The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that Caterpillar got an earnings boost from selling power-generation equipment to artificial intelligence data centres in its fourth quarter, helping drive quarterly results that topped expectations. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that the company's power and energy segment -- now Caterpillar's largest and fastest-growing segment -- posted a 25-per-cent profit jump compared with the year-earlier period thanks to higher demand for its power-generating equipment. That helped blunt declining profit from its more traditional businesses of selling heavy-duty machinery. Caterpillar posted adjusted earnings of $5.16 (U.S.) in the fourth quarter, beating the $4.69 (U.S.) average estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg. The power and energy segment sells generators, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines that produce electricity for buildings, factories and data centres. The business has made Caterpillar a runaway winner as Big Tech looks to spend more on energy-intensive projects to feed the AI boom. Still, Caterpillar continues to wrestle with unfavourable manufacturing costs, which it said are largely due to the effect of higher tariffs.