal pattern, compared to roughly flat levels in the first quarter of 2025.
In the first quarter of 2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025, we anticipate strong sales growth in Construction Industries, primarily due to higher sales volume and favorable price realization. We expect higher sales volume to be driven by higher sales of equipment to end users and by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. We expect a more typical seasonal dealer inventory build in the first quarter of 2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025. In Resource Industries, we anticipate strong sales growth in the first quarter of 2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025, primarily due to higher sales volume. We expect higher sales volume to be driven by higher sales of equipment to end users and by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. We also expect price realization for the first quarter of 2026 to be about flat as compared to the first quarter of 2025. In Power & Energy, we anticipate sales growth in the first quarter of 2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025, driven by strength in Power Generation and Oil & Gas, and favorable price realization. We expect sales in the first quarter of 2026 will be the lowest of the year and lower than the fourth quarter of 2025, aligned with typical seasonal pattern.
We expect the impact from incremental tariffs to be around $800 million in the first quarter of 2026, which is similar to the fourth quarter of 2025. We anticipate around 50 percent of the incremental tariff costs will be in Construction Industries, 20 percent in Resource Industries and 30 percent in Power & Energy.
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In the first quarter of 2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025, excluding the impact from incremental tariff costs, we expect the profit impact of higher sales volume and favorable price realization will be partially offset by higher manufacturing costs and higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and research & development (R&D) expenses.
In the first quarter of 2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025, in Construction Industries, excluding the impact from incremental tariff costs, we anticipate favorable price realization and the profit impact of higher sales volume will be partially offset by higher manufacturing costs. In Resource Industries, excluding the impact from incremental tariff costs, we anticipate the profit impact of higher sales volume will be more than offset by unfavorable manufacturing costs and higher SG&A/R&D expenses. We also anticipate an unfavorable mix of products in Resource Industries. In Power & Energy, excluding the impact from incremental tariff costs, we anticipate the profit impact of higher sales volume and favorable price realization will be partially offset by higher manufacturing costs.Global Business ConditionsWe continue to monitor a variety of external factors around the world, such as supply chain disruptions, inflationary cost, labor pressures and the impact of trade policies. Areas of particular focus include transportation, certain components and raw materials. We continue to work to minimize supply chain challenges that may impact our ability to meet customer demand. We continue to assess the environment to determine if additional actions need to be taken.Risk FactorsRisk factors are disclosed within Item 1A. Risk Factors of the 2025 Form 10-K.Notes:• Glossary of terms included on pages 36 - 38; first occurrence of terms shown in bold italics.
• Information on non-GAAP financial measures is included on pages 48 - 49.• Some amounts within this report are rounded to the millions or billions and may not add. In addition, the sum of the components reported across periods may not equal the total amount reported year-to-date due to rounding.30Table of Contents2025 COMPARED WITH 2024CONSOLIDATED SALES AND REVENUESThe chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated sales and revenues between 2024 (at left) and 2025 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company’s board of directors and employees.
Total sales and revenues for 2025 were $67.589 billion, an increase of $2.780 billion, or 4 percent, compared with $64.809 billion in 2024. The increase was primarily driven by higher sales volume of $3.389 billion, partially offset by unfavorable price realization of $817 million. The increase in sales volume was mainly driven by higher sales of equipment to end users.
Sales were higher in Power & Energy, about flat in Resource Industries and slightly lower in Construction Industries.
North America sales increased 6 percent due to higher sales volume, partially offset by unfavorable price realization. The increase in sales volume was mainly driven by higher sales of equipment to end users.
Sales increased 4 percent in Latin America primarily due to higher sales volume, partially offset by unfavorable currency impacts related to the Brazilian real. The increase in sales volume was mainly driven by higher sales of equipment to end users.
EAME sales increased 4 percent mainly due to higher sales volume and favorable currency impacts related to the euro, partially offset by unfavorable price realization. The increase in sales volume was primarily driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased in 2025, compared to a decrease in 2024.
Asia/Pacific sales decreased 2 percent primarily due to unfavorable currency impacts related to the Australian dollar, and lower sales volume. The decrease in sales volume was mainly driven by lower sales of equipment to end users.
Total dealer inventory increased about $900 million during 2025, compared to an increase of about $400 million during 2024. Machine dealer inventory decreased about $500 million during 2025, compared to a decrease of about $700 million during 2024. Dealers are independent, and the reasons for changes in their inventory levels vary, including their expectations of future demand and product delivery times. Dealers’ demand expectations take into account seasonal changes, macroeconomic conditions, machine rental rates and other factors. Delivery times can vary based on availability of product from Caterpillar factories and product distribution centers. We expect machine dealer inventory to increase in 2026 and offset the $500 million decrease in 2025.
31Table of Contents
Sales and Revenues by Segment(Millions of dollars) 2024 Sales Volume Price Realization Currency Inter-Segment/Other 2025 $ Change % Change
Construction Industries $ 25,455 $ 568 $ (1,136) $ 24 $ 149 $ 25,060 $ (395) (2 %)
Resource Industries 12,471 403 (272) (46) (82) 12,474 3 — %
Power & Energy 28,854 2,401 592 62 292 32,201 3,347 12 %
All Other Segment 344 11 — (1) (27) 327 (17) (5 %)
Corporate Items and Eliminations (5,761) 6 (1) 6 (332) (6,082) (321)
Machinery, Power & Energy 61,363 3,389 (817) 45 — 63,980 2,617 4 %
Financial Products Segment 4,053 — — — 167 4,220 167 4 %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (607) — — — (4) (611) (4)Financial Products Revenues3,446 — — — 163 3,609 163 5 %
Consolidated Sales and Revenues $ 64,809 $ 3,389 $ (817) $ 45 $ 163 $ 67,589 $ 2,780 4 %Sales and Revenues by Geographic Region
North America Latin America EAME Asia/Pacific External Sales and Revenues Inter-Segment Total Sales and Revenues
(Millions of dollars) $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg $ % Chg2025
Construction Industries $ 14,064 (4%) $ 2,358 (8%) $ 4,595 6% $ 3,783 (3%) $ 24,800 (2%) $ 260 134% $ 25,060 (2 %)
Resource Industries 4,643 1% 2,292 10% 2,061 14% 3,189 (12%) 12,185 1% 289 (22%) 12,474 — %
Power & Energy 15,558 20% 1,985 13% 5,717 (1%) 3,883 10% 27,143 13% 5,058 6% 32,201 12 %
All Other Segment 26 30% — 100% 6 (14%) 14 27% 46 28% 281 (9%) 327 (5 %)
Corporate Items and Eliminations (164) 1 (11) (20) (194) (5,888) (6,082)
Machinery, Power & Energy 34,127 6% 6,636 4% 12,368 4% 10,849 (2%) 63,980 4% — —% 63,980 4 %
Financial Products Segment 2,841 5% 442 10% 511 1% 426 (4%) 4,220 1
4% — —% 4,220 4 %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (359) (90) (86) (76) (611) — (611)
Financial Products Revenues 2,482 6% 352 10% 425 —% 350 (1%) 3,609 5% — —% 3,609 5 %
Consolidated Sales and Revenues $ 36,609 6% $ 6,988 4% $ 12,793 4% $ 11,199 (2%) $ 67,589 4% $ — —% $ 67,589 4 %
2024
Construction Industries $ 14,576 $ 2,553 $ 4,315 $ 3,900 $ 25,344 $ 111 $ 25,455
Resource Industries 4,597 2,079 1,809 3,615 12,100 371 12,471
Power & Energy 13,005 1,763 5,787 3,533 24,088 4,766 28,854
All Other Segment 20 (2) 7 11 36 308 344
Corporate Items and Eliminations (150) (6) (25) (24) (205) (5,556) (5,761)
Machinery, Power & Energy 32,048 6,387 11,893 11,035 61,363 — 61,363
Financial Products Segment 2,702 402 505 444 4,053 1
— 4,053
Corporate Items and Eliminations (353) (81) (82) (91) (607) — (607)
Financial Products Revenues 2,349 321 423 353 3,446 — 3,446
Consolidated Sales and Revenues $ 34,397 $ 6,708 $ 12,316 $ 11,388 $ 64,809 $ — $ 64,809
1 Includes revenues from Machinery, Power & Energy of $712 million and $711 million in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
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CONSOLIDATED OPERATING PROFITThe chart above graphically illustrates reasons for the change in consolidated operating profit between 2024 (at left) and 2025 (at right). Caterpillar management utilizes these charts internally to visually communicate with the company’s board of directors and employees. The bar entitled Other includes consolidating adjustments and Machinery, Power & Energy other operating (income) expenses .
Operating profit was $11.151 billion in 2025, a decrease of $1.921 billion, or 15 percent, compared with $13.072 billion in 2024. The decrease was primarily due to unfavorable manufacturing costs of $2.148 billion and unfavorable price realization of $817 million, partially offset by the profit impact of higher sales volume of $1.218 billion. Unfavorable manufacturing costs largely reflected the impact of higher tariffs.
Operating profit margin was 16.5 percent in 2025, compared with 20.2 percent in 2024.Profit (Loss) by Segment(Millions of dollars) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change
Construction Industries $ 4,675 $ 6,165 $ (1,490) (24 %)
Resource Industries 1,988 2,538 (550) (22 %)
Power & Energy 6,418 5,736 682 12 %
All Other Segment (8) 43 (51) (119 %)
Corporate Items and Eliminations (2,189) (1,384) (805)
Machinery, Power & Energy 10,884 13,098 (2,214) (17 %)
Financial Products Segment 966 932 34 4 %
Corporate Items and Eliminations (102) (327) 225
Financial Products 864 605 259 43 %
Consolidating Adjustments (597) (631) 34
Consolidated Operating Profit $ 11,151 $ 13,072 $ (1,921) (15 %)
33Table of Contents
Other Profit/Loss and Tax Items• Interest expense excluding Financial Products in 2025 was $502 million, compared with $512 million in 2024.
