Caterpillar Inc. key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Caterpillar Inc. had return on equity of 43.5%, an operating margin of 16.5%, debt equal to 169.9% of equity and a current ratio of 1.44. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2009Dec 2009 | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMJun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27.2% | 31.2% | 32.4% | 31.9% | 30.3% | 30.3% | 30.4% | 36.2% | 38.0% | 33.8% | 34.3% |
| Operating margin | 1.8% | 9.3% | 11.9% | 13.0% | 10.1% | 6.0% | 8.1% | 3.0% | 9.8% | 15.2% | 15.4% | 10.9% | 13.5% | 13.3% | 19.3% | 20.2% | 16.5% | 17.5% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | 6.3% | 8.2% | 8.6% | 6.8% | 4.4% | 5.3% | −0.2% | 1.7% | 11.2% | 11.3% | 7.2% | 12.7% | 11.3% | 15.4% | 16.7% | 13.1% | 14.5% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 15.4% | 8.1% | 7.4% | 2.8% | 13.8% | 11.8% | 11.3% | 11.8% | 10.6% | 9.7% | 10.9% | 12.8% | 12.0% | 10.9% | 16.8% | 15.5% | 13.2% | 14.3% |
| Return on equity | 10.1% | 27.4% | 41.4% | 37.2% | 19.7% | 13.0% | 15.8% | −0.5% | 5.6% | 43.9% | 42.1% | 20.0% | 40.7% | 41.4% | 58.4% | 55.3% | 43.5% | 53.3% |
| Return on assets | 1.5% | 4.4% | 6.8% | 6.7% | 4.4% | 2.9% | 3.1% | −0.1% | 1.0% | 7.9% | 7.8% | 3.8% | 8.1% | 8.1% | 12.2% | 12.3% | 9.5% | 10.8% |
| Asset turnover | 0.54 | 0.69 | 0.83 | 0.77 | 0.64 | 0.65 | 0.58 | 0.50 | 0.60 | 0.70 | 0.69 | 0.53 | 0.63 | 0.72 | 0.79 | 0.74 | 0.73 | 0.74 |
| Current ratio | 1.43 | 1.44 | 1.34 | 1.43 | 1.40 | 1.39 | 1.28 | 1.22 | 1.35 | 1.37 | 1.47 | 1.53 | 1.46 | 1.39 | 1.35 | 1.42 | 1.44 | 1.37 |
| Debt to equity | 294.0% | 225.5% | 223.8% | 187.9% | 145.6% | 193.1% | 215.9% | 227.7% | 209.1% | 214.6% | 215.3% | 182.2% | 190.3% | 199.3% | 149.3% | 162.8% | 169.9% | 186.7% |
| Effective tax rate | −47.5% | 25.8% | 25.6% | 30.7% | 25.7% | 22.0% | 26.6% | — | 81.8% | 21.7% | 22.4% | 25.2% | 21.2% | 23.6% | 21.3% | 19.7% | 24.0% | 23.5% |
| R&D as % of revenue | 4.4% | 4.5% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 3.7% | 4.3% | 4.5% | 4.8% | 4.1% | 3.4% | 3.1% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 3.0% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 11.3% | 10.0% | 8.7% | 9.0% | 10.0% | 11.8% | 10.5% | 11.4% | 11.0% | 10.0% | 9.6% | 11.1% | 10.5% | 9.5% | 9.5% | 10.3% | 10.3% | 10.1% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 4.6% | 3.7% | 4.2% | 5.1% | 4.5% | 2.8% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2.1% | 2.2% | 2.4% | 3.1% | 4.2% | 3.8% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 558.1% | 127.2% | 90.1% | 32.3% | 202.4% | 265.8% | 211.4% | — | 637.7% | 85.9% | 96.1% | 178.4% | 94.1% | 96.5% | 109.2% | 93.1% | 100.4% | 98.7% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 115.0% | 40.1% | 23.5% | 28.5% | 29.3% | 66.1% | 69.9% | — | 242.8% | 31.7% | 35.0% | 74.8% | 35.9% | 36.4% | 24.8% | 24.5% | 30.9% | 25.9% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 20.6% | 31.6% | 26.1% | 88.2% | 40.6% | 89.9% | 71.2% | 39.7% | 38.1% | 108.8% | 105.5% | 63.1% | 81.9% | 103.1% | 66.8% | 102.9% | 89.0% | 93.8% |
| Quarter | 2024 Q3Sept 2024 | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 37.5% | 36.3% | 37.1% | 34.8% | 33.8% | 30.4% | 35.1% | 37.8% |
| Operating margin | 19.5% | 18.0% | 18.1% | 17.3% | 17.3% | 13.9% | 17.7% | 20.9% |
| Net margin | 15.3% | 17.2% | 14.1% | 13.2% | 13.0% | 12.6% | 14.6% | 17.5% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 19.4% | 16.6% | 4.1% | 15.5% | 17.5% | 14.1% | 6.6% | 18.4% |
| Current ratio | 1.40 | 1.42 | 1.32 | 1.34 | 1.38 | 1.44 | 1.35 | 1.37 |
| Debt to equity | — | 162.8% | — | — | — | 169.9% | — | — |
| R&D as % of revenue | 3.3% | 3.2% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 3.0% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 10.4% | 10.9% | 11.2% | 10.2% | 10.3% | 9.8% | 10.4% | 9.8% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $54.5bn of assets due within a year against $39.8bn of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $54.5bn short-term assets against $43.4bn of longer-dated liabilities.
- More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.
Moat
Moderate moat
How hard Caterpillar's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 13 / 20
Cash operating profit has been a median 10.6% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 8 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 30.3%, moving by 5.1 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 7 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 14.6%; its worst year was 3.6%.
- Cash conversion 17 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 13.8% of revenue.
- Discipline 20 / 20
The diluted share count fell 15.1% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.4% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.
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