CaterpillarCATHOLDMar 10, 2025Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jul 15, 2026. Market Open.
Not just heavy yellow machinery anymore. Increasingly tied to power demand, electrification, industrial expansion, and the theme of reshoring. Sales targets for power generation segment have increased.
Backlog is ~$63B, very strong revenue visibility. About 25% earnings growth rate over next few years. Yield is 0.68%.
CAT is $165B market cap, 17X earnings, 1.62% yield, 6.96% five year dividend growth, down 4% YTD, debt/cash flow about 3X, forward growth about 10%. DE is $135B, 25X earnings, 1.30% yield, 14.68% dividend growth, 5X debt/cash flow, forward growth 15%. We would consider both HOLDS today. While good companies, they will be vulnerable in a global economic decline, as both have been in prior cycles. Automation/AI will help margins, but this will take some time to show up in the numbers. Mining expansions (CAT) and weak spending (DE) will likely mean less-than-robust growth and/or weak sentiment for a period of time.
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