Caterpillar (CAT)
Industrials · $370B market cap · SEC CIK 0000018230
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 27, 2026, before the open, with analysts expecting $7.03 in earnings per share.
The case for CAT
- Earns 54% back on shareholder equity.
- Revenue growing 18.4% year over year.
- Has compounded revenue at 10.1% a year over five years.
- Pays a modest 2.1% dividend.
- Up 75.0% over the past year.
The case against
- Pricey at 34.1× earnings, against a long-run market average nearer 20×.
- Swings harder than the market (beta 1.60).
- Priced at 25× book value. Very little hard asset backing here.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Industrials companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 27 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 76 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 69 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 56 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 30 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 79 Industrials companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 34.1× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 25.29× |
| Price / sales | 4.9× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +18.4% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | +18.2% |
| Gross margin | 35% |
| Operating margin | 18% |
| Net margin | 15% |
| Return on equity | 54% |
| Debt / equity | 2.33× |
| Current ratio | 1.37 |
| Dividend yield | 2.10% |
| Beta | 1.60 |
| 52-week range | $459.58 – $1,073 |
| Position in that range | 57% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -17.2% |
| 1-year return | +75.0% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Caterpillar's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $67.6B | $64.8B | $67.1B | $59.4B | $51.0B |
| Operating income | $11.2B | $13.1B | $13.0B | $7.9B | $6.9B |
| Net income | $8.9B | $10.8B | $10.3B | $6.7B | $6.5B |
| Operating cash flow | $11.7B | $12.0B | $12.9B | $7.8B | $7.2B |
| Capital expenditure | $2.8B | $2.0B | $1.6B | $1.3B | $1.1B |
| Total assets | $98.6B | $87.8B | $87.5B | $81.9B | $82.8B |
| Total liabilities | $77.3B | $68.3B | $68.0B | $66.1B | $66.3B |
| Cash | $10.0B | $6.9B | $7.0B | $7.0B | $9.3B |
| Long-term debt | $30.7B | $27.4B | $24.5B | $25.7B | $26.0B |
| Free cash flow | $8.9B | $10.0B | $11.3B | $6.5B | $6.1B |
| Operating margin | 16.5% | 20.2% | 19.3% | 13.3% | 13.5% |
| Net margin | 13.1% | 16.7% | 15.4% | 11.3% | 12.7% |
| Diluted shares | 472M | 489M | 514M | 530M | 549M |
Share count is down 13.9% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
What Caterpillar says it does
Originally organized as Caterpillar Tractor Co. in 1925 in the State of California, our company was reorganized as Caterpillar Inc. in 1986 in the State of Delaware. As used herein, the term "Caterpillar," "we," "us," "our" or "the company" refers to Caterpillar Inc. and its subsidiaries unless designated or identified otherwise. Overview With 2025 sales and revenues of $67.589 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is shaping the future as the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Backed by one of the largest independent global dealer networks and financing services through Cat Financial, the company’s primary business segments: Power & Energy, Construction Industries and Resource Industries are solving customers’ toughest challenges through commercial excellence and advanced technology, driven by a highly skilled,…
Risk factors CAT lists in its 10-K
- Highlights for the full-year 2025 include
- Full-Year 2026 Company Trends and Expectations
- First-Quarter 2026 Company Trends and Expectations
- Sales and Revenues by Geographic Region
- Machinery, Power & Energy other operating (income) expenses
- pension and other postretirement benefit (OPEB)
- Pension and Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB)
- Material cash requirements for contractual obligations
- Operating & Execution Model used to assess operational commitments and strategic growth initiatives
- Fair values for goodwill impairment tests —
- Product liability and insurance loss reserve
- Postretirement Benefit Plan Actuarial Assumptions Sensitivity
- 2025 Benefit Cost Increase (Decrease)
- Year-end Benefit Obligation Increase (Decrease)