Caterpillar shares jumped more than 6% Tuesday morning, trading at $882.97 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time, after the construction and mining equipment maker reported record second-quarter results and raised its full-year sales outlook, driven largely by surging demand tied to the ongoing buildout of AI data centers.

The gains, which reached as high as 11% in premarket trading before settling into Tuesday's session, added roughly 450 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and reinforced the equipment giant's growing role as a beneficiary of the broader artificial-intelligence infrastructure boom sweeping through corporate America.

Caterpillar reported second-quarter sales and revenue of $20.5 billion, up 24% from $16.6 billion a year earlier, marking the first time in the company's history that quarterly sales have topped $20 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $8.17, up sharply from $4.72 in the same period last year and well above the $6.20 per share analysts had expected, according to data compiled by LSEG. On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share rose to $7.77 from $4.62, while net profit climbed to $3.593 billion from $2.179 billion. Operating profit increased 50% to $4.295 billion.

Chairman and CEO Joe Creed highlighted the milestone in a statement accompanying the results, noting it marked "the first time in company history that we have generated over $20 billion" in sales and revenue for a single quarter. Creed pointed to broadening momentum across all three of the company's primary business segments,........

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