CAT vs TSLA: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of Caterpillar Inc. and Tesla, Inc. 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
Tesla, Inc. ยท Consumer Cyclical
$372.11
+45.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C
QuantHub Verdict
TSLA has more upside to fair value (+45.0%). These are model outputs โ€” not personalized investment advice. See all research โ†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric CAT TSLA
Current Price $808.99 $372.11
Fair Value Estimate $790.88 $539.56
Upside to Fair Value -2.2% +45.0%
Market Cap $372.6B $1,469.7B
Forward P/E โ€” โ€”
EV / EBITDA 23.6x 121.7x
Price / Sales 5.0x 14.2x
Price / FCF 41.4x 209.1x
Revenue Growth YoY +24.0% +25.5%
Gross Margin 33.9% 18.9%
Operating Margin 17.5% 4.2%
Return on Equity 54.1% 4.6%
Dividend Yield 0.76% 0%
FCF Yield 2.41% 0.48%
Analyst Consensus Buy Hold
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
TSLA โ€” Tesla, Inc.
Tesla, Inc. designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems, operating through Automotive and Energy Generation and Storage segments with 134,785 full-time employees and a market capitalization of $1,469.67 billion at a share price of $372.11. The business quality is mixed: revenue grew 25.5% year over year in the most recent quarter, but earnings fell โ€ฆ
Accumulation Zones
Metric CAT TSLA
Zone Low $593.16 $404.67
Zone High $672.25 $458.63
In Buy Zone? No Yes
โ† CAT Research    TSLA Research โ†’    All Research