CAT vs DE: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of Caterpillar Inc. and Deere & Company โ€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-09-23.
Caterpillar Inc. ยท Industrials
$808.99
-2.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C High Quality
VS
Deere & Company ยท Industrials
$703.12
-12.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
CAT has more upside to fair value (-2.2%). These are model outputs โ€” not personalized investment advice. See all research โ†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric CAT DE
Current Price $808.99 $703.12
Fair Value Estimate $790.88 $616.99
Upside to Fair Value -2.2% -12.2%
Market Cap $372.6B $189.8B
Forward P/E โ€” โ€”
EV / EBITDA 23.6x 22.1x
Price / Sales 5.0x 4.0x
Price / FCF 41.4x 49.1x
Revenue Growth YoY +24.0% +7.0%
Gross Margin 33.9% 35.7%
Operating Margin 17.5% 19.0%
Return on Equity 54.1% 18.1%
Dividend Yield 0.76% 0.92%
FCF Yield 2.41% 2.04%
Analyst Consensus Buy Buy
Investment Thesis
CAT โ€” Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar is the world's premier manufacturer of heavy construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas power units, and industrial gas turbines, organized across Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy & Transportation, and Financial Products, with 118,000 employees and a century-old brand. Business quality is high: return on equity of 54.1%, TTM operating margin of 17.5%โ€ฆ
DE โ€” Deere & Company
Deere & Company is a 1837-founded global manufacturer of agricultural, turf, and construction equipment organized across Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services, employing roughly 73,100 people under CEO John C. May. Business quality is high on franchise strength but currently strained by the large-agriculture cycle: TTM โ€ฆ
Accumulation Zones
Metric CAT DE
Zone Low $593.16 $462.74
Zone High $672.25 $524.44
In Buy Zone? No No
โ† CAT Research    DE Research โ†’    All Research