CAT vs CMI vs HD Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Cummins and Home Depot Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$686.82 -15.5% 1M +32.0% 1Y
Market cap
$318.29B
P/E
29.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins
CMI Cummins Inc
$517.26 -1.5% 1M +23.8% 1Y
Market cap
$71.88B
P/E
26.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.71B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
3 wins
HD Home Depot, Inc.
$319.64 +7.7% 1M -17.0% 1Y
Market cap
$317.76B
P/E
22.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$169.18B
Div. yield
0.03%
Home Improvement Retail Consumer Discretionary
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 5, Home Depot 4, Cummins 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATCMIHDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $318.29B $71.88B $317.76B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 26.5x 22.3x HD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x 16.5x 22.9x CMI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +2.9% +2.5% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 7.8% 8.4% CAT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 13.6% 23.3% HD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x 2.0x CMI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.03% HD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.0% +23.8% -17.0% CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +27.9%/yr +16.5%/yr -2.7%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.4% 37.1% 26.9% HD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 59/100 41/100 CMI

Percentile Scorecard

CATCMIHD

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCATCMIHD
Valuation 22 #159 of 203 51 #101 of 203 23 #80 of 104
Growth 68 #61 of 188 54 #88 of 188 29 #71 of 99
Profitability 91 #17 of 187 70 #56 of 187 90 #11 of 99
Financial Health 16 #186 of 222 50 #111 of 222 32 #77 of 113
Shareholder Returns 53 #72 of 153 71 #45 of 153 31 #51 of 73
Overall 50 59 41
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • CMI ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • HD ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCATCMIHDSPY
1 month -15.5%-1.5%+7.7% -1.0%
3 months -22.7%-22.1%-4.0% +2.9%
6 months -17.3%-21.7%-4.8% +6.4%
Year to date +19.9%+1.3%-7.1% +11.4%
1 year +32.0%+23.8%-17.0% +13.1%
3 years +175.2%+136.0%+12.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +40.2%+33.2%+4.1% +21.5%
5 years +242.3%+114.9%-12.7% +67.7%
5 years, per year +27.9%+16.5%-2.7% +10.9%
10 years +695.6%+308.4%+152.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +23.0%+15.1%+9.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCATCMIHDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.4%37.1%26.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%37.8%26.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.831.620.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.790.64-0.63 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-30.8%-35.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -35.5%-28.9%-18.3% -2.5%
52-week high $1,064.90$727.59$391.05 $779.14
52-week low $520.50$414.30$281.12 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCATCMIHD
P/E now vs peer median 29.2xmedian 25.9x 26.3xmedian 25.9x 22.3xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.9x 2.1xmedian 1.9x 1.9xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.9xmedian 13.7x 14.9xmedian 13.7x 14.6xmedian 9.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.1xmedian 21.1x 21.1xmedian 21.1x 21.1xmedian 16.6x
P/B now vs peer median 16.3xmedian 2.3x 5.1xmedian 2.3x 19.2xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 2.24median 1.19 8.19median 1.19 -5.48median 0.73

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCATCMIHD
Revenue $74.73B $34.71B $169.18B
Gross profit $25.66B $8.79B $56.18B
Operating income $13.09B $3.89B $21.02B
Net income $10.84B $2.83B $14.23B
Free cash flow $8.99B $3.37B $15.10B
R&D $2.27B $1.44B –
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $19.60 $14.28
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $3.18B $2.09B
Total debt $173.08B $29.22B $214.74B
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 138.50M 996.00M
Enterprise value $289.99B $67.96B $311.00B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCATCMIHD
P/E 29.2x 26.3x 22.3x
P/FCF 35.1x 21.1x 21.1x
P/Operating cash flow 23.3x 15.3x 17.0x
P/S 4.2x 2.1x 1.9x
P/B 16.3x 5.1x 19.2x
P/Tangible book 16.6x 6.1x 52.0x
EV/EBITDA 22.9x 14.9x 14.6x
EV/EBIT 27.1x 19.2x 17.6x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 2.2x 2.2x
EV/FCF 39.4x 22.2x 24.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.1x 16.1x 19.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.24 8.19 -5.48

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATCMIHD
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 2.9% 2.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 2.5% 3.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 1.7% 2.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 4.8% 2.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% -6.0% -2.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 4.1% -3.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% -7.8% -2.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 2.9% -4.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% -7.7% -2.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 3.2% -4.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% 63.4% 5.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 28.8% -1.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% 103.8% 6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 45.3% -2.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATCMIHD
Gross margin 34.3% 25.3% 33.2%
EBITDA margin 20.7% 14.4% 15.0%
Operating margin 17.5% 11.2% 12.4%
Pretax margin 18.6% 11.1% 11.1%
Net margin 14.5% 7.8% 8.4%
FCF margin 12.0% 9.7% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 13.4% 11.1%
Return on equity 57.0% 20.7% 93.3%
Return on assets 10.9% 8.1% 13.1%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 13.6% 23.3%
Return on capital employed 22.1% 16.0% 28.5%
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.0x 1.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.6x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATCMIHD
Debt / assets 44.0% 20.6% 48.4%
Debt / equity 2.3x 0.5x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x 2.0x
Debt / FCF 5.0x 2.2x 3.5x
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 61.0% 84.8%
Equity / assets 18.9% 39.0% 15.2%
Interest coverage 6.8x 12.1x 8.7x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.7x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.0x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.55 4.49 5.53

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATCMIHD
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.6% 2.9%
Net buyback yield 2.3% 0.7% -0.1%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 2.2% 2.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.9% – 64.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% – 61.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.2% – 2.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.1% – 4.4%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCATCMIHD
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 16.5xFY2026 22.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $31.40FY2026 $13.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +31.9%FY2026 -4.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +14.7% +10.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $35.36BFY2026 $163.27BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +5.0%FY2026 -0.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +11.2% +14.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATCMIHD
Held by institutions 72.3% 85.4% 75.0%
Institutions holding 4,055 2,105 4,107
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +1.0% +3.1%
Institutions buying 1,886 1,048 1,917
Institutions selling 1,595 728 1,766
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.44 1.09

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CATCMIHD
CAT 1.00 0.78 0.13
CMI 0.78 1.00 0.17
HD 0.13 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, CMI and HD?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $318.29B, Cummins (CMI) $71.88B, Home Depot (HD) $317.76B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, CMI and HD?

Home Depot (HD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 29.4x, Cummins (CMI) 26.5x, Home Depot (HD) 22.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cummins (CMI) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 26.6x, Cummins (CMI) 16.5x, Home Depot (HD) 22.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Caterpillar (CAT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Cummins (CMI) +2.9%, Home Depot (HD) +2.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Cummins (CMI) 7.8%, Home Depot (HD) 8.4%). On return on invested capital, Home Depot (HD) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Cummins (CMI) 13.6%, Home Depot (HD) 23.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +32.0%, Cummins (CMI) +23.8%, Home Depot (HD) -17.0%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +27.9%/yr, Cummins (CMI) +16.5%/yr, Home Depot (HD) -2.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Home Depot (HD) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%, Cummins (CMI) 0.00%, Home Depot (HD) 0.03%. Cummins (CMI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Home Depot (HD) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.4%, Cummins (CMI) 37.1%, Home Depot (HD) 26.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, CMI and HD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Caterpillar (CAT) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.