Stocks · Industrials · Agricultural - Machinery
Caterpillar Inc. CAT
$845.42 +2.31% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $389.43B
Strong growthStrong trend
Next earnings report: Nov 4, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The shares trade at 36.4× trailing earnings, higher than 86% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 325 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- Over the past year the stock returned +75.8%, ahead of the S&P 500 by 60.8 percentage points.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Industrials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth80Strong
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 25%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 38%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 44%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 48%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 15%
Quality73Positive
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 16%
- Gross marginTop 37%
- Operating marginTop 17%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 33%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 36%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 47%
- Interest coverTop 21%
Value22Very weak
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 48%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 40%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 33%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 14%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 21%
Momentum88Strong
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 10%
- 6-month returnTop 31%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 9%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 42%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 10%
Revisions61Neutral
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 24%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 28%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 45%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 27%
Stability67Positive
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 31%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 21%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 49%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 47%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 11.8% | 18.4% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -2.0% | 18.3% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 34.3% | 33.9% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 18.3% | 17.5% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 12.3% | 12.0% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 18.4% | 11.8% | ↑ | Top 25% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 18.3% | -2.0% | ↑ | Top 38% |
| Gross margin | 33.9% | 34.3% | ↓ | Top 37% |
| Operating margin | 17.5% | 18.3% | ↓ | Top 17% |
| Net margin | 14.5% | 14.9% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 12.0% | 12.3% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 13.3% | — | Top 16% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 4.4% | — | Bottom 48% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.25×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -2.7%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.3%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +1.3 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.21×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 12.0×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.72%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 1.88%
- Shareholder yield
- 2.60%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -1.9%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -3.5%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 5, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 4
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 5 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +17.3%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +3.1%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $985.58
- Target vs current price
- +16.6%
- Analysts with a rating
- 56
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 55%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026 | +31.4% | +5.6% | +0.9% | -3.9% | — |
| Apr 30, 2026 | +19.1% | +9.9% | +14.4% | +9.6% | +7.8% |
| Jan 29, 2026 | +9.6% | +3.4% | +7.5% | +17.0% | +29.1% |
| Oct 29, 2025 | +9.3% | +11.6% | +4.4% | +8.0% | +21.3% |
| Aug 5, 2025 | -3.5% | +0.1% | -5.8% | -4.1% | +20.9% |
| Apr 30, 2025 | -2.3% | +0.6% | +4.4% | +13.7% | +41.1% |
| Jan 30, 2025 | +1.6% | -4.6% | -8.7% | -13.5% | -22.1% |
| Oct 30, 2024 | -3.2% | -2.1% | -1.1% | +5.2% | +0.7% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026 | $8.17 | $6.22 | +31.4% | $20.54B |
| Apr 30, 2026 | $5.54 | $4.65 | +19.1% | $17.41B |
| Jan 29, 2026 | $5.16 | $4.71 | +9.6% | $19.13B |
| Oct 29, 2025 | $4.95 | $4.53 | +9.3% | $17.64B |
| Aug 5, 2025 | $4.72 | $4.89 | -3.5% | $16.57B |
| Apr 30, 2025 | $4.25 | $4.35 | -2.3% | $14.25B |
| Jan 30, 2025 | $5.14 | $5.06 | +1.6% | $16.21B |
| Oct 30, 2024 | $5.17 | $5.34 | -3.2% | $16.11B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 36.4× | 17.9× | 86th | Top 48% |
| P/E (forward) | 31.0× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 24.6× | — | — | Bottom 33% |
| EV / Sales | 5.73× | — | — | Bottom 14% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.31% | — | — | Bottom 40% |
| Earnings yield | 2.75% | — | — | Top 48% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 13.1× – 46.1× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +75.8%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +18.3%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +72.2%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 2
- Days above the 200-day average
- 325
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -6.2%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +3.0%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +2.7%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +6.3%
- RSI (14)
- 58.8
- Relative volume
- 1.03×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 34.4%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 71th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 1.05
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.51
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -20.6%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -34.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 6, 2024 | Apr 8, 2025 | -34.3% | 103 days | 68 days (Jul 17, 2025) |
| May 17, 2021 | Sep 27, 2022 | -33.6% | 344 days | 70 days (Jan 6, 2023) |
| Jun 30, 2026 | Sep 1, 2026 | -26.8% | 44 days | Not yet recovered |
| Jan 27, 2023 | May 31, 2023 | -22.2% | 85 days | 41 days (Jul 31, 2023) |
| Aug 1, 2023 | Oct 31, 2023 | -21.7% | 64 days | 34 days (Dec 19, 2023) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $389.43B
- P/E (TTM)
- 36.4
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $23.25
- Revenue (TTM)
- $74.73B
- Dividend yield
- 0.73%
- 52-week range
- $483.55 – $1,073.46
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $50.97B | $59.43B | $67.06B | $64.81B | $67.59B |
| Gross profit | $15.00B | $17.51B | $23.26B | $23.32B | $21.86B |
| Operating income | $6.88B | $7.90B | $12.97B | $13.07B | $11.21B |
| Net income | $6.49B | $6.71B | $10.34B | $10.79B | $8.87B |
| EPS (diluted) | $11.83 | $12.64 | $20.12 | $22.05 | $18.83 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $16.11B | $16.21B | $14.25B | $16.57B | $17.64B | $19.13B | $17.41B | $20.54B |
| Net income | $2.46B | $2.79B | $2.00B | $2.18B | $2.29B | $2.40B | $2.55B | $3.59B |
| EPS (diluted) | $5.06 | $5.78 | $4.20 | $4.62 | $4.89 | $5.12 | $5.47 | $7.77 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $7.20B | $7.77B | $12.88B | $12.04B | $11.74B |
| Capital expenditure | -$2.47B | -$2.60B | -$3.09B | -$3.21B | -$4.29B |
| Free cash flow | $4.73B | $5.17B | $9.79B | $8.82B | $7.45B |
| Dividends paid | -$2.33B | -$2.44B | -$2.56B | -$2.65B | -$2.75B |
| Net share buybacks | -$2.53B | -$4.18B | -$4.96B | -$7.68B | -$5.21B |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $6.71B
- Total assets
- $102.61B
- Total liabilities
- $83.22B
- Total debt
- $45.15B
- Net debt
- $38.43B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $19.39B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 5, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2026 | $1.63 | Aug 19, 2026 |
| Apr 20, 2026 | $1.51 | May 19, 2026 |
| Jan 20, 2026 | $1.51 | Feb 19, 2026 |
| Oct 20, 2025 | $1.51 | Nov 20, 2025 |
| Jul 21, 2025 | $1.51 | Aug 20, 2025 |
| Apr 21, 2025 | $1.41 | May 20, 2025 |
| Jan 21, 2025 | $1.41 | Feb 20, 2025 |
| Oct 21, 2024 | $1.41 | Nov 20, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 8,377,107
- Days to cover
- 3.70
- Change vs previous report
- +10.9%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jul 14, 2005
- 2-for-1
- Jul 14, 1997
- 2-for-1
- Sep 6, 1994
- 2-for-1
- Jul 26, 1976
- 3-for-2
- Jul 6, 1964
- 2-for-1