• Other income (expense) in 2025 was income of $892 million, compared with income of $813 million in 2024.
• The effective tax rate for 2025 was 24.0 percent compared to 19.7 percent for 2024. Excluding the discrete items discussed below, the annual effective tax rate was 24.1 percent for 2025 compared to 22.2 percent for 2024. The increase from 2024 was primarily due to changes in U.S. tax incentives.
The company recorded a discrete tax charge of $41 million in 2025, compared to discrete tax benefits of $47 million in 2024, to reflect changes in estimates related to prior years. The company also recorded a tax charge of $68 million related to $294 million of mark-to-market gains for remeasurement of pension and other postretirement benefit (OPEB) plans in 2025, compared to a tax charge of $43 million related to $154 million of mark-to-market gains in 2024. In addition, a discrete tax benefit of $50 million was recorded in 2025, compared with a $57 million benefit in 2024, for the settlement of stock-based compensation awards with associated tax deductions in excess of cumulative U.S. GAAP compensation expense. In 2024, the company recorded a discrete tax benefit of $224 million for a tax law change related to currency translation. The 2024 annual effective tax rate excluded the impact of losses of $164 million for the divestitures of certain non-U.S. entities with related tax benefits of $54 million.
Please see a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures on pages 48-49.Construction IndustriesConstruction Industries’ total sales were $25.060 billion in 2025, a decrease of $395 million, or 2 percent, compared with $25.455 billion in 2024. The decrease was primarily due to unfavorable price realization of $1.136 billion, partially offset by higher sales volume of $568 million. The increase in sales volume was mainly driven by higher sales of equipment to end users, partially offset by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory decreased during 2025, compared with an increase in 2024.
• In North America, sales decreased due to unfavorable price realization, partially offset by higher sales volume. Higher sales volume was primarily driven by higher sales of equipment to end users, partially offset by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory decreased during 2025, compared with an increase in 2024.
• Sales decreased in Latin America due to lower sales volume, unfavorable price realization and unfavorable currency impacts primarily related to the Brazilian real. Lower sales volume was mainly driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased less during 2025 than during 2024.
• In EAME, sales increased due to higher sales volume and favorable currency impacts primarily related to the euro, partially offset by unfavorable price realization. Higher sales volume was mainly driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory increased during 2025, compared with a decrease in 2024.
• Sales decreased in Asia/Pacific due to unfavorable price realization, lower sales volume and unfavorable currency impacts primarily related to the Australian dollar. Lower sales volume was mainly driven by lower sales of equipment to end users.
Construction Industries’ profit was $4.675 billion in 2025, a decrease of $1.490 billion, or 24 percent, compared with $6.165 billion in 2024. The decrease was mainly due to unfavorable price realization of $1.136 billion and unfavorable manufacturing costs of $671 million, partially offset by the profit impact of higher sales volume of $315 million. Unfavorable manufacturing costs largely reflected the impact of higher tariffs.
Construction Industries’ profit as a percent of total sales was 18.7 percent in 2025, compared with 24.2 percent in 2024.Resource IndustriesResource Industries’ total sales were $12.474 billion in 2025, an increase of $3 million, or about flat, compared with $12.471 billion in 2024. Higher sales volume of $403 million was mostly offset by unfavorable price realization of $272 million and unfavorable currency impacts of $46 million, primarily related to the Australian dollar. Higher sales volume was mainly driven by the impact from changes in dealer inventories. Dealer inventory decreased less during 2025 than during 2024.
Resource Industries’ profit was $1.988 billion in 2025, a decrease of $550 million, or 22 percent, compared with $2.538 billion in 2024. The decrease was mainly due to unfavorable manufacturing costs of $302 million and unfavorable price realization of $272 million. Unfavorable manufacturing costs largely reflected the impact of higher tariffs.
Resource Industries’ profit as a percent of total sales was 15.9 percent for 2025, compared with 20.4 percent for 2024.
34Table of ContentsPower & EnergySales by Application(Millions of dollars) 2025 2024 $ Change %ChangeOil and Gas $ 7,502 $ 6,980 $ 522 7 %
Power Generation 10,275 7,756 2,519 32 %
Industrial 4,071 3,990 81 2 %
Transportation 5,295 5,362 (67) (1 %)
External Sales 27,143 24,088 3,055 13 %
Inter-Segment 5,058 4,766 292 6 %
Total Sales $ 32,201 $ 28,854 $ 3,347 12 %
Power & Energy’s total sales were $32.201 billion in 2025, an increase of $3.347 billion, or 12 percent, compared with $28.854 billion in 2024. The increase was primarily due to higher sales volume of $2.401 billion and favorable price realization of $592 million.
• Oil and Gas – Sales increased in turbines and turbine-related services. The increase was partially offset by lower sales of reciprocating engines, primarily engines used in gas compression applications.
• Power Generation – Sales increased in large reciprocating engines, primarily data center applications. Turbines and turbine-related services increased as well.
• Industrial – Sales increased in EAME, partially offset by decreased sales in North America, Latin America and Asia/Pacific.
• Transportation – Sales decreased in marine, partially offset by increased sales in rail services.
Power & Energy’s profit was $6.418 billion in 2025, an increase of $682 million, or 12 percent, compared with $5.736 billion in 2024. The increase was mainly due to the profit impact of higher sales volume of $972 million and favorable price realization of $592 million, partially offset by unfavorable manufacturing costs of $919 million. Unfavorable manufacturing costs primarily reflected the impact of higher tariffs.
Power & Energy’s profit as a percent of total sales was 19.9 percent in 2025 and 2024.Financial Products SegmentFinancial Products’ segment revenues were $4.220 billion in 2025, an increase of $167 million, or 4 percent, compared with $4.053 billion in 2024. The increase was primarily due to a favorable impact from higher average earning assets of $222 million driven by North America, partially offset by an unfavorable impact from lower average financing rates of $68 million across all regions except Latin America.
Financial Products’ segment profit was $966 million in 2025, an increase of $34 million, or 4 percent, compared with $932 million in 2024. The increase was mainly due to a favorable impact from higher average earning assets of $90 million, partially offset by the absence of an insurance settlement of $33 million in 2024, and an unfavorable impact from higher provision for credit losses at Cat Financial of $31 million.Corporate Items and EliminationsExpense for corporate items and eliminations was $2.291 billion in 2025, an increase of $580 million from 2024, primarily driven by increased expenses due to timing differences, higher corporate costs and unfavorable restructuring income/costs.
2024 COMPARED WITH 2023
For discussions related to the consolidated sales and revenue and consolidated operating profit between 2024 and 2023, refer to Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, which was filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on February 14, 2025 and hereby incorporated by reference.
35Table of ContentsRESTRUCTURING COSTSIn 2026, we expect to incur about $300 million to $350 million of restructuring costs. We expect that prior restructuring actions will result in an incremental benefit to operating costs, primarily Costs of goods sold and SG&A expenses, of about $40 million in 2026 compared with 2025.
Additional information related to restructuring costs is included in Note 24 — "Restructuring income/costs" of Part II, Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplemental Data."GLOSSARY OF TERMS1. Adjusted Operating Profit Margin – Operating profit excluding restructuring income/costs as a percent of sales and revenues.
2. Adjusted Profit Per Share – Profit per share excluding restructuring income/costs, pension and OPEB mark-to-market gains/losses, and a discrete tax benefit for a tax law change related to currency translation in 2024.
3. All Other Segment – Primarily includes activities such as: business strategy; product management and development; parts distribution; integrated logistics solutions; electronics and control systems; distribution services responsible for dealer development and administration, including a wholly owned dealer in Japan; dealer portfolio management and ensuring the most efficient and effective distribution of machines, engines and parts; brand management and marketing strategy; research and development for automation, electronics and software for machines and engines and digital investments for new customer and dealer solutions that integrate data analytics with state-of-the-art digital technologies while transforming the buying experience.
4. Consolidating Adjustments – Elimination of transactions between Machinery, Power & Energy and Financial Products.5. Construction Industries – A segment primarily responsible for supporting customers using machinery in infrastructure and building construction applications. Responsibilities include business strategy, product design, product management and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales and product support. The product portfolio includes asphalt pavers; backhoe loaders; cold planers; compactors; compact track loaders; forestry machines; material handlers; motor graders; pipelayers; road reclaimers; skid steer loaders; telehandlers; track-type loaders; track-type tractors (small, medium); track excavators (mini, small, medium, large); wheel excavators; wheel loaders (compact, small, medium); and related parts and work tools.
6. Corporate Items and Eliminations – Includes corporate-level expenses, timing differences (as some expenses are reported in segment profit on a cash basis), methodology differences between segment and consolidated external reporting, certain restructuring costs and inter-segment eliminations.7. Currency – With respect to sales and revenues, currency represents the translation impact on sales resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates versus the U.S. dollar. With respect to operating profit, currency represents the net translation impact on sales and operating costs resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates versus the U.S. dollar. Currency only includes the impact on sales and operating profit for the Machinery, Power & Energy line of business; currency impacts on Financial Products revenues and operating profit are included in the Financial Products portions of the respective analyses. With respect to other income/expense, currency represents the effects of forward and option contracts entered into by the company to reduce the risk of fluctuations in exchange rates (hedging) and the net effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on our foreign currency assets and liabilities for consolidated results (translation).8. Dealer Inventories – Represents dealer machine and engine inventories, excluding aftermarket parts.
