Broadening demand. Q1 earnings calls show a recovery widening across customer types: Rockwell raised full-year guidance to 5–9% growth as demand spread into data centers and warehouse automation, Caterpillar's three businesses are firing simultaneously, and Applied Industrial Technologies is seeing local accounts catch up to national.
The transcripts tell the full story. The most actionable signals came from the calls, not the press releases — Gates' headline revenue understated a business with book-to-bill above one, Caterpillar's large reciprocating engine backlog is up 3.5x since early 2024, and Linde previewed several large electrical contracts due within weeks.
Hidden gems build long-term conviction. The calls also surface long-duration opportunities the market is under-pricing: Linde's commercial space business is targeting 5% of group revenue by 2030, and Gates' belt technology is entering a $4bn personal mobility TAM with 30% growth ambitions.
Q1 Earnings season is in full swing, and here’s what some of our companies are saying.*
Rockwell, the maker of factory automation equipment, reported very strong results and raised their full year guidance, expecting growth of 5-9% in 2026. They saw a broadening out of demand across segments. Most importantly, they highlighted incremental margins running at 50%, which is extremely high compared to the company’s historical range.
Rockwell Saw Broadening Demand
Source: Rockwell Automation, as of May 2026
“We saw an improvement in customer demand across a broader range of industries in Q2, such as e-commerce, warehouse automation, data center, semiconductor, and energy. Book-to-bill for the company was slightly higher than our historical average.”
– Blake Moret, CEO, Rockwell Automation Q1 2026 Call
As we highlighted before, Caterpillar is entering a period where all three main businesses –– construction, resources, and energy –– are all performing at the same time. Power, especially, is seeing very strong demand right now and the company is expanding capacity to meet it. Caterpillar equipment is increasingly being used as primary power, rather than the traditional back up power role. This is creating a significant service earnings stream for Caterpillar in the future.
Caterpillar Three Businesses Are All Firing
Source: Caterpillar, as of May 2026
”Over the past year, and even since our Investor Day last November, our largest customers in the broader data center industry have significantly increased their expectations for capital spending. That has translated to accelerated order rates for us. In fact, since we first announced our initial capacity expansion plans in January of 2024, our large reciprocating engine backlog has grown by more than 3.5x. Customers are committing to longer term orders, with some orders well into 2028 … As a result of these trends, I'm excited to announce that we are increasing our large reciprocating engine capacity from 2x 2024 levels to nearly 3x 2024 levels.”
– Joe Creed, CEO of Caterpillar, Q1 2026 Earnings Call
Linde makes industrial gases and most end markets are in positive territory, especially the demand recovery in the U.S. Under the surface there are three areas of strength the market is missing. The first is electrical contracts – with the CEO hinting that several large ones will be signed next month. The second is helium, which due to the situation in the Middle East, remains in short supply, benefiting producers like Linde. Finally, a hidden gem is the commercial space business, where Linde provides the propellant fuels for rockets. This business is expected to grow rapidly and, according to the company, reach 5% of the group by 2030.
Source: Linde, as of May 2026
Q1 results were a classic case of a company getting set up for a rebound. Messy one-offs meant headline revenue looked weaker but once those are adjusted, it showed growth. The CEO said March sales were up mid-single digits and the quarter ended with book –to-bill “solidly above one”. Improvements continue to be made to the cost base, which is setting up margins for the rebound. The company is guiding for a strong acceleration in the second half of 2026. A hidden gem is their personal mobility (e-bikes and scooters) segment which they expect to grow 30% into a $4 billion total addressable market (TAM) as their belt technology replaces chains.
“And I think that you and I discussed that on our Q3 earnings, that the outlook has been stabilizing, and we are now starting to actually see the outlook turn nicely positive. And so, PMI is about 50, and that's good for kind of the overall underlying trend. And look, I'm not prepared to declare victory in here, but I feel pretty positive about the demand trends.”
– Ivo Jurek, Gates Industrial CEO, Q1 2026 Earnings Call
The company raised full year guidance as the quarterly sales trend is beginning to show steady quarter-over-quarter acceleration. The CEO indicated the company would accelerate acquisitions, which seems to support their confident outlook. Local customer demand is starting to improve joining the already improving national customer demand.
AIT’s Sales Are Showing an Improving Trend
Source: Applied Industrial Technologies, as of May 2026
“We saw good growth with both. So local accounts year-over-year were up 5% versus 3.5% in Q2. But we also saw good growth in-progress with national accounts, up 7% year-over-year and versus the 4% that we saw in the second-quarter …. the demand backdrop across our North American centric operations is showing favorable signs with U.S. industrial macro indicators now in more positive territory, break-fix activity firming and customer capital spending gradually improving.”
– Neil Schrimsher, CEO of AIT, Q1 2026 Conference Call
Read together, the Q1 2026 calls describe a recovery that is broadening across customer types and end markets, with two threads running through almost every name: power demand from data centers is now a measurable driver of industrial backlogs (Caterpillar's reciprocating engine orders extending into 2028, Linde's pending electrical contracts), and underlying momentum is running ahead of headline numbers (Gates' book-to-bill above one, AIT's local accounts catching up to national).
The reshoring trade is no longer a single-policy story tied to one administration's tariff agenda — it is an investment cycle anchored in real backlogs, real capacity expansions, and demand that is broadening rather than concentrated. Tema's American Reshoring ETF (RSHO) is built around this universe of industrial companies driving and benefiting from the rebuilding of U.S. manufacturing.
*Portfolio holdings are subject to change. Fund holdings as of May 7, 2026 include Rockwell Automation (3.73%), Caterpillar (6.80%), Linde (4.77%), Gates (5.47%), and Applied Industrial Technologies (5.11%). For current holdings and prospectus, visit the RSHO page.