Key Highlights

● Caterpillar closed at $704.05 on October 22, among the Dow's weakest performers.

● The S&P 500 industrial sector slipped, led down by AI power suppliers.

● Caterpillar is scheduled to report quarterly results on October 29.

● Railroads rallied and Lockheed Martin jumped after strong results.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) sank on Thursday, October 22, 2026, closing at $704.05 and ranking among the weakest performers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The drop came without company-specific news. The heavy-equipment maker instead moved with a selloff in industrial stocks, particularly those tied to the build-out of power and data-center infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

Industrials caught in the AI crossfire

The S&P 500's industrial sector slipped on Thursday, according to market data, dragged down by steep losses in companies that supply the AI boom. GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV), which makes turbines and grid equipment, tumbled and ranked among the worst performers in the S&P 500. Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR), Eaton (NYSE:ETN) and Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) also fell sharply, and peers MasTec (NYSE:MTZ), Dycom (NYSE:DY) and Primoris (NYSE:PRIM) hit 52-week lows.

Caterpillar's business spans construction and mining machinery, engines and power-generation equipment, and investors in recent years have increasingly linked its power-systems unit to data-center demand. On Thursday, the stock moved in step with that group. That link is an inference from the sector's direction rather than a reason given by the company or by analysts.

What started the selloff

Worries about AI financing set the tone. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) narrowed its 2026 capital-spending range to $135 billion to $145 billion in its report late Wednesday and posted negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion, its first cash outflow in more than a decade, according to market data. Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) flagged supply constraints, and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s chief executive said that "the demand of the capital is much greater than the availability of the capital."

GE Vernova's drop came on Meta-driven concerns about how AI data centers will be financed. Investors appeared to extend that concern to other companies whose growth stories lean on data-center construction.

A flat Dow masked big swings

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 11.89 points at 52,867.98, essentially flat and at a one-month high, according to market data. Caterpillar, Nvidia and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) were among the heaviest drags, while Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) led gains. Because the Dow is weighted by share price, a high-priced stock such as Caterpillar has an outsize influence on the average's point moves.

The broader market was weaker. The S&P 500 fell 93.74 points to 7,663.43, its worst day since July, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 694.00 points. Still, about two of every three S&P 500 stocks rose, according to market reports, as money rotated into staples, health care, utilities and homebuilders.

Not all industrials suffered. Railroads rallied after strong results from Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) and CSX (NASDAQ:CSX), and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) jumped after beating forecasts and raising its outlook.

Rates and oil in the background

Treasury yields fell sharply, with the 10-year yield closing back below a closely watched threshold for the first time since September 22. Brent crude rose to $113.17 a barrel, its highest since May 4, on Middle East tensions.

Caterpillar's October 29 Report Looms

Caterpillar is scheduled to report quarterly results on October 29, according to market data, the same day as third-quarter GDP data, September PCE inflation figures and earnings from Amazon and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Investors will look for updates on its power-generation orders and on how much data-center demand is contributing to growth. The Federal Reserve's decision on October 28 will also shape the outlook for rate-sensitive industrial spending.