AI Is Transforming This Once-Boring Blue-Chip Stock. Is It a Buy for 2026?

Group 1: Company Overview - Caterpillar (CAT) has a market capitalization of $270 billion and specializes in manufacturing and selling construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives both domestically and internationally [1] - Founded in 1925, Caterpillar has established a strong reputation in the industry, particularly for its bulldozers and excavators [2] Group 2: Strategic Initiatives - Caterpillar is making a significant investment of $725 million to expand its Lafayette, Indiana plant, aiming to more than double its turbine engine production capacity by the end of the decade [4] - The company is well-positioned to capitalize on the artificial intelligence (AI) megatrend, with its power and energy division identified as the fastest-growing business unit due to increasing demand for generators that power AI data centers [2][4] Group 3: Market Demand and Growth Projections - CEO Joe Creed indicated that the company has unprecedented visibility into future demand, supported by long-term agreements and detailed forecasts from hyperscale customers building data centers [5] - Caterpillar anticipates annual sales growth of 5% to 7% through 2030, an increase from the previous average growth rate of 4% [5] - The International Energy Agency projects that data center electricity demand will triple by 2035, equating to the energy needs of 15 New York City-sized computing infrastructures [6] Group 4: Partnerships and Contracts - Caterpillar has secured a deal with Joule Capital Partners to provide four gigawatts of power to a data center campus in Utah [7] - The company has also partnered with Hunt Energy to deploy up to one gigawatt of generation capacity across North America [7]