9. EAME – A geographic region including Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia.10. Earning Assets – Assets consisting primarily of total finance receivables net of unearned income, plus equipment on operating leases net of accumulated depreciation at Cat Financial.11. Financial Products – The company defines Financial Products as our finance and insurance subsidiaries, primarily Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Financial) and Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc. (Insurance Services). Financial Products’ information relates to the financing to customers and dealers for the purchase and lease of Caterpillar and other equipment.
12. Financial Products Segment – Provides financing alternatives to customers and dealers around the world for Caterpillar products and services, as well as financing for power generation facilities that incorporate Caterpillar products. Financing plans include operating and finance leases, revolving charge accounts, installment sale contracts, repair/rebuild financing, working capital loans and wholesale financing plans. The segment also provides insurance and risk management products36
Table of Contentsand services that help customers and dealers manage their business risk. Insurance and risk management products offered include physical damage insurance, inventory protection plans, extended service coverage and maintenance plans for machines and engines, and dealer property and casualty insurance. The various forms of financing, insurance and risk management products offered to customers and dealers help support the purchase and lease of Caterpillar equipment. The segment also earns revenues from Machinery, Power & Energy, but the related costs are not allocated to operating segments. Financial Products’ segment profit is determined on a pretax basis and includes other income/expense items.
13. Latin America – A geographic region including Central and South American countries and Mexico.
14. Machinery, Power & Energy (MP&E) – The company defines MP&E as Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries, excluding Financial Products. MP&E’s information relates to the design, manufacturing and marketing of its products.
15. Machinery, Power & Energy Other Operating (Income) Expenses – Comprised primarily of gains/losses on disposal of long-lived assets, gains/losses on divestitures and legal settlements and accruals.
16. Manufacturing Costs – Manufacturing costs exclude the impacts of currency and represent the volume-adjusted change for variable costs and the absolute dollar change for period manufacturing costs. Variable manufacturing costs are defined as having a direct relationship with the volume of production. This includes material costs, direct labor and other costs that vary directly with production volume, such as freight, power to operate machines and supplies that are consumed in the manufacturing process. Period manufacturing costs support production but are defined as generally not having a direct relationship to short-term changes in volume. Examples include machinery and equipment repair, depreciation on manufacturing assets, facility support, procurement, factory scheduling, manufacturing planning and operations management.
17. Mark-to-market gains/losses – Represents the net gain or loss of actual results differing from the company’s assumptions and the effects of changing assumptions for our defined benefit pension and OPEB plans. These gains and losses are immediately recognized through earnings upon the annual remeasurement in the fourth quarter, or on an interim basis as triggering events warrant remeasurement.
18. Pension and Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) – The company’s defined-benefit pension and postretirement benefit plans.
19. Power & Energy – A segment primarily responsible for supporting customers using reciprocating engines, turbines, diesel-electric locomotives and related services across industries serving Oil and Gas, Power Generation, Industrial and Transportation applications, including marine- and rail-related businesses as well as product support of on-highway engines. Responsibilities include business strategy, product design, product management, development and testing, manufacturing, marketing and sales and product support. The product and services portfolio includes turbines, centrifugal gas compressors, and turbine-related services; reciprocating engine-powered generator sets; integrated systems and solutions used in the electric power generation industry; reciprocating engines, drivetrain and integrated systems and solutions for the marine and oil and gas industries; reciprocating engines, drivetrain and integrated systems and solutions supplied to the industrial industry as well as Caterpillar machines; electrified powertrain and zero-emission power sources and service solutions development; and diesel-electric and hybrid locomotives and components and other rail-related products and services, including remanufacturing and leasing. Responsibilities also include the remanufacturing of Caterpillar reciprocating engines and components and remanufacturing services for other companies.
20. Price Realization – The impact of net price changes excluding currency and new product introductions. Price realization includes geographic mix of sales, which is the impact of changes in the relative weighting of sales prices between geographic regions.
21. Resource Industries – A segment primarily responsible for supporting customers using machinery in mining, heavy construction and quarry and aggregates. Responsibilities include business strategy, product design, product management and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales and product support. The product portfolio includes large track-type tractors; large mining trucks; hard rock vehicles; electric rope shovels; draglines; hydraulic shovels; rotary drills; large wheel loaders; off-highway trucks; articulated trucks; wheel tractor scrapers; wheel dozers; landfill compactors; soil compactors; wide-body trucks; select work tools; machinery components; wear and maintenance components and related parts. In addition to equipment, Resource Industries also sells technology products and services to provide customers fleet management, equipment management analytics, autonomous machine capabilities, safety services and mining performance solutions. Resource Industries also manages areas that provide services to other parts of the company, including strategic procurement, lean center of excellence, integrated component design and manufacturing and research and development for hydraulic systems and cabs.
22. Restructuring income/costs – May include costs for employee separation, long-lived asset impairments, contract terminations and (gains)/losses on divestitures. These costs are included in Other operating (income) expenses except for defined-benefit plan curtailment losses and special termination benefits, which are included in Other income (expense).
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Restructuring costs also include other exit-related costs, which may consist of accelerated depreciation, inventory write-downs, building demolition, equipment relocation and project management costs and LIFO inventory decrement benefits from inventory liquidations at closed facilities, all of which are primarily included in Cost of goods sold.
23. Sales Volume – With respect to sales and revenues, sales volume represents the impact of changes in the quantities sold for Machinery, Power & Energy as well as the incremental sales impact of new product introductions, including emissions-related product updates. With respect to operating profit, sales volume represents the impact of changes in the quantities sold for Machinery, Power & Energy combined with product mix as well as the net operating profit impact of new product introductions, including emissions-related product updates. Product mix represents the net operating profit impact of changes in the relative weighting of Machinery, Power & Energy sales with respect to total sales. The impact of sales volume on segment profit includes inter-segment sales.
24. Services – Machinery, Power & Energy services revenues include, but are not limited to, aftermarket parts and other service-related revenues and exclude most Financial Products revenues, discontinued products and captive dealer services.LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Sources of fundsWe generate significant capital resources from operating activities, which are the primary source of funding for our MP&E operations. Funding for these businesses is also available from commercial paper and long-term debt issuances. Financial Products’ operations are funded primarily from commercial paper, term debt issuances and collections from its existing portfolio. During 2025, we had positive operating cash flow within both our MP&E and Financial Products' operations. On a consolidated basis, we ended 2025 with $9.980 billion of cash, an increase of $3.091 billion from year-end 2024. In addition, MP&E invests in available-for-sale debt securities and bank time deposits that are considered highly liquid and are available for current operations. These MP&E securities were $1.230 billion as of December 31, 2025 and are included in Prepaid expenses and other current assets and Other assets in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position. We intend to maintain a strong cash and liquidity position.
Consolidated operating cash flow for 2025 was $11.739 billion, down $296 million compared to 2024. The decrease was primarily due to lower profit before taxes, adjusted for non-cash items, partially offset by lower cash taxes paid and changes in accrued wages, salaries, and employee benefits.
Total debt as of December 31, 2025 was $43.330 billion, an increase of $4.921 billion from year-end 2024. Debt related to MP&E increased $2.213 billion in 2025 primarily due to the issuance of new debt in the second quarter of 2025. MP&E issued $1.700 billion of ten-year bonds at 5.2 percent and $300 million of thirty-year bonds at 5.5 percent. The proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of existing indebtedness. Debt related to Financial Products increased by $3.818 billion, of which $1.000 billion is related to intercompany borrowings with MP&E.
As of December 31, 2025, we had three global credit facilities with a syndicate of banks totaling $11.500 billion (Credit Facility) available in the aggregate to both Caterpillar and Cat Financial for general liquidity purposes. Based on management’s allocation decision, which can be revised from time to time, the portion of the Credit Facility available to MP&E as of December 31, 2025 was $2.875 billion. Information on our Credit Facility is as follows:
• In August 2025, we entered into a new 364-day facility. The 364-day facility of $3.500 billion (of which $875 million is available to MP&E) expires in August 2026.
• In August 2025, we amended and extended the three-year facility (as amended and restated, the "three-year facility"). The three-year facility of $3.000 billion (of which $750 million is available to MP&E) expires in August 2028.
• In August 2025, we amended and extended the five-year facility (as amended and restated, the "five-year facility"). The five-year facility of $5.000 billion (of which $1.250 billion is available to MP&E) expires in August 2030.
At December 31, 2025, Caterpillar’s consolidated net worth was $21.388 billion, which was above the $9.000 billion required under the Credit Facility. The consolidated net worth is defined as the consolidated shareholders' equity including preferred stock but excluding the pension and other postretirement benefits balance within AOCI.
38Table of ContentsAt December 31, 2025, Cat Financial’s covenant interest coverage ratio was 1.53 to 1. This was above the 1.15 to 1 minimum ratio, calculated as (1) profit excluding income taxes, interest expense and net gain/(loss) from interest rate derivatives to (2) interest expense calculated at the end of each fiscal quarter for the prior four consecutive fiscal quarter period, required by the Credit Facility.
In addition, at December 31, 2025, Cat Financial’s six-month covenant leverage ratio was 7.65 to 1 and year-end covenant leverage ratio was 8.21 to 1. This was below the maximum ratio of debt to net worth of 10 to 1, calculated (1) on a monthly basis as the average of the leverage ratios determined on the last day of each of the six preceding calendar months and (2) at each December 31, required by the Credit Facility.
In the event Caterpillar or Cat Financial does not meet one or more of their respective financial covenants under the Credit Facility in the future (and are unable to obtain a consent or waiver), the syndicate of banks may terminate the commitments allocated to the party that does not meet its covenants. Additionally, in such event, certain of Cat Financial's other lenders under other loan agreements where similar financial covenants or cross default provisions are applicable may, at their election, choose to pursue remedies under those loan agreements, including accelerating the repayment of outstanding borrowings. At December 31, 2025, there were no borrowings under the Credit Facility.
