Cummins Inc.

Cummins Inc. is an American designer, manufacturer, and servicer of diesel and alternative-fuel engines, power generation systems, and related components, generating $33.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025. Founded in 1919 in Columbus, Indiana, the company has evolved from a pure-play diesel engine manufacturer into a diversified power solutions enterprise spanning five segments — Engine, Components, Distribution, Power Systems, and Accelera — with operations in approximately 190 countries and territories.

This is a story about an industrial franchise that is being reshaped by two forces pulling in opposite directions. On one side, the data center build-out is driving demand for backup power generation at a pace the industry has never seen, and Cummins' Power Systems segment — with its 95-liter engine platform and global distribution network — sits at the center of it. On the other, the North American heavy-duty truck market is grinding through a cyclical trough, while the company simultaneously manages one of the largest engine platform transitions in its history ahead of EPA 2027 emissions regulations. The file turns on a single question: whether the structural growth in power generation earnings can sustain the franchise through the truck cycle's downswing and provide a permanently higher floor for returns on capital.

Cummins' recent history contains both a record and a warning. In 2025, the company posted its highest-ever EBITDA on an ex-items basis — $5.8 billion, or 17.4% of revenue — even as North American heavy-duty truck engine volumes declined roughly 30% from prior-year levels. That resiliency is new. In prior down-cycles, Cummins' margins fell much harder. The difference is Power Systems, which delivered a record 22.7% full-year EBITDA margin in 2025 and followed it with 29.5% in the first quarter of 2026. The question is durability: data center investment cycles have their own rhythms, and the current order book stretching into 2028 says little about 2030.