CAT vs MS: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Caterpillar Inc. and Morgan Stanley — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-21.
Caterpillar Inc. · Industrials
$808.99
-2.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Morgan Stanley · Financial Services
$206.27
+15.9% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
QuantHub Verdict
MS has more upside to fair value
(+15.9%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
CAT |
MS |
| Current Price |
$808.99 |
$206.27 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$790.88 |
$239.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-2.2%
|
+15.9%
|
| Market Cap |
$372.6B |
$325.4B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.6x
|
23.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
5.0x
|
2.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
41.4x
|
—
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+24.0%
|
+22.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
33.9%
|
59.7%
|
| Operating Margin |
17.5%
|
20.7%
|
| Return on Equity |
54.1%
|
18.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.76% |
2.01% |
| FCF Yield |
2.41%
|
—
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
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%…
Morgan Stanley is a diversified capital-markets and wealth-management franchise spanning institutional securities, advisor-led and self-directed wealth, workplace services, and investment management. Business quality is solid but inherently cyclical: it combines $8.084 trillion of wealth client assets and $2.004 trillion of investment-management AUM/AUS with a strengthening 15.5% institutional pe…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
CAT |
MS |
| Zone Low |
$593.16 |
$179.25 |
| Zone High |
$672.25 |
$203.15 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|