The aforementioned financial covenants are being reported as calculated under the Credit Facility and not pursuant to U.S. GAAP. Please refer to the credit agreements governing the Credit Facility filed as an exhibit to our periodic reports for further information related to the calculation thereof. For risks related to our indebtedness and compliance with these covenants, please refer to the risk factor "Restrictive covenants in our debt agreements could limit our financial and operating flexibility" set forth in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K.
Our total credit commitments and available credit as of December 31, 2025 were:
December 31, 2025
(Millions of dollars) Consolidated Machinery, Power & Energy Financial ProductsCredit lines available:Global credit facilities $ 11,500 $ 2,875 $ 8,625
Other external 4,337 896 3,441
Total credit lines available 15,837 3,771 12,066
Less: Commercial paper outstanding (5,408) — (5,408)
Less: Utilized credit (771) — (771)
Available credit $ 9,658 $ 3,771 $ 5,887
The other consolidated credit lines with banks as of December 31, 2025 totaled $4.337 billion. These committed and uncommitted credit lines, which may be eligible for renewal at various future dates or have no specified expiration date, are used primarily by our subsidiaries for local funding requirements. Caterpillar or Cat Financial may guarantee subsidiary borrowings under these lines.
We receive debt ratings from the major credit rating agencies. Fitch maintains a "high-A" debt rating, while Moody’s and S&P maintain a “mid-A” debt rating. A downgrade of our credit ratings by any of the major credit rating agencies could result in increased borrowing costs and could make access to certain credit markets more difficult. In the event economic conditions deteriorate such that access to debt markets becomes unavailable, MP&E’s operations would rely on cash flow from operations, use of existing cash balances, borrowings from Cat Financial and access to our committed credit facilities. Our Financial Products’ operations would rely on cash flow from its existing portfolio, existing cash balances, access to our committed credit facilities and other credit line facilities of Cat Financial, and potential borrowings from Caterpillar. In addition, we maintain a support agreement with Cat Financial, which requires Caterpillar to remain the sole owner of Cat Financial and may, under certain circumstances, require Caterpillar to make payments to Cat Financial should Cat Financial fail to maintain certain financial ratios.
39Table of ContentsWe facilitate voluntary supplier finance programs (the “Programs”) through participating financial institutions. We account for the payments made under the Programs, the same as our other accounts payable, as a reduction to our cash flows from operations. We do not believe that changes in the availability of the Programs will have a significant impact on our liquidity. Additional information related to the Programs is included in Note 19 — "Supplier finance programs" of Part II, Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data".Material cash requirements for contractual obligationsWe believe our balances of cash and cash equivalents of $9.980 billion and available-for-sale debt securities of $1.230 billion as of December 31, 2025, along with cash generated by ongoing operations and continued access to debt markets, will be sufficient to satisfy our cash requirements over the next 12 months and beyond.We have committed cash outflows related to postretirement benefit obligations, long-term debt and operating lease agreements. See Notes 12, 14 and 20, respectively, of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information.We have short-term obligations related to the purchase of goods and services made in the ordinary course of business. These consist of invoices received and recorded as liabilities as of December 31, 2025, but scheduled for payment in 2026 of $8.968 billion. In addition, we have contractual obligations for material and services on order at December 31, 2025, but not yet invoiced or delivered, of $9.633 billion.
We also have long-term contractual obligations primarily for logistics services agreements; systems support, software licenses and development contracts; information technology consulting contracts; outsourcing contracts for benefit plan administration and long-term commitments entered into with key suppliers for minimum purchase quantities. These obligations total $2.399 billion, with $695 million due in the next 12 months.
Machinery, Power & Energy
Net cash provided by operating activities was $12.278 billion in 2025, compared with $11.437 billion in 2024. The increase was primarily due to lower working capital requirements and lower cash taxes paid. These were partially offset by lower profit before taxes, adjusted for non-cash items. Within working capital, changes in customer advances, accounts payable, and accrued wages, salaries, and employee benefits favorably impacted cash flow, partially offset by changes in inventories and receivables.
Net cash used by investing activities in 2025 was $2.870 billion, compared with net cash provided of $133 million in 2024. The change was primarily due to lower proceeds from maturities and sale of securities, primarily due to time deposit maturities in 2024; increased activity related to intercompany lending with Financial Products; and an increase in capital expenditures.
Net cash used for financing activities during 2025 was $6.184 billion, compared with $11.417 billion in 2024. The change was primarily due to lower payments to repurchase common stock, higher proceeds from debt issued and lower payments on debt in 2025 compared to 2024.
While our short-term priorities for the use of cash may vary from time to time as business needs and conditions dictate, our resource allocation framework is focused on the following priorities. Our top priority is to maintain a strong financial position in support of a mid-A rating. Next, we intend to fund operational commitments and strategic growth initiatives assessed using the Operating & Execution Model. Then, we intend to return capital to shareholders through dividend growth and share repurchases. Additional information on the resource allocation framework is as follows:
Strong financial position — Our top priority is to maintain a strong financial position in support of a mid-A rating. We track a diverse group of financial metrics that focus on liquidity, leverage, cash flow and margins which align with our resource allocation framework and the various methodologies used by the major credit rating agencies.
Operating & Execution Model used to assess operational commitments and strategic growth initiatives — Capital expenditures were $2.794 billion during 2025, compared to $1.988 billion in 2024. We expect MP&E’s capital expenditures in 2026 to be about $3.5 billion. We made $381 million of contributions to our pension and OPEB plans during 2025. In comparison, we made $271 million of contributions to our pension and OPEB plans in 2024. We expect to make approximately $360 million of contributions to our pension and OPEB plans in 2026.
40Table of ContentsWe intend to utilize our liquidity and debt capacity to fund initiatives targeted to drive long term profitable growth focused on our three strategic growth pillars. Our strategic growth pillars are commercial excellence, advanced technology leadership and transforming how we work. These pillars work together to drive sustainable growth, innovation and operational efficiency for Caterpillar and our customers.
On February 3, 2026, the Federal Court of Australia approved Caterpillar's acquisition of RPMGlobal Holdings Limited, an Australian based software company. The transaction is expected to close in the final two weeks of February with a purchase price of approximately $790 million, excluding cash acquired. RPMGlobal is a leading provider of mining software solutions with deep domain expertise in mining technology enablement and data-driven software solutions at every stage of the mining lifecycle.
Return to shareholders — Our goal is to return substantially all MP&E free cash flow to shareholders over time in the form of dividends and share repurchases, while maintaining our mid-A rating.
MP&E free cash flow is a liquidity measure we use to determine the cash generated and available for financing activities including debt repayments, dividends and share repurchases. We define MP&E free cash flow as cash from MP&E operations less capital expenditures, excluding discretionary pension and other postretirement benefit plan contributions.
Each quarter, our Board of Directors reviews the company's dividend for the applicable quarter. The Board evaluates the financial condition of the company and considers corporate cash flow, the company's liquidity needs, the economic outlook, and the health and stability of global credit markets to determine whether to maintain or change the quarterly dividend. In December 2025, the Board of Directors approved maintaining our quarterly dividend representing $1.51 per share, and we continue to expect our strong financial position to support the dividend. Dividends paid totaled $2.749 billion in 2025.
Our share repurchase plans are subject to the company’s resource allocation framework and are evaluated on an ongoing basis considering the financial condition of the company, corporate cash flow, the company's liquidity needs, the economic outlook, and the health and stability of global credit markets. The timing and amount of future repurchases may vary depending on market conditions and investing priorities. In May 2022, the Board approved a share repurchase authorization (the 2022 Authorization) of up to $15.0 billion of Caterpillar common stock effective August 1, 2022 with no expiration. In June 2024, the Board approved an additional share repurchase authorization (the 2024 Authorization) of up to $20.0 billion of Caterpillar common stock, effective June 12, 2024, with no expiration. In 2025, we repurchased $5.190 billion of Caterpillar common stock. As of December 31, 2025, the 2022 Authorization was fully utilized and $14.937 billion remained under the 2024 Authorization. Caterpillar's basic shares outstanding as of December 31, 2025 were approximately 465 million.Financial ProductsNet cash provided by operating activities was $1.074 billion in 2025, compared with $1.445 billion in 2024. Net cash used for investing activities was $3.870 billion in 2025, compared with $2.787 billion used in 2024. The change was primarily due to portfolio-related activity. Net cash provided by financing activities was $2.705 billion in 2025, compared with $1.206 billion in 2024. The change was primarily due to increased intercompany borrowings from MP&E and external borrowings.Off-balance sheet arrangements
We are a party to certain off-balance sheet arrangements, primarily in the form of guarantees. Information related to guarantees appears in Note 21 — “Guarantees and product warranty” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
For a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements, see Note 1J — “New accounting guidance” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”41
Table of ContentsCRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts. The more significant estimates include: residual values for leased assets, fair values for goodwill impairment tests, warranty liability, reserves for product liability and insurance losses, postretirement benefits, post-sale discounts, credit losses and income taxes. We have incorporated many years of data into the determination of each of these estimates and we have not historically experienced significant adjustments. We review these assumptions at least annually with the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. Following are the methods and assumptions used in determining our estimates and an indication of the risks inherent in each.
Residual values for leased assets — We determine the residual value of Cat Financial’s leased equipment based on its estimated end-of-term market value. We estimate the residual value of leased equipment at the inception of the lease based on a number of factors, including historical wholesale market sales prices, past remarketing experience and any known significant market/product trends. We also consider the following critical factors in our residual value estimates: lease term, market size and demand, total expected hours of usage, machine configuration, application, location, model changes, quantities, third-party residual guarantees and contractual customer purchase options.Upon termination of the lease, the equipment is either purchased by the lessee or sold to a third-party, in which case we may record a gain or a loss for the difference between the estimated residual value and the sale proceeds.
