CAT vs V: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Caterpillar Inc. and Visa Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-13.
Caterpillar Inc. · Industrials
$912.14
-47.9% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
Visa Inc. · Financial Services
$304.36
+45.0% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A-
QuantHub Verdict
V has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
V trades at a lower forward P/E
(23.7x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
CAT |
V |
| Current Price |
$912.14 |
$304.36 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$475.00 |
$441.32 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-47.9%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$420.2B |
$586.8B |
| Forward P/E |
44.9x
|
23.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
30.0x
|
22.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
5.9x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
36.7x
|
25.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+22.2%
|
+11.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
32.5%
|
81.08%
|
| Operating Margin |
16.6%
|
59.18%
|
| Return on Equity |
47.5%
|
54.22%
|
| Dividend Yield |
1.5% |
0.83% |
| FCF Yield |
2.73%
|
3.91%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Hold
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, with diversified revenue across Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy & Transportation, and Cat Financial. Q1 2026 results reported April 30 showed revenue of $17.4 billion (+22.2% YoY) and EPS of $5.50 (+30.3% YoY), driven by powerful demand from data center build-outs (large engine and power gen…
Visa is the world's dominant payment network with $40B in net revenue (FY2025), 50%+ net margins, and a capital-light toll-booth model processing $14.2T in annual payment volume across 257.5B transactions. The business compounds at 10-12% revenue CAGR with operating leverage pushing EPS growth to 12-15% over a cycle, funded by $21.6B in annual free cash flow against only $1.5B in capex. At 28.0x …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
CAT |
V |
| Zone Low |
$356.00 |
$330.99 |
| Zone High |
$404.00 |
$375.12 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|