Caterpillar smashed earnings estimates. Shares were rising in premarket trading on Tuesday.

For the quarter, Caterpillar reported second-quarter earnings per share of $8.17 from sales of $20.5 billion. Wall Street was looking for earnings per share of $6.22 from sales of $19.3 billion.

Shares were rising 7.6% to $893.18, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up about 0.1%.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates. Read a preview of Cat's second-quarter earnings report below.

Caterpillar stock has been on a wild ride lately, and, yes, it's been all about artificial intelligence. Second-quarter earnings arrive on Tuesday. Those will be about AI, too.

A lot has happened since the company last reported earnings on Apr. 30 -- a report that sent shares up almost 10%. Cat stock was at about $810 before earnings. In the subsequent weeks, it traded as high as $1,073.46 and as low as $776 as euphoria built and then faded over the strength of the AI data-center building boom. Cat stock has also been downgraded and sold short by Michael Burry since the first-quarter results were released.

Given all that, how investors will react to second-quarter numbers is anyone's guess. Of course, results will have something to do with post-earnings trading.

For the quarter, Wall Street is looking for earnings per share of $6.22 from sales of $19.3 billion. A year ago, Cat reported EPS of $4.72 from sales of $16.6 billion.

Sales in the power and energy business segment will be a focus -- if not the focus. That business is booming thanks to power-hungry AI data centers that need Cat generators to provide electricity. Cat's business segment generated $7 billion in first-quarter sales, up 22% year over year, with power generation sales up 48% "driven by strong demand for large gensets and turbines used in data center applications with an increasing mix towards prime power," said management in April.

Strong overall and data-center growth will be key on Tuesday. Cat's power and energy division generated $7 billion in second-quarter 2025 sales. (Cat restated its business segment financials in March.)

Cat stock rose on Monday to start the new month of trading. Shares enter Tuesday up about 45% year to date, trading at about 27 times expected earnings over the coming 12 months. That might not seem like a big multiple, but it is for Cat. In late 2022, when ChatGPT was released, Cat traded for about 15 times earnings.

With a higher valuation come higher expectations. Cat crushed it with the first-quarter earnings report. Investors are hoping for a repeat performance.