Caterpillar
CAT on NYSE. Caterpillar sells construction and mining equipment, engines and locomotives to businesses. Market value $389.9bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
See cheaper Industrials stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $2.70 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 32.3 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 19 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 93 of 100. Price score: 30 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$863.44 a share, 79% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $483.55 to $1,073.46.
Dividend: 0.7% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $51.0bn | $59.4bn | $67.1bn | $64.8bn | $67.6bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 13.5% | 13.3% | 19.3% | 20.2% | 16.5% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 1.90 | 1.99 | 1.49 | 1.63 | 1.70 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.52bn | 0.51bn | 0.48bn | 0.47bn | 0.46bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt1.70× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 10.1% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 12% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $20.5 billion last quarter, up 24% on a year ago.
- Profit: $3.6 billion, up 65% on a year ago.
- It keeps 18 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, about the same as a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $10.7 billion, up from $9 billion.
- 2% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $16.1bn |
| December 2024 | $16.2bn |
| March 2025 | $14.2bn |
| June 2025 | $16.6bn |
| September 2025 | $17.6bn |
| December 2025 | $19.1bn |
| March 2026 | $17.4bn |
| June 2026 | $20.5bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $2.5bn |
| December 2024 | $2.8bn |
| March 2025 | $2.0bn |
| June 2025 | $2.2bn |
| September 2025 | $2.3bn |
| December 2025 | $2.4bn |
| March 2026 | $2.5bn |
| June 2026 | $3.6bn |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 29 October 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 13 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 4 November 2026
Who owns it
15 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 14 last quarter. 4,043 funds in all.
- Markel GroupTom Gayner
- Value
- $350m
- Share of fund
- 2.7%
- Dodge & CoxDodge & Cox investment committee
- Value
- $42m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Mairs & PowerAndy Adams
- Value
- $19m
- Share of fund
- 0.2%
- GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli
- Value
- $8m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners
- Value
- $6m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok
- Value
- $5m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier
- Value
- $3m
- Share of fund
- 0.4%
- Boston PartnersBoston Partners team
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Harris Associates (Oakmark)Bill Nygren
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markel GroupTom Gayner | $350m | 2.7% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $112m | 0.3% | Cut |
| Dodge & CoxDodge & Cox investment committee | $42m | <0.1% | |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $19m | 0.2% | |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $8m | <0.1% | |
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $6m | <0.1% | |
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $5m | <0.1% | |
| Platinum Investment ManagementPlatinum team | $5m | 1.2% | Cut |
| Horizon KineticsMurray Stahl | $4m | <0.1% | Cut |
| GMOJeremy Grantham | $4m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier | $3m | 0.4% | |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $2m | <0.1% | |
| Harris Associates (Oakmark)Bill Nygren | $2m | <0.1% | |
| Gardner Russo & QuinnTom Russo | $282,199 | <0.1% | Cut |
| Mawer Investment ManagementMawer team | $239,603 | <0.1% | New |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$40.5bnAdded
- State Street$36.6bn
- Vanguard Capital Management$32.0bn
- Banque Cantonale Vaudoise$28.6bnCut
- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance$15.5bn
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$12.8bnAdded
- Geode Capital Management$11.9bn
- Fisher Asset Management$10.6bn
- Morgan Stanley$8.0bn
- JPMorgan Chase$7.6bnAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
1 investor owns more than 5%.
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.5%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 1 insider bought $389,868 of shares on the open market. 9 sold $253m, $29m of it under preset trading plans.
- Creed Joseph EChief Executive OfficerSold
- Date
- 28 August 2026
- Shares
- 32,401
- Price
- $808.98
- Value
- $26m
- Johnson Denise CGroup PresidentSold
- Date
- 14 May 2026
- Shares
- 12,605
- Price
- $907.91
- Value
- $11m
- Johnson Denise CGroup PresidentSold
- Date
- 13 May 2026
- Shares
- 6,196
- Price
- $909.79
- Value
- $6m
- Schaupp William EChief Accounting OfficerSold
- Date
- 13 May 2026
- Shares
- 360
- Price
- $906.00
- Value
- $326,160
- Fassino Anthony D.Group PresidentSold
- Date
- 11 May 2026
- Shares
- 16,283
- Price
- $916.80
- Value
- $15m
- De Lange BobGroup PresidentSold
- Date
- 6 May 2026
- Shares
- 24,222
- Price
- $922.92
- Value
- $22m
- Fassino Anthony D.Group PresidentSold
- Date
- 6 May 2026
- Shares
- 9,152
- Price
- $926.25
- Value
- $8m
- BONFIELD ANDREW R JCFO EmeritusSold
- Date
- 6 May 2026
- Shares
- 15,674
- Price
- $918.71
- Value
- $14m
- Shurman Rodney MichaelGroup PresidentSold
- Date
- 5 May 2026
- Shares
- 5,639
- Price
- $903.18
- Value
- $5m
- Kaiser JasonGroup PresidentSold
- Date
- 4 May 2026
- Shares
- 5,642
- Price
- $883.03
- Value
- $5m
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 August 2026 | Creed Joseph E Chief Executive Officer | Sold | 32,401 | $808.98 | $26m |
| 14 May 2026 | Johnson Denise C Group President | Sold | 12,605 | $907.91 | $11m |
| 13 May 2026 | Johnson Denise C Group President | Sold | 6,196 | $909.79 | $6m |
| 13 May 2026 | Schaupp William E Chief Accounting Officer | Sold | 360 | $906.00 | $326,160 |
| 11 May 2026 | Fassino Anthony D. Group President | Sold | 16,283 | $916.80 | $15m |
| 6 May 2026 | De Lange Bob Group President | Sold | 24,222 | $922.92 | $22m |
| 6 May 2026 | Fassino Anthony D. Group President | Sold | 9,152 | $926.25 | $8m |
| 6 May 2026 | BONFIELD ANDREW R J CFO Emeritus | Sold | 15,674 | $918.71 | $14m |
| 5 May 2026 | Shurman Rodney Michael Group President | Sold | 5,639 | $903.18 | $5m |
| 4 May 2026 | Kaiser Jason Group President | Sold | 5,642 | $883.03 | $5m |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 13 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 5 Aug 2026 and 7 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 32.3× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.