Winston
Back
Caterpillar logo

Caterpillar

CAT
36
Agricultural - Machinery · Industrials
Price
$994.45
+10.21 (+1.04%)
Market Cap
$458.08B
Winston Score
36
Winston looking serious
Winston is serious
Below-average fundamentals — multiple weak pillars.

Winston Score below 40. The stock fails on most of our quality checks.

Caterpillar makes heavy machines used to build things and dig up resources. Its main products include bulldozers, excavators, mining trucks, and large engines. Construction companies, mining firms, and governments around the world are its biggest customers. Caterpillar is the largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment on the planet.

Caterpillar earns money by selling equipment, offering financing to buyers, and providing parts and service contracts over the life of its machines. It operates in nearly every country, generates over $60 billion in annual revenue, and has a strong competitive position built on its dealer network and the high cost of switching to a competitor. The biggest risk the company faces is that demand for its equipment drops sharply when construction activity or commodity prices fall, making its business sensitive to economic cycles.

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

20 trades / 12mo

10 Congressional buys and 10 sells on CAT in the last 12 months.

Unlock the full Smart Money Map — every trade plotted on the price chart with politicians, amounts and returns since each trade. Founder's Deal is $57/mo locked for life.

Unlock politician trades

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+18.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

EPS Growth

-11.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

R&D Spend

$2.1B/ year

→ Flat (+2% vs prior year)

3.2% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Steady R&D investment year-over-year

Insider Activity

0.2%ownership

Relatively low insider ownership

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$10.0B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Winston looking proud
Growth + cash flow

Caterpillar is a rare growth stock that's already generating positive cash flow while growing at 18%. The Winston Score doesn't fully credit this transition from "burner" to "earner."

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Share count falling — buybacks

−14.5% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 548.5M (2021) → 469.0M (2025)

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Gross Margin
28.6%
Modest — 28.6% gross margin
Operating Margin
13.9%
Healthy — 13.9% operating margin
ROCE
4.1%
Weak — 4.1% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Growth

Sales YoY
+4.3%
Slow sales growth (4.3% YoY)
EPS YoY
-14.8%
Earnings shrinking (-14.8% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

EPS Consistency
0/8 quarters
Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
132%
Turns 132% of profit into real cash
FCF Margin
12.7%
Converts sales into free cash efficiently (12.7%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Stability

Debt / Equity
2.03
Heavy debt load (2.03)
Interest Cover
10.88x
Comfortably covers interest (10.9x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
52.6x
Expensive — P/E 52.6

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

P/E vs Forward
+23.0
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (52.6 → 29.7)

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Dividends

Dividend Yield
0.68%
Small dividend — 0.68% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend Growth
+7.1%
Dividend growing modestly (7.1% YoY)

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free
🔒 See full fundamentals and if they are improving or declining — click here for your free trial now.
Start free trial