Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)

Growth Stock Valuation · Industrials · Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery

Valuation as at 2026-08-12

About Caterpillar Inc.

Caterpillar Inc. provides construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in the United States and internationally. The Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, cold planers, compactors, forestry machines, material handlers, motor graders, pipelayers, road reclaimers, telehandlers, track-type tractors, and track and wheel excavators; backhoe, compact track, skid steer, track-type, and wheel loaders; and related parts and work tools.

Source: Yahoo Finance company profile · factual description, not KashVector commentary

Caterpillar Inc. CAT

Industrials · Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery

Price
$843.37
Market Cap
$387.68B
Free Cash Flow
$5.05B
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Revenue Growth
24.0%
Gross Margin
29.7%
Net Debt
$39.20B
52-Week Range
$405.46–$1073.46

What does the current price assume?

At the current price, the market appears to be pricing in about 60.1% initial revenue growth — steep enough that the model's own free cash flow would dip before recovering by year 7, even though Caterpillar Inc.'s actual free cash flow is already positive.

Caterpillar Inc.'s trailing free cash flow is $5.05B on 24.0% current revenue growth today. The model's reinvestment charge scales with the assumed growth rate, not the company's actual current pace — funding 60.1% growth takes substantially more reinvestment than the business is really making right now, which is what pushes the modeled figure negative before it recovers.

Caterpillar Inc.'s price & financial trends

Data as at 2026-08-12

Share price · last 2 years

$843.37 +137% vs 2024-08
S&P 500 $356.10$371.44$388.21$575.76$890.11$843.37 2024-082025-012025-062025-112026-042026-08

Revenue Per year

$67.59B +14% vs FY22
$59.43B$67.06B$64.81B$67.59BFY22FY23FY24FY25

Free cash flow Per quarter

$3.26B +50% vs Q2 '25
$2.17B$2.67B$2.25B$819.0M$3.26BQ2 '25Q3 '25Q4 '25Q1 '26Q2 '26

Operating margin trajectory Per year

16.5% +11% vs FY22
14.9%19.3%20.2%16.5%FY22FY23FY24FY25

Growth Score

Good Fit3 of 5 criteria passed
Rule of 40 (Growth % + FCF Margin % >= 40)30.8%
Revenue Growth > 20%24.0%
Gross Margin > 50%29.7%
Cash Runway > 24 MonthsSkipped
Operating Margin Trajectory Improving14.9% -> 16.5%
Dilution (Diluted Shares Growth) <= 10%/yr-3.5%

Value investing scale · Buffett · Dalio · Graham

Partial Fit
10 / 20 combined score

See the full Buffett, Dalio & Graham breakdown for CAT →

The two models, in detail

Each shown with what it says the company is worth today and what growth the current price already implies — not just a single point estimate.

Multi-Stage DCF

$275.27
-67.4% margin of safety
Deeply Overvalued

EV / Sales

$239.86
-71.6% margin of safety
Deeply Overvalued
Implied EV/Sales at the current price: 5.71x (vs. today's reported 5.71x)

These numbers come from running Caterpillar Inc.'s revenue and margin trajectory through the Multi-Stage DCF and EV/Sales formulas above — not from any view on the news, management, or CAT's competitive position. What is a multi-stage DCF?

Want to test your own growth, margin, or discount-rate assumptions?Open the full interactive calculator, pre-filled with CAT →

More S&P 500 stocks we've valued

Not financial advice. Multi-Stage DCF and EV/Sales valuations are highly sensitive to assumptions — small changes in growth rate, target margin, or discount rate produce large swings in output. This is a mechanical calculation, not a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell.

About this valuation

Computed on 2026-08-12 from Yahoo Finance data, using the same engine as the full Growth Stock Evaluator. Every figure above is a point-in-time snapshot of that date — change any assumption yourself in the interactive tool for a live one.

Frequently asked questions

Is Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) undervalued?

The Multi-Stage DCF estimates intrinsic value at $275.27 vs a price of $843.37 on 2026-08-12. This is a mechanical output from a model with genuine assumptions built in (target margin, growth fade, reinvestment) — not advice.

What does "implied growth rate" mean?

It's the reverse question: instead of assuming a growth rate and computing a value, this holds every other assumption fixed and asks what initial revenue growth rate would make the model's value equal to today's actual price. It tells you what the market is already betting on, which you can then judge for plausibility yourself.