During the term of our leases, we monitor residual values. For operating leases, we record adjustments to depreciation expense reflecting changes in residual value estimates prospectively on a straight-line basis. For finance leases, we recognize residual value adjustments through a reduction of finance revenue over the remaining lease term.
We evaluate the carrying value of equipment on operating leases for potential impairment when we determine a triggering event has occurred. When a triggering event occurs, we perform a test for recoverability by comparing projected undiscounted future cash flows to the carrying value of the equipment on operating leases. If the test for recoverability identifies a possible impairment, we measure the fair value of the equipment on operating leases in accordance with the fair value measurement framework. We recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying value of the equipment on operating leases exceeds its estimated fair value.At December 31, 2025, the aggregate residual value of equipment on operating leases was $1.57 billion. Without consideration of other factors such as third-party residual guarantees or contractual customer purchase options, a 10 percent non-temporary decrease in the market value of our equipment subject to operating leases would reduce residual value estimates and result in the recognition of approximately $65 million of additional annual depreciation expense.Fair values for goodwill impairment tests — We test goodwill for impairment annually, at the reporting unit level, and whenever events or circumstances make it more likely than not that an impairment may have occurred, such as a significant adverse change in the business climate or a decision to sell all or a portion of a reporting unit. We perform our annual goodwill impairment test as of October 1 and monitor for interim triggering events on an ongoing basis.
We review goodwill for impairment utilizing either a qualitative assessment or a quantitative goodwill impairment test. If we choose to perform a qualitative assessment and determine the fair value more likely than not exceeds the carrying value, no further evaluation is necessary. For reporting units where we perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test, we compare the fair value of each reporting unit, which we primarily determine using an income approach based on the present value of discounted cash flows, to the respective carrying value, which includes goodwill. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, we do not consider the goodwill impaired. If the carrying value is higher than the fair value, we recognize the difference as an impairment loss.
For reporting units where we perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test, the process requires valuation of the respective reporting unit, which we primarily determine using an income approach based on a discounted five year forecasted cash flow with a year-five residual value. We compute the residual value using the constant growth method, which values the forecasted cash flows in perpetuity. The assumptions about future cash flows and growth rates are based on each reporting unit's long-term forecast and are subject to review and approval by senior management. A reporting unit’s discount rate is a risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital, which we believe approximates the rate from a market participant’s perspective. The estimated fair value could be impacted by changes in market conditions, interest rates, growth rates, tax rates, costs, pricing and capital expenditures. We categorize the fair value determination as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy due to its use of internal projections and unobservable measurement inputs.The Company completed its annual goodwill impairment tests in the fourth quarter of 2025. Based on those tests, the fair value of each reporting unit was substantially above its respective carrying value, including goodwill, resulting in no impairment charges. Caterpillar's market capitalization has remained significantly above the net book value of the Company.
42Table of ContentsAn unfavorable change in our expectations for the financial performance of our reporting units, particularly long-term growth and profitability, would reduce the fair value of our reporting units. The demand for our equipment and related parts is highly cyclical and significantly impacted by commodity prices, although the impact may vary by reporting unit. The energy and mining industries are major users of our products, including the mineral extraction, oil and natural gas industries. Decisions to purchase our products are dependent upon the performance of those industries, which in turn are dependent in part on commodity prices. Lower commodity prices or industry specific circumstances that have a negative impact to the valuation assumptions may reduce the fair value of our reporting units. Should such events occur and it becomes more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value has fallen below its carrying value, we will perform an interim goodwill impairment test(s), in addition to the annual impairment test. Future impairment tests may result in a goodwill impairment, depending on the outcome of the quantitative impairment test. We would report a goodwill impairment as a non-cash charge to earnings.
Product warranty liability — At the time we recognize a sale, we record estimated future warranty costs. We determine the product warranty liability by applying historical claim rate experience to the current field population and dealer inventory. Generally, we base historical claim rates on actual warranty experience for each product by machine model/engine size by customer or dealer location (inside or outside North America). We develop specific rates for each product shipment month and update them monthly based on actual warranty claim experience. Warranty costs may differ from those estimated if actual claim rates are higher or lower than our historical rates.
Product liability and insurance loss reserve — We determine these reserves based upon reported claims in process of settlement and actuarial estimates for losses incurred but not reported. Loss reserves, including incurred but not reported reserves, are based on estimates, and ultimate settlements may vary significantly from such estimates due to increased claims frequency or severity over historical levels. The amount of these reserves totaled $1.6 billion and $1.5 billion at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The majority of the balance in both 2025 and 2024 consisted of unearned insurance premiums.
Postretirement benefits — We sponsor defined benefit pension plans and/or other postretirement benefit plans (retirement healthcare and life insurance) to employees in many of our locations throughout the world. There are assumptions used in the accounting for these defined benefit plans that include discount rate, expected return on plan assets, expected rate of compensation increase, the future health care cost trend rate, mortality and other economic and demographic assumptions. The actuarial assumptions we use may change or differ significantly from actual results, which may result in a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.The effects of actual results differing from our assumptions and the effects of changing assumptions are considered actuarial gains or losses. We utilize a mark-to-market approach in recognizing actuarial gains or losses immediately through earnings upon the annual remeasurement in the fourth quarter, or on an interim basis as triggering events warrant remeasurement.
Primary actuarial assumptions were determined as follows:• The discount rate is used to discount the future benefit obligations back to today’s dollars. The U.S. discount rate is based on a benefit cash flow-matching approach and represents the rate at which our benefit obligations could effectively be settled as of our measurement date, December 31. The benefit cash flow-matching approach involves analyzing Caterpillar’s projected cash flows against a high quality bond yield curve, calculated using a wide population of corporate Aa bonds available on the measurement date. We use a similar approach to determine the assumed discount rate for our most significant non-U.S. plans. In estimating the service and interest cost components of net periodic benefit cost, we utilize a full yield curve approach in determining a discount rate. This approach applies the specific spot rates along the yield curve used in the determination of the benefit obligation to the relevant projected cash flows. Discount rates are sensitive to changes in interest rates.
• The expected rate of return on plan assets is based on our estimate of long-term returns for equities and fixed income securities weighted by the allocation of our plan assets. This rate is impacted by changes in general market conditions, but because it represents a long-term rate, it is not significantly impacted by short-term market swings. Changes in our allocation of plan assets would also impact this rate. For example, a shift to more fixed income securities would lower the rate. The expected return on plan assets is based on asset allocations as of our measurement date, December 31.• We use the expected rate of compensation increase to develop benefit obligations using projected pay at retirement. It represents average long-term salary increases. This rate is influenced by our long-term compensation policies.• The assumed health care cost trend rate represents the rate at which costs are assumed to increase and is based on historical and expected experience. Changes in our projections of future health care costs due to general economic conditions and those specific to health care (e.g., technology driven cost changes) will impact this trend rate.• We use the mortality assumption to estimate the life expectancy of plan participants.43Table of Contents
Postretirement Benefit Plan Actuarial Assumptions SensitivityThe effects of a one percentage-point change in certain actuarial assumptions on 2025 pension and OPEB costs and obligations are as follows:
2025 Benefit Cost Increase (Decrease) Year-end Benefit Obligation Increase (Decrease)(Millions of dollars) One percentage- point increase One percentage- point decrease One percentage- point increase One percentage- point decrease
U.S. Pension Benefits: 1Discount rate $ 50 $ (62) $ (978) $ 1,144
Expected return on plan assets (114) 114 — —Non-U.S. Pension Benefits:Discount rate 7 (10) (314) 384
Expected rate of compensation increase 4 (4) 34 (29)
Expected return on plan assets (33) 33 — —Other Postretirement Benefits:Discount rate 4 (5) (168) 195Expected rate of compensation increase — — 1 (1)Expected return on plan assets (1) 1 — —1 Effective December 31, 2019, all U.S. pension benefits were frozen, and accordingly the expected rate of compensation increase assumption is no longer applicable.
Actuarial Assumptions
U.S. Pension Benefits Non-U.S. Pension Benefits Other Postretirement Benefits2025 2024 2023 2025 2024 2023 2025 2024 2023Weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligation, end of year:Discount rate 5.3 % 5.6 % 5.0 % 4.3 % 4.1 % 3.9 % 5.3 % 5.6 % 5.1 %
Expected rate of compensation increase 1
— % — % — % 2.2 % 2.2 % 2.3 % 4.0 % 4.0 % 4.0 %Weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost:
Discount rate used to measure service cost 1— % — % — % 3.2 % 3.6 % 3.8 % 5.7 % 5.1 % 5.4 %
Discount rate used to measure interest cost 5.3 % 5.0 % 5.2 % 3.9 % 3.9 % 4.2 % 5.3 % 5.0 % 5.3 %
Expected rate of return on plan assets 6.3 % 5.7 % 5.8 % 5.2 % 5.1 % 5.2 % 6.1 % 7.4 % 7.4 %
Expected rate of compensation increase 1
— % — % — % 2.2 % 2.3 % 2.3 % 4.0 % 4.0 % 4.0 %Health care cost trend rates at year-end:Health care cost trend rate for next year 6.7 % 6.0 % 6.2 %
Rate that the cost trend rate gradually declines to 4.7 % 4.7 % 4.7 %
Year that the cost trend rate reaches ultimate rate 2037 2030 20301 Effective December 31, 2019, all U.S. pension benefits were frozen, and accordingly this assumption is no longer applicable.
