CAT vs LLY: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of Caterpillar Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company โ€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-09-26.
Caterpillar Inc. ยท Industrials
$808.99
-2.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C High Quality
VS
Eli Lilly and Company ยท Healthcare
$1,183.72
+2.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade B High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
LLY has more upside to fair value (+2.1%). These are model outputs โ€” not personalized investment advice. See all research โ†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric CAT LLY
Current Price $808.99 $1,183.72
Fair Value Estimate $790.88 $1,208.00
Upside to Fair Value -2.2% +2.1%
Market Cap $372.6B $1,114.8B
Forward P/E โ€” โ€”
EV / EBITDA 23.6x 26.8x
Price / Sales 5.0x 14.0x
Price / FCF 41.4x 52.7x
Revenue Growth YoY +24.0% +47.7%
Gross Margin 33.9% 83.4%
Operating Margin 17.5% 49.7%
Return on Equity 54.1% 92.6%
Dividend Yield 0.76% 0.57%
FCF Yield 2.41% 1.9%
Analyst Consensus Buy Strong 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
LLY โ€” Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly is a global pharmaceutical company whose incretin franchise, led by Mounjaro and Zepbound, has become the dominant growth engine in diabetes and obesity care. The business quality is high: TTM gross margin is 83.4%, TTM operating margin is 49.7%, TTM net margin is 33.5%, and ROE is 92.6%, while revenue grew 47.7% and earnings grew 25.3% in the most recent quarter on a year-over-year basโ€ฆ
Accumulation Zones
Metric CAT LLY
Zone Low $593.16 $906.00
Zone High $672.25 $1,026.80
In Buy Zone? No No
โ† CAT Research    LLY Research โ†’    All Research