Decline, decline, and further decline! The first-half performance of construction machinery giants is under pressure.
Over the past few days, several overseas construction machinery giants have released their first-half 2025 earnings reports. Overall, their performance is not satisfactory, with both revenue and profits declining to varying degrees. From the perspective of regional markets, traditional key markets such as North America and Asia are performing sluggishly. Although some regions like Europe and the Middle East still maintain growth, it is insufficient to offset the overall downward pressure.
Over the past few days, several overseas construction machinery giants have released their first-half 2025 earnings reports. Overall, their performance is not satisfactory, with both revenue and profits declining to varying degrees. From the perspective of regional markets, traditional key markets such as North America and Asia are performing sluggishly. Although some regions like Europe and the Middle East still maintain growth, it is insufficient to offset the overall downward pressure.
Once the industry leaders that thrived amid the global infrastructure boom, they are now grappling with multiple challenges such as weak demand, regional market divergence, and exchange rate fluctuations.
Caterpillar: Q2 operating profit stood at $2.84 billion, down 18 percent year-on-year. In the second quarter of 2025, Caterpillar's sales reached $16.6 billion, slightly down from $16.7 billion in the same period last year, and its operating profit stood at $2.86 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 18percent. In the first half of the year, Caterpillar's sales were approximately $30.8 billion, down 5.19percent year-on-year; its operating profit amounted to about $5.439 billion, a year-on-year decline of 22percent.
Among them, the total sales of the construction machinery segment in the second quarter reached $6.19 billion, a decrease of $493 million; the profit stood at $1.244 billion, down by $497 million, equivalent to a 29percent decline.
By region, in the second quarter, the construction machinery sales in North America reached $3.369 billion, down 15percent year-on-year; sales in Latin America stood at $540 million, a year-on-year decrease of 20percent; sales in the EAME region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) were $1.185 billion, up 13percent year-on-year; and sales in the Asia-Pacific region amounted to $1.029 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 6percent.
Komatsu: Q2 operating profit was $965 million, down 10.6percent year-on-year. According to the consolidated financial results for the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year (April 1 to June 30, 2025) released by Komatsu Ltd., net sales amounted to 909.5 billion yen (approximately 6.25 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year decrease of 5.2percent; operating profit was 140.4 billion yen (approximately 965 million U.S. dollars), down 10.6percent year-on-year; the operating profit margin stood at 15.4percent, a year-on-year decrease of 1.0 percentage point; and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 91.2 billion yen (approximately 626 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year decline of 16.9percent.
s the core segment, the construction, mining and utility equipment business recorded sales of 844.9 billion yen during the period, down 5.5percent year-on-year; its segment profit was 122.3 billion yen, a year-on-year decrease of 14.1percent. The main reason is that the yen's appreciation and lower sales volume offset the gains from price increases. By region, sales in the Asian market dropped 19.3percent year-on-year; the North American market fell 14.6percent; the Latin American market decreased 5.3percentpercent; the European market rose 9.5percent year-on-year; the African market grew 1.7percent year-on-year; the Middle Eastern market increased 9.7percent; the Oceania market declined 6.8percent; the CIS market dropped 7.6percent; and the Japanese market fell 3.3percent year-on-year.
John Deere: In the second quarter, sales of its Construction & Forestry segment reached $2.947 billion, down 23percent year-on-year. John Deere's net sales in the second quarter reached $12.763 billion, down 16percent year-on-year, and its net profit stood at $1.804 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 24percent. For the first half of the year, its cumulative revenue was $21.272 billion, down 22.42percent year-on-year, and cumulative net profit was $2.667 billion, a year-on-year decline of 35.20percent.
Among them, sales of the Construction & Forestry segment fell 23percent to $2.947 billion, with an operating profit margin of 12.9percent. Volvo Construction Equipment: Net sales in the second quarter stood at $2.2 billion, down 6percent year-on-year.
Volvo Construction Equipment's net sales in the first half of the year dropped by approximately 7percent year-on-year. Among this, net sales in the second quarter were 22.906 billion Swedish kronor (about $2.2 billion), down 6percent year-on-year but up 2percent after exchange rate adjustment. Despite the revenue decline, the company maintained an adjusted operating profit margin of around 12.5percent through cost control and stable service operations.
By region, in the first half of the year, sales in the European market dropped by 10percent; sales in the North American market fell by 21.4percent to $1.1 billion, with deliveries decreasing by 16percent; the Chinese market grew by 26percent, driven by a surge in demand for small equipment (such as the EC55 electric excavator); the South American market increased by 8percentdue to economic recovery in Argentina and Peru; and Asia (excluding China) rose by 6percent thanks to infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia.
In addition, net orders in the first half of the year rose 24percent year-on-year, with orders in the second quarter up 26percent, mainly driven by the European market (as dealers replenished inventories) and the Asian market. Orders in the North American market increased by 11percent, but deliveries dropped by 16percent, reflecting cautious customer demand. Global deliveries grew 11percent year-on-year, among which deliveries of electric equipment reached 1,037 units, surging 82percent year-on-year.
In sharp contrast to the "chill" faced by overseas giants, Chinese construction machinery enterprises are breaking through against the trend. According to the first-half performance forecasts released by Liugong and China Longgong, their net profits are expected to achieve a year-on-year growth of over 20percent, demonstrating strong growth resilience. Behind this "external coldness and internal warmth" pattern lies both the impact of the global economic cycle and changes in the logic of industry competition. Chinese construction machinery giants, leveraging a series of advantages such as technological innovation, layout in emerging markets, and pioneering breakthroughs in the new energy track, are accelerating their share acquisition in the global market.