See Note 12 — “Postemployment benefit plans” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statement and Supplemental Data” for further information regarding the accounting for postretirement benefits.44Table of ContentsPost-sale discount reserve — We provide discounts to dealers through merchandising programs. We have numerous programs that are designed to promote the sale of our products. The most common dealer programs provide a discount when the dealer sells a product to a targeted end user. The amount of accrued post-sale discounts was $2.5 billion and $2.2 billion at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The reserve represents discounts that we expect to pay on previously sold units and is reviewed at least quarterly. We adjust the reserve if discounts paid differ from those estimated. Historically, those adjustments have not been material.
Allowance for credit losses — The allowance for credit losses is management’s estimate of expected losses over the life of our finance receivables portfolio calculated using loss forecast models that take into consideration historical credit loss experience, current economic conditions and forecasts and scenarios that capture country and industry-specific economic factors. In addition, we consider qualitative factors not able to be fully captured in our loss forecast models, including borrower-specific and company-specific factors. These qualitative factors are subjective and require a degree of management judgment.
We measure the allowance for credit losses on a collective (pool) basis when similar risk characteristics exist and on an individual basis when we determine that similar risk characteristics do not exist. We identify finance receivables for individual evaluation based on past due status and information available about the customer, such as financial statements, news reports and published credit ratings, as well as general information regarding industry trends and the economic environment in which our customers operate. The allowance for credit losses attributable to finance receivables that are individually evaluated is primarily based on the fair value of the collateral for collateral-dependent receivables. In determining collateral value, we estimate the current fair market value of the collateral less selling costs. We also consider credit enhancements such as additional collateral and contractual third-party guarantees.While management believes it has exercised prudent judgment and applied reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that in the future, changes in economic conditions or other factors would not cause changes in the financial health of our customers. If the financial health of our customers deteriorates, the timing and level of payments received could be impacted and therefore, could result in a change to our estimated losses.
Income taxes — We are subject to the income tax laws of the many jurisdictions in which we operate. These tax laws are complex, and the manner in which they apply to our facts is sometimes open to interpretation. In establishing the provision for income taxes, we must make judgments about the application of these inherently complex tax laws. Our income tax positions and analysis are based on currently enacted tax law. Future changes in tax law or related interpretations could significantly impact the provision for income taxes, the amount of taxes payable, and the deferred tax asset and liability balances. Changes in tax law are reflected in the period of enactment with related interpretations considered in the period received.
Despite our belief that our tax return positions are consistent with applicable tax laws, we believe that taxing authorities could challenge certain positions. Settlement of any challenge can result in no change, a complete disallowance, or some partial adjustment reached through negotiations or litigation. We record tax benefits for uncertain tax positions based upon management’s evaluation of the information available at the reporting date. To be recognized in the financial statements, a tax benefit must be at least more likely than not of being sustained based on technical merits. The benefit for positions meeting the recognition threshold is measured as the largest benefit more likely than not of being realized upon ultimate settlement with a taxing authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. Significant judgment is required in making these determinations and adjustments to unrecognized tax benefits may be necessary to reflect actual taxes payable upon settlement. Adjustments related to positions impacting the effective tax rate affect the provision for income taxes. Adjustments related to positions impacting the timing of deductions impact deferred tax assets and liabilities.
Deferred tax assets generally represent tax benefits for tax deductions or credits available in future tax returns. Certain estimates and assumptions are required to determine whether it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the benefit of a deferred tax asset will not be realized. In making this assessment, management analyzes the trend of U.S. GAAP earnings and estimates the impact of future taxable income, reversing temporary differences and available prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. We give less weight in this analysis to mark-to-market adjustments to remeasure our pension and OPEB plans as we do not consider these adjustments indicative of ongoing earnings trends. Should a change in facts or circumstances lead to a change in judgment about the ultimate realizability of a deferred tax asset, we record or adjust the related valuation allowance in the period that the change in facts and circumstances occurs, along with a corresponding increase or decrease in the provision for income taxes.
Additional information related to income taxes is included in Note 6 — “Income taxes” of Part II, Item 8 “Financial statements and Supplementary Data.”OTHER MATTERSInformation related to legal proceedings appears in Note 22 — "Environmental and legal matters" of Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
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Table of ContentsRETIREMENT BENEFITS
We recognize mark-to-market gains and losses immediately through earnings upon the remeasurement of our pension and OPEB plans. Mark-to-market gains and losses represent the effects of actual results differing from our assumptions and the effects of changing assumptions. Changes in discount rates and differences between the actual return on plan assets and the expected return on plan assets generally have the largest impact on mark-to-market gains and losses.The table below summarizes the amounts of net periodic benefit cost recognized for 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and includes expected cost for 2026.
(Millions of dollars) 2026 Expected
2025 2024 2023
U.S. Pension Benefits $ (160) $ (108) $ (74) $ (33)
Non-U.S. Pension Benefits (5) (3) (4) 2
Other Postretirement Benefits 150 174 177 188Mark-to-market loss (gain) — 1(294) (154) (97)
Total net periodic benefit cost (benefit) $ (15) $ (231) $ (55) $ 601 Expected net periodic benefit cost (benefit) does not include an estimate for mark-to-market gains or losses.• Expected decrease in expense in 2026 compared to 2025 — Excluding the impact of mark-to-market gains and losses, our net periodic benefit cost is expected to decrease $78 million in 2026. This expected decrease is primarily due to lower interest cost in 2026 as a result of lower discount rates at the end of 2025.
• Decrease in expense in 2025 compared to 2024 — Primarily due to higher mark-to-market gains in 2025 compared to 2024, higher expected return on plan assets in 2025 and lower interest cost in 2025 as a result of higher discount rates at the end of 2024 creating a lower obligation base.
• Decrease in expense in 2024 compared to 2023 — Primarily due to higher mark-to-market gains in 2024 compared to 2023, lower interest cost in 2024 as a result of lower discount rates at year-end 2023 and a higher expected return on plan assets due to a higher asset base at year-end 2023 compared to year-end 2022.
The primary factors that resulted in mark-to-market losses (gains) for 2025, 2024 and 2023 are described below. We include the net mark-to-market losses (gains) in Other income (expense) in the Results of Operations.
• 2025 net mark-to-market gain of $294 million — Primarily due to a higher actual return on plan assets compared to the expected return on plan assets (U.S. pension plans had an actual rate of return of 10.1 percent compared to an expected rate of return of 6.3 percent) and changes to certain demographic assumptions related to our U.S. other postretirement benefit plans. This was partially offset by lower discount rates at the end of 2025 compared to the end of 2024.
• 2024 net mark-to-market gain of $154 million — Primarily due to higher discount rates at the end of 2024 compared to the end of 2023. This was partially offset by a lower actual return on plan assets compared to the expected return on plan assets (U.S. pension plans had an actual rate of return of 0.7 percent compared to an expected rate of return of 5.7 percent).• 2023 net mark-to-market gain of $97 million — Primarily due to higher actual return on plan assets compared to the expected return on plan assets (U.S. pension plans had an actual rate of return of 10.4 percent compared to an expected rate of return of 5.8 percent) and favorable claims experience related to our other postretirement benefit plans. This was partially offset by lower discount rates at the end of 2023 compared to the end of 2022.46Table of Contents
SENSITIVITY
Foreign Exchange Rate SensitivityMP&E operations use foreign currency forward and option contracts to manage unmatched foreign currency cash inflow and outflow. Our objective is to minimize the risk of exchange rate movements that would reduce the U.S. dollar value of our foreign currency cash flow. Our policy allows for managing anticipated foreign currency cash flow for up to approximately five years. Based on the anticipated and firmly committed cash inflow and outflow for our MP&E operations for the next 12 months and the foreign currency derivative instruments in place at year-end, a hypothetical 10 percent weakening of the U.S. dollar relative to all other currencies would adversely affect our expected 2026 cash flow for our MP&E operations by approximately $135 million. Last year, similar assumptions and calculations yielded a potential $77 million adverse impact on 2025 cash flow. We determine our net exposures by calculating the difference in cash inflow and outflow by currency and adding or subtracting outstanding foreign currency derivative instruments. We multiply these net amounts by 10 percent to determine the sensitivity.In managing foreign currency risk for our Financial Products operations, our objective is to minimize earnings volatility resulting from conversion and the remeasurement of net foreign currency balance sheet positions and future transactions denominated in foreign currencies. Since our policy allows the use of foreign currency forward, option and cross currency contracts to offset the risk of currency mismatch between our assets and liabilities and exchange rate risk associated with future transactions denominated in foreign currencies, a 10 percent change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to all other currencies would not have a material effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flow. Neither our policy nor the effect of a 10 percent change in the value of the U.S. dollar has changed from that reported at the end of last year.The effect of the hypothetical change in exchange rates ignores the effect this movement may have on other variables, including competitive risk. If it were possible to quantify this competitive impact, the results would probably be different from the sensitivity effects shown above. In addition, it is unlikely that all currencies would uniformly strengthen or weaken relative to the U.S. dollar. In reality, some currencies may weaken while others may strengthen. Our primary exposure (excluding competitive risk) is to exchange rate movements in the Australian