Caterpillar posts record annual sales, revenues and adjusted profit per share

US off-highway equipment giant Caterpillar saw its full-year sales and revenues hit US$67.1 billion, up 13% compared with $59.4 billion in 2022. The increase reflected favourable price realisation and higher sales volume, driven by higher equipment sales to end users. The impact of changes in dealer inventories partially offset the increase. Operating profit margin was 19.3% in 2023, compared with 13.3% in 2022. Adjusted operating profit margin was 20.5% in 2023, compared with 15.4% in 2022.

“I'm very proud of our global team's strong performance as they achieved the best year in our 98-year history, including record full-year sales and revenues, record adjusted profit per share and record ME&T free cash flow,” said Caterpillar chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. “We remain committed to serving our customers, executing our strategy and investing for long-term profitable growth.”

Caterpillar’s fourth-quarter sales and revenues were US$17.1 billion, a 3% increase compared with $16.6 billion in Q4 2022. The company’s operating profit margin was 18.4% for the quarter, compared with 10.1% for the same period of 2022. Adjusted operating profit margin was 18.9%, compared with 17% for the fourth quarter of 2022.

In 2023,  Caterpillar’s adjusted operating profit margin and adjusted profit per share omitted restructuring costs, which included the impact of the sale of the company's Longwall business and other restructuring costs. 2023 adjusted profit per share also excluded a benefit for certain deferred tax valuation allowance adjustments and mark-to-market gains for remeasurement of pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) plans.

For the full year of 2023, Caterpillar’s enterprise operating cash flow was $12.9 billion. During the year, the company repurchased $5 billion of Caterpillar common stock and paid dividends of $2.6 billion. Liquidity remained strong, with an enterprise cash balance of $7 billion at the end of 2023.