Club holding Caterpillar (CAT) delivered another strong quarter before the opening bell Tuesday, sparking a much-deserved rally of more than 8% to an all-time high above $287 per share. Revenue in the second quarter increased 22% year over year to $17.32 billion, exceeding estimates of $16.49 billion, according to Refinitiv. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) surged 75% to $5.55, well ahead of estimates of $4.58. Profit margin performance was well ahead of expectations, with operating income beating across all of the company’s product segments. CAT 5Y mountain Caterpillar 5-year performance Bottom line Strong headline results at Caterpillar were met with a very bullish conference call — giving shares another jolt to the upside, thanks to positive commentary on the operating environment and growth drivers for the remainder of the year. In addition to strong quarterly sales, Caterpillar’s backlog increased to $30.7 billion. That represents a $300 million quarter-over-quarter gain and a $2.2 billion year-over-year surge. Despite strong results in the first quarter, shares sold off on concerns that the backlog, which was flat versus the fourth quarter, indicating that the strongest demand was in the rearview mirror. At the time, we never bought into that notion because there was too much infrastructure spending coming down the pipe. In Tuesday’s results, we’re starting to see that money flow through to the backlog. Indeed, management told us as much on the call that they “expect continued growth in nonresidential construction in North America due to the positive impact of government-related infrastructure investments and a healthy pipeline of construction projects.” How fast those orders come in will depend on the timeline to obtain permits, but the team does expect the order momentum to “last for some time.” Combined with commentary around dealer inventories and end market dynamics, this infrastructure potential gives us confidence in sustained demand through the end of the year and into 2024. While forward guidance wasn’t expressly given, management made clear that business has improved over the past three months, with full-year results tracking above where consensus estimates had been coming into the print. This was as good of a quarter as we could have hoped for, with plenty of conviction from management for continued momentum. That said, we told investors during Tuesday’s Morning Meeting that conviction always takes a back seat to discipline. With that view in mind, if not restricted, we would be trimming 25 shares, or a little over 7% of our position, due to the strong stock move higher. In line with that view, we’re maintaining our 2 rating , however, raising our price target to $300 per share, up from $285. Companywide Q2 results All three of Caterpillar’s physical product segments, as indicated in the table above, reported strong year-over-year revenue growth that beat estimates. While Financial Products sales missed the mark, lower credit loss provisions — an estimate on loans that won’t get repaid — helped segment operating income outpace expectations. Construction Industries sales in Q2 rose 19% to $7.15 billion. North America was up thanks to an increase in both selling prices and sales volume. On the call, management called out strong demand in both North American residential and nonresidential construction. Latin America saw a decline in sales volume, however, this was partially offset by an increase in prices. In Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, an increase in prices was compounded by higher sales volumes. Sales in Asia/Pacific were largely flat versus the year-ago period. China remains weak and that’s not expected to change much in the near term. Fortunately, China represents less than 5% of sales with weakness being more than offset by strong demand elsewhere in the Asia/Pacific region. Resource Industries sales of $3.56 billion increased by 20%. Segment sales benefited from both higher prices and an increase in sales volume, two factors that also aided segment operating income performance despite an increase in material costs. Within the segment, management expects “healthy mining demand to continue as commodity prices remain above investment thresholds.” Energy & Transportation sales increased 27% to $7.22 billion. Backlog commentary Management explained on the call that backlog levels are a function of demand (which adds to the backlog), as well as the company’s production rates and ability to ship out inventory (which decreases the backlog). With the supply chain improving and Caterpillar’s ability to more quickly turnover orders, we may see that robust backlog as of the end of Q2 decline in future quarters. If that were to occur, a declining backlog would not necessaliry be viewed negatively should it prove to be a function of shorter lead times thanks to increased product availability. Dealer inventories, another forward-looking metric to monitor, increased by about $600 million on a sequential basis and provided a $1 billion benefit to total sales. Caterpillar dealers are independent businesses and they’re not going to increase inventory levels if they aren’t seeing strong demand on the near-term horizon. Guidance As mentioned earlier in the bottom line , Caterpillar didn’t provide exact guidance numbers for every line item. But, we did get positive qualitative comments on the path ahead. The team stated plainly that they now expect their full-year 2023 to be better than they thought just three months ago. Starting with the third quarter, management noted that sales are expected to be higher on an annual basis but lower on a sequential basis (which is typical given seasonal trends). The Street was modeling a 6.8% annual increase and a 7.9% sequential decrease versus the topline results we got Tuesday (or a 2.9% sequential decline versus estimates coming into the print). How exactly that matches up versus estimates is hard to say but we would bet that it’s at least as good as analysts were looking for, probably a bit better. The adjusted operating profit margin for the third quarter is expected to have a similar dynamic, expansion versus the year-ago period and contraction on a sequential basis. That commentary is also in line with Street models coming into the print. On a full-year basis, management expects Caterpillar’s operating profit margin to “be close to the top end of our target range.” The team also noted that second-half sales will be higher versus the second half of 2022. Coming into the release, the Street had been modeling second-half sales of about $33.4 billion. In the first two quarters, Caterpillar generated sales of about $33.2 billion. Add those up and we get a blended full-year sales estimate of $66.4 billion. According to the target ranges provided by the company, we should be looking for an adjusted operating profit margin of about 19%, which if achieved would be ahead of the 18% margin the Street is currently expecting. However, that would be below the 21% in Q2. As for full-year cash flow, the team expects Machinery, Energy & Transportation (ME & T) to be “around the top” of their $4 billion to $8 billion range. That’s highly positive given that management intends to “return substantially all” ME & T free cash flow to shareholders via dividends and repurchases over time. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long CAT. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
A Caterpillar (Cat) Excavator is seen working at a construction site near the New York Harbor in Brooklyn, New York, March 4, 2021.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Club holding Caterpillar (CAT) delivered another strong quarter before the opening bell Tuesday, sparking a much-deserved rally of more than 8% to an all-time high above $287 per share.