dollar, Chinese yuan, Euro, Indian rupee and Mexican peso.Interest Rate SensitivityFor our MP&E operations, we have the option to use interest rate contracts to lower the cost of borrowed funds by attaching fixed-to-floating interest rate contracts to fixed-rate debt, and by entering into forward rate agreements on future debt issuances. A hypothetical 100 basis point adverse move in interest rates along the entire interest rate yield curve would have a minimal impact to the 2026 pre-tax earnings of MP&E. Last year, similar assumptions and calculations yielded a minimal impact to 2025 pre-tax earnings.For our Financial Products operations, we use interest rate derivative instruments primarily to meet our match-funding objectives and strategies. We have a match-funding policy that addresses the interest rate risk by aligning the interest rate profile (fixed or floating rate and duration) of our debt portfolio with the interest rate profile of our finance receivable portfolio within a predetermined range on an ongoing basis. In connection with that policy, we use interest rate derivative instruments to modify the debt structure to match assets within the finance receivable portfolio. Match funding reduces the volatility of margins between interest-bearing assets and interest-bearing liabilities, regardless of which direction interest rates move.In order to properly manage sensitivity to changes in interest rates, Financial Products measures the potential impact of different interest rate assumptions on pre-tax earnings. All on-balance sheet positions, including derivative financial instruments, are included in the analysis. The primary assumptions included in the analysis are that there are no new fixed rate assets or liabilities, the proportion of fixed rate debt to fixed rate assets remains unchanged and the level of floating rate assets and debt remain constant. An analysis of the December 31, 2025 balance sheet, using these assumptions, estimates the impact of a 100 basis point immediate and sustained adverse change in interest rates to have a minimal impact on 2026 pre-tax earnings. Last year, similar assumptions and calculations yielded a minimal impact to 2025 pre-tax earnings.This analysis does not necessarily represent our current outlook of future market interest rate movement, nor does it consider any actions management could undertake in response to changes in interest rates. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that actual results would be consistent with the results of our estimate.47Table of Contents
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
We provide the following definitions for the non-GAAP financial measures used in this report. These non-GAAP financial measures have no standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to the calculation of similar measures for other companies. Management does not intend these items to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures.We believe it is important to separately quantify the profit impact of four significant items in order for our results to be meaningful to our readers. These items consist of (i) other restructuring income/costs, (ii) pension and OPEB mark-to-market gains/losses resulting from plan remeasurements, (iii) restructuring income/costs related to the divestitures of certain non-U.S. entities in 2024 and (iv) a discrete tax benefit for a tax law change related to currency translation in 2024. We do not consider these items indicative of earnings from ongoing business activities and believe the non-GAAP measures will provide investors with useful perspective on underlying business results and trends and aids with assessing our period-over-period results.Reconciliations of adjusted results to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are as follows:(Dollars in millions except per share data) Operating Profit Operating Profit Margin Profit Before Taxes Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes Profit Profit per Share
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2025 - U.S. GAAP $ 11,151 16.5 % $ 11,541 $ 2,768 $ 8,884 $ 18.81
Other restructuring (income) costs 444 0.7 % 445 102 346 0.73
Pension/OPEB mark-to-market (gains) losses — — % (294) (68) (226) (0.48)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2025 - Adjusted $ 11,595 17.2 % $ 11,692 $ 2,802 $ 9,004 $ 19.06
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2024 - U.S. GAAP $ 13,072 20.2 % $ 13,373 $ 2,629 $ 10,792 $ 22.05
Restructuring (income) costs - divestitures of certain non-U.S. entities 164 0.2 % 164 54 110 0.22
Other restructuring (income) costs 195 0.3 % 195 46 149 0.32
Pension/OPEB mark-to-market (gains) losses — — % (154) (43) (111) (0.23)
Tax law change related to currency translation — — % — 224 (224) (0.46)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2024 - Adjusted $ 13,431 20.7 % $ 13,578 $ 2,910 $ 10,716 $ 21.90
We believe it is important to separately disclose our annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items for our results to be meaningful to our readers. The annual effective tax rate is discussed using non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effects of amounts associated with discrete items recorded fully in the quarter they occur. These items consist of (i) pension and OPEB mark-to-market gains/losses resulting from plan remeasurements, (ii) the impact of changes in estimates related to prior years, (iii) the settlement of stock-based compensation awards with associated tax deductions in excess of cumulative U.S. GAAP compensation expense, (iv) a discrete tax benefit for a tax law change related to currency translation in 2024 and (v) restructuring income/costs related to the divestitures of certain non-U.S. entities in 2024. We believe the non-GAAP measures will provide investors with useful perspective on underlying business results and trends and aids with assessing the company's period-over-period results.
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Table of Contents
A reconciliation of our effective tax rate to annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items is below:
(Millions of dollars) Profit Before Taxes Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes Effective Tax Rate
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2025 - U.S. GAAP $ 11,541 $ 2,768 24.0 %
Pension/OPEB mark-to-market (gains) losses (294) (68)
Changes in estimates related to prior years — (41)
Excess stock-based compensation — 50
Annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items $ 11,247 $ 2,709 24.1 %
Other restructuring (income) costs 445 102
Changes in estimates related to prior years — 41
Excess stock-based compensation — (50)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2025 - Adjusted $ 11,692 $ 2,802
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2024 - U.S. GAAP $ 13,373 $ 2,629 19.7 %
Restructuring (income) costs - divestitures of certain non-U.S. entities 164 54
Pension/OPEB mark-to-market (gains) losses (154) (43)
Tax law change related to currency translation — 224
Change in estimates related to prior years — 47
Excess stock-based compensation — 57
Annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items $ 13,383 $ 2,968 22.2 %
Other restructuring (income) costs 195 46
Changes in estimates related to prior years — (47)
Excess stock-based compensation — (57)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2024 - Adjusted $ 13,578 $ 2,910
In addition, we provide a calculation of MP&E free cash flow as we believe it is an important measure for investors to determine the cash generation available for financing activities including debt repayments, dividends and share repurchases.
Reconciliations of MP&E free cash flow to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net cash provided by operating activities are as follows:Millions of dollars Twelve Months Ended December 31,2025 2024
MP&E net cash provided by operating activities 1
$ 12,278 $ 11,437
MP&E capital expenditures (2,794) (1,988)
MP&E free cash flow $ 9,484 $ 9,449
1 See reconciliation of MP&E net cash provided by operating activities to consolidated net cash provided by operating activities on page 53.
49Table of Contents
Supplemental Consolidating Data
We are providing supplemental consolidating data for the purpose of additional analysis. We have grouped the data as follows:
Consolidated – Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries.Machinery, Power & Energy – We define MP&E as it is presented in the supplemental data as Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries, excluding Financial Products. MP&E's information relates to the design, manufacturing and marketing of our products.
Financial Products – We define Financial Products as it is presented in the supplemental data as our finance and insurance subsidiaries, primarily Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Financial) and Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc. (Insurance Services). Financial Products’ information relates to the financing to customers and dealers for the purchase and lease of Caterpillar and other equipment.
Consolidating Adjustments – Eliminations of transactions between MP&E and Financial Products.
The nature of the MP&E and Financial Products businesses is different, especially with regard to the financial position and cash flow items. Caterpillar management utilizes this presentation internally to highlight these differences. We believe this presentation will assist readers in understanding our business.
Pages 51 to 53 reconcile MP&E and Financial Products to Caterpillar Inc. consolidated financial information.
50Table of Contents
Supplemental Data for Results of Operations
For The Years Ended December 31,
Supplemental consolidating dataConsolidated Machinery, Power & Energy Financial Products Consolidating Adjustments
(Millions of dollars) 2025 2024 2023 2025 2024 2023 2025 2024 2023 2025 2024 2023Sales and revenues:Sales of Machinery, Power & Energy $ 63,980 $ 61,363 $ 63,869 $ 63,980 $ 61,363 $ 63,869 $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ —
Revenues of Financial Products 3,609 3,446 3,191 — — — 4,382 4,212 3,927 (773) 1 (766) 1 (736) 1
Total sales and revenues 67,589 64,809 67,060 63,980 61,363 63,869 4,382 4,212 3,927 (773) (766) (736)Operating costs:Cost of goods sold 44,752 40,199 42,767 44,761 40,206 42,776 — — — (9) 2 (7) 2 (9) 2
Selling, general and administrative expenses 6,985 6,667 6,371 6,183 5,881 5,696 842 786 704 (40) 2 — (29) 2
Research and development expenses 2,148 2,107 2,108 2,148 2,107 2,108 — — — — — —
Interest expense of Financial Products 1,359 1,286 1,030 — — — 1,389 1,286 1,032 (30) 2 — (2) 2
Other operating (income) expenses 1,194 1,478 1,818 4 71 630 1,287 1,535 1,268 (97) 2 (128) 2 (80) 2
Total operating costs 56,438 51,737 54,094 53,096 48,265 51,210 3,518 3,607 3,004 (176) (135) (120)
Operating profit 11,151 13,072 12,966 10,884 13,098 12,659 864 605 923 (597) (631) (616)
Interest expense excluding Financial Products 502 512 511 516 518 511 — — — (14) 3 (6) 3 —
Other income (expense) 892 813 595 685 728 340 113 85 (16) 94 4 — 271 4
Consolidated profit before taxes 11,541 13,373 13,050 11,053 13,308 12,488 977 690 907 (489) (625) (345)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes 2,768 2,629 2,781 2,525 2,663 2,560 243 (34) 221 — — —
Profit of consolidated companies 8,773 10,744 10,269 8,528 10,645 9,928 734 724 686 (489) (625) (345)
Equity in profit (loss) of unconsolidated affiliated companies 109 44 63 109 44 67 — — — — — (4) 5
Profit of consolidated and affiliated companies 8,882 10,788 10,332 8,637 10,689 9,995 734 724 686 (489) (625) (349)
Less: Profit (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (2) (4) (3) (3) (5) (4) 1 1 5 — — (4) 6Profit 7$ 8,884 $ 10,792 $ 10,335 $ 8,640 $ 10,694 $ 9,999 $ 733 $ 723 $ 681 $ (489) $ (625) $ (345)
1 Elimination of Financial Products' revenues earned from MP&E.
2 Elimination of net expenses recorded between MP&E and Financial Products.
3 Elimination of interest expense recorded between Financial Products and MP&E.
4 Elimination of discount recorded by MP&E on receivables sold to Financial Products and of interest earned between MP&E and Financial Products as well as dividends paid by Financial Products to MP&E.
