Caterpillar Inc. announced third-quarter 2021 sales and revenues of $12.4 billion, a 25% increase compared with $9.9 billion in the third quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily due to higher sales volume, driven by higher end-user demand for equipment and services, and favorable price realization.
Operating profit margin was 13.4% for the third quarter of 2021, compared with 10.0% for the third quarter of 2020. Third-quarter 2021 profit per share was $2.60, compared with third-quarter 2020 profit per share of $1.22. Adjusted profit per share in the third quarter of 2021 was $2.66, compared with third-quarter 2020 adjusted profit per share of $1.52.
Third-quarter 2021 adjusted profit per share of $2.66 reflected strong operational performance and a lower-than-expected effective tax rate. Adjusted profit per share for both quarters excluded restructuring costs, while the third quarter of 2020 also excluded remeasurement losses of $0.12 per share, resulting from the settlements of pension obligations.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, enterprise operating cash flow was $5.8 billion and the company ended the third quarter with $9.4 billion of enterprise cash. In the quarter, the company repurchased $1.4 billion of Caterpillar common stock and paid dividends of $0.6 billion.
“Our global team continues to execute our long-term strategy for profitable growth while working to mitigate supply chain challenges as we serve our customers,” said Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. “Our third-quarter results reflect higher sales and revenues across our three primary segments and in all regions.”