New EVs got a little more expensive in April, and consumers saw fewer deals than before, according to new estimates from Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book.
In April, the average transaction price (ATP) for a new EV climbed to $59,255. That’s up 3.7% from the same time last year, and slightly higher, by 0.2%, than in March. Kelley Blue Book even revised March’s average price downward to $59,132.
Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive, noted that “Ever since President Trump announced auto tariffs 47 days ago, the cost of new cars has been steadily climbing.”
At the same time, incentives took another dip. They made up just 11.6% of the average EV transaction price in April, down from 13.9% when they peaked in November 2024. This marks the second month in a row that EV incentives have declined.
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Tesla led the way in May, selling more than 45,000 EVs – its best performance of the year so far. Most of those sales came from the updated Model Y, which continues to dominate the US EV market. Tesla’s average transaction price rose in April to $56,120, up both month over month and year over year.
Meanwhile, the Cybertruck, once the top-selling EV priced over $100,000, had an average sales price of $89,247 last month. But sales dropped below 2,000 units for the first time in a year, signaling a potential cool-off for the controversial pickup.
Overall, new EV sales in April were down nearly 6% from March, based on Kelley Blue Book’s early estimates. But year-to-date EV sales in 2025 are still up 5.4% compared to the same period in 2024.
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The EV3 is already one of the top-selling EVs in Europe and Korea, but when will Kia bring it to the US? After it was recently spotted testing on US streets, the Kia EV3 could finally make its North American debut soon. Here’s what we know.
When will the Kia EV3 make its North American debut?
Kia’s compact electric SUV was again the top-selling EV in Korea last month. It’s also currently among the best-selling electric cars in Europe.
Kia sold 27,761 EVs in Europe in the first quarter, up 17% from the previous record set in Q3 2023. The EV3 led the surge with 17,878 models sold, or 64% of Kia’s total electric vehicle sales in the region.
In March, the EV3 was also the best-selling retail electric car in the UK, driving Kia’s EVs to a record 21% share of its total sales. With the EV3 rolling out in other global markets, like Australia and New Zealand, when will it finally arrive in the US?
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After the Kia EV3 was recently spotted testing on US streets, its North American debut could finally be coming up soon.
The new video from KindelAuto shows the 2026 Kia EV6 GT-Line trim, but with what appears to be the US-spec model. Despite the camo, you can see the EV3 has minor design changes, like added orange side reflectors, which are likely to meet regulations.
Although Kia has yet to confirm it, the EV3 could make its North American debut as early as later this year and launch in early 2026. Prices will be revealed closer to its debut, but the EV3 will likely start at around $35,000 to $40,000.
Kia’s smaller electric SUV starts at around 36,000 euros ($40,000) in Europe and roughly $30,700 in Korea (KRW 42.08 million).
In the meantime, those in North America will see Kia’s first electric sedan, the EV4, arrive next year. Kia confirmed the 2026 EV4 will have a built-in NACS port to access Tesla Superchargers and an estimated driving range of up to 330 miles. Prices are also expected to start at around $35,000 to $40,000.
Less than a year after officially launching in the US, the 2025 Audi Q6 e-tron has received its safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). According to the German automaker, its compact luxury crossover has been awarded Top Safety Pick+ status—the highest possible rating from the IIHS.
The Q6 e-tron remains the newest edition to Audi’s long-running all-electric segment of sedans, GTs, and SUVs. We first caught wind of it back in March 2024 when Audi teased a shadowy image while promising the Q6 e-tron would “overtake expectations.”
The 2025 Q6 e-tron made its official debut last September. The lineup includes an RWD version that delivers the longest range (321 miles) of any Audi BEV. At that point, the Q6 e-tron had received a five-star safety rating from the Euro NCAP, but until today, we were still awaiting its rating from the IIHS.
Today, Audi confirmed that the 2025 Q6 e-tron is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ – the best you can get.
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Source: IIHS.org
Audi Q6 e-tron wins Top Safety Pick+ amidst higher criteria
When announcing the award status from the IIHS, Audi pointed out that the US institute altered its Top Safety Pick+ criteria for 2025 models, making the top-tier award harder to achieve. This included a new focus on rear-passenger safety and a moderate overlap front collision test, which simulates a head-on collision, whereas the test vehicle strikes a vehicle of equal size and weight at 40 mph with 40% of the front widths of those vehicles overlapping.
The compact crossover achieved a “good” (the highest IIHS) rating on all tests, warranting the Top Safety Pick+ status. As such, the IIHS has deemed the Q6 e-tron one of the safest all-electric models on the road.
The 2025 Q6 e-tron starts at $63,800 in the US and is currently available in three trimlines and a Premium quattro powertrain configuration.
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