New Delhi, Aug. 4 -- NEW YORK - For the first time in its 100-year history, Caterpillar Inc. crossed $20 billion in a single quarter. The achievement arrived not because of any mine or highway project, but because America's appetite for artificial intelligence has collided with a shortage of power and the machines that build it.

The maker of yellow earthmovers and diesel generators reported second-quarter sales and revenues of $20.543 billion on Monday, a 24 percent increase from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share of $8.17 outpaced analyst estimates of $6.20 by a wide margin, and shares of CAT jumped more than 10 percent in premarket trading as investors processed a quarter that upended expectations across the industrial sector....