5 Elimination of equity profit (loss) earned from Financial Products’ subsidiaries partially owned by MP&E subsidiaries.
6 Elimination of noncontrolling interest profit (loss) recorded by Financial Products for subsidiaries partially owned by MP&E subsidiaries.7 Profit attributable to common shareholders.51Table of Contents
Supplemental Data for Financial Position
At December 31, Supplemental consolidating dataConsolidated Machinery, Power & Energy Financial Products Consolidating Adjustments
(Millions of dollars) 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024Assets
Current assets:Cash and cash equivalents $ 9,980 $ 6,889 $ 9,333 $ 6,165 $ 647 $ 724 $ — $ —
Receivables - trade and other 10,920 9,282 3,883 3,463 657 688 6,380 1,2
5,131 1,2
Receivables - finance 10,649 9,565 — — 17,325 14,957 (6,676) 2 (5,392) 2
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 2,801 3,119 2,448 2,872 441 401 (88) 3 (154) 3
Inventories 18,135 16,827 18,135 16,827 — — ——Total current assets 52,485 45,682 33,799 29,327 19,070 16,770 (384) (415)
Property, plant and equipment - net 15,140 13,361 10,985 9,531 4,106 3,830 49 4—Long-term receivables - trade and other 2,142 1,225 1,982 500 163 86 (3) 1,2
639 1,2
Long-term receivables - finance 14,272 13,242 — — 15,538 14,048 (1,266) 2 (806) 2
Noncurrent deferred and refundable income taxes 2,882 3,312 3,208 3,594 133 118 (459) 5 (400) 5
Intangible assets 241 399 241 399 — — — —
Goodwill 5,321 5,241 5,321 5,241 — — — —
Other assets 6,102 5,302 4,525 4,050 2,651 2,277 (1,074) 6 (1,025) 6
Total assets $ 98,585 $ 87,764 $ 60,061 $ 52,642 $ 41,661 $ 37,129 $ (3,137) $ (2,007)Liabilities
Current liabilities:Short-term borrowings $ 5,514 $ 4,393 $ — $ — $ 5,514 $ 4,393 $ — $ —
Accounts payable 8,968 7,675 8,988 7,619 268 331 (288) 7,8 (275) 7,8
Accrued expenses 5,587 5,243 4,877 4,589 710 654 — —
Accrued wages, salaries and employee benefits 2,554 2,391 2,494 2,335 60 56 — —
Customer advances 3,314 2,322 3,311 2,305 3 3 — 14 8
Dividends payable 703 674 703 674 — — — —
Other current liabilities 2,798 2,909 2,259 2,388 645 696 (106) 5,9 (175) 5,9
Long-term debt due within one year 7,120 6,665 35 46 7,085 6,619 — —
Total current liabilities 36,558 32,272 22,667 19,956 14,285 12,752 (394) (436)
Long-term debt due after one year 30,696 27,351 10,955 8,731 21,018 18,787 (1,277) 10 (167) 10
Liability for postemployment benefits 3,838 3,757 3,837 3,757 1 — — —
Other liabilities 6,175 4,890 5,162 3,977 1,516 1,344 (503) 5 (431) 5
Total liabilities 77,267 68,270 42,621 36,421 36,820 32,883 (2,174) (1,034)Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders’ equityCommon stock 7,181 6,941 7,181 6,941 905 905 (905) 11 (905) 11
Treasury stock (49,539) (44,331) (49,539) (44,331) — — — —
Profit employed in the business 65,448 59,352 60,639 54,787 4,799 4,555 10 11 10 11
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (1,772) (2,471) (843) (1,182) (929) (1,289) — —
Noncontrolling interests — 3 2 6 66 75 (68) 11 (78) 11
Total shareholders’ equity 21,318 19,494 17,440 16,221 4,841 4,246 (963) (973)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $ 98,585 $ 87,764 $ 60,061 $ 52,642 $ 41,661 $ 37,129 $ (3,137) $ (2,007)
1 Elimination of receivables between MP&E and Financial Products.
2 Reclassification of MP&E’s trade receivables purchased by Financial Products and Financial Products’ wholesale inventory receivables.
3 Elimination of MP&E's insurance premiums that are prepaid to Financial Products.
4 Reclassification of Financial Products’ other assets to property, plant and equipment.
5 Reclassification reflecting required netting of deferred tax assets/liabilities by taxing jurisdiction.
6 Elimination of other intercompany assets and liabilities between MP&E and Financial Products.
7 Elimination of payables between MP&E and Financial Products.
8 Reclassification of Financial Products’ payables to customer advances.
9 Elimination of prepaid insurance in Financial Products’ other liabilities.
10 Elimination of debt between MP&E and Financial Products.
11 Eliminations associated with MP&E’s investments in Financial Products’ subsidiaries.
52Table of ContentsSupplemental Data for Cash FlowFor the Years Ended December 31, Supplemental consolidating dataConsolidated Machinery, Power & Energy Financial Products Consolidating Adjustments
(Millions of dollars) 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024Cash flow from operating activities:Profit of consolidated and affiliated companies $ 8,882 $ 10,788 $ 8,637 $ 10,689 $ 734 $ 724 $ (489) 1,5
$ (625) 1,5
Adjustments to reconcile profit to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization 2,262 2,153 1,497 1,368 765 785 ——Actuarial (gain) loss on pension and postretirement benefits (294) (154) (294) (154) — — — —
Provision (benefit) for deferred income taxes 465 (621) 395 (327) 70 (294) — —
(Gain) loss on divestiture 30 164 30 (46) — 210 — —
Other 742 564 658 355 (513) (388) 597 2
597 2Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions and divestitures:Receivables - trade and other (2,138) (160) (503) 413 63 207 (1,698) 2,3
(780) 2,3
Inventories (1,477) (414) (1,473) (400) — — (4) 2
(14) 2
Accounts payable 1,179 (282) 1,217 (200) (11) (41) (27) 2
(41) 2
Accrued expenses 438 191 486 78 (48) 113 — —
Accrued wages, salaries and employee benefits 187 (363) 185 (358) 2 (5) ——Customer advances 1,933 370 1,933 369 — 1 — —
Other assets - net (176) (97) (48) (188) (28) 48 (100) 2
43 2
Other liabilities - net (294) (104) (442) (162) 40 85 108 2
(27) 2
Net cash provided by (used for) operating activities 11,739 12,035 12,278 11,437 1,074 1,445 (1,613) (847)Cash flow from investing activities:Capital expenditures - excluding equipment leased to others (2,821) (1,988) (2,758) (1,952) (94) (41) 31 2
5 2
Expenditures for equipment leased to others (1,465) (1,227) (36) (36) (1,438) (1,211) 9 2
20 2
Proceeds from disposals of leased assets and property, plant and equipment 708 722 79 35 665 698 (36) 2
(11) 2
Additions to finance receivables (15,329) (15,409) — — (18,058) (16,845) 2,729 3
1,436 3
Collections of finance receivables 13,515 13,608 — — 15,664 14,707 (2,149) 3
(1,099) 3
Net intercompany purchased receivables — — — — (529) 129 529 3
(129) 3
Proceeds from sale of finance receivables 71 83 — — 71 83 — —
Additions to intercompany receivables (original maturities greater than three months) — — (1,000) — — — 1,000 4—Collections of intercompany receivables (original maturities greater than three months) — — — — 80 — (80) 4—Net intercompany borrowings — — — — — 21 — (21) 4
Investments and acquisitions (net of cash acquired) (47) (34) (47) (34) — — — —
Proceeds from sale of businesses and investments (net of cash sold) 22 (61) 22 92 — (153) — —
Proceeds from maturities and sale of securities 2,494 3,155 1,541 2,795 953 360 —
—
Investments in securities (1,930) (1,495) (797) (909) (1,133) (586) —
—
Other - net 75 193 126 142 (51) 51 — —
Net cash provided by (used for) investing activities (4,707) (2,453) (2,870) 133 (3,870) (2,787) 2,033
201Cash flow from financing activities:Dividends paid (2,749) (2,646) (2,749) (2,646) (500) (625) 500 5
625 5
Common stock issued, and other stock compensation transactions, net (16) 20 (16) 20 — — — —
Payments to purchase common stock (5,190) (7,697) (5,190) (7,697) — — — —
Excise tax paid on purchases of common stock (73) (40) (73) (40) — — — —
Proceeds from intercompany borrowings (original maturities greater than three months) — — — — 1,000 — (1,000) 4—Payments on intercompany borrowings (original maturities greater than three months) — — (80) — — — 80 4—Net intercompany borrowings — — — (21) — — — 21 4
Proceeds from debt issued (original maturities greater than three months) 11,105 10,283 1,976 — 9,129 10,283 ——Payments on debt (original maturities greater than three months) (8,081) (9,316) (51) (1,032) (8,030) (8,284) ——Short-term borrowings - net (original maturities three months or less) 1,106 (168) — — 1,106 (168) ——Other - net (1) (1) (1) (1) — — ——Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities (3,899) (9,565) (6,184) (11,417) 2,705 1,206 (420) 646
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash (43) (106) (58) (94) 15 (12) ——Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 3,090 (89) 3,166 59 (76) (148) —
—
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period 6,896 6,985 6,170 6,111 726 874 —
—
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period $ 9,986 $ 6,896 $ 9,336 $ 6,170 $ 650 $ 726 $ —$ —1 Elimination of equity profit earned from Financial Products’ subsidiaries partially owned by MP&E subsidiaries.2 Elimination of non-cash adjustments and changes in assets and liabilities related to consolidated reporting.
3 Reclassification of Financial Products’ cash flow activity from investing to operating for receivables that arose from the sale of inventory.4 Elimination of proceeds and payments to/from MP&E and Financial Products.
5 Elimination of dividend activity between Financial Products and MP&E.
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