CAT vs WFC Stock Comparison

Caterpillar and Wells Fargo & Company 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
7 wins
WFC Wells Fargo & Company/Mn
$82.38 +0.5% 1M -2.5% 1Y
Market cap
$251.40B
P/E
11.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$86.80B
Div. yield
0.02%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 7, Wells Fargo & Company 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATWFCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $318.29B $251.40B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 11.6x WFC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x 10.5x WFC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +6.2% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 24.9% WFC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 14.8% CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 2.7x CAT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.02% WFC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.0% -2.5% CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +27.9%/yr +10.2%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.4% 25.6% WFC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 39/100 CAT

Percentile Scorecard

CATWFC

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

AxisCATWFC
Valuation 22 #159 of 203 27 #265 of 361
Growth 68 #61 of 188 52 #165 of 344
Profitability 91 #17 of 187 32 #238 of 348
Financial Health 16 #186 of 222 6 #320 of 340
Shareholder Returns 53 #72 of 153 78 #77 of 352
Overall 50 39
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WFC ranked among 370 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATWFCSPY
1 month -15.5%+0.5% -1.0%
3 months -22.7%-4.6% +2.9%
6 months -17.3%+3.7% +6.4%
Year to date +19.9%-11.6% +11.4%
1 year +32.0%-2.5% +13.1%
3 years +175.2%+109.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +40.2%+28.0% +21.5%
5 years +242.3%+62.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year +27.9%+10.2% +10.9%
10 years +695.6%+82.7% +255.2%
10 years, per year +23.0%+6.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCATWFCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.4%25.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%29.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.830.68 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.79-0.10 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-38.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -35.5%-14.5% -2.5%
52-week high $1,064.90$96.39 $779.14
52-week low $520.50$73.42 $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.

MultipleCATWFC
P/E now vs peer median 29.2xmedian 25.9x 11.6xmedian 12.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.9x 2.9xmedian 3.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.9xmedian 13.7x 5.9xmedian 4.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.1xmedian 21.1x 13.0xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 16.3xmedian 2.3x 1.4xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.24median 1.19 0.61median 1.48

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 monthsCATWFC
Revenue $74.73B $86.80B
Gross profit $25.66B –
Operating income $13.09B –
Net income $10.84B $22.61B
Free cash flow $8.99B $19.17B
R&D $2.27B –
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $7.03
Cash & equivalents $6.71B –
Total debt $173.08B $207.31B
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 3.07B
Enterprise value $289.99B $251.40B

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
MetricCATWFC
P/E 29.2x 11.6x
P/FCF 35.1x 13.0x
P/Operating cash flow 23.3x 13.0x
P/S 4.2x 2.9x
P/B 16.3x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 16.6x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 22.9x 5.9x
EV/EBIT 27.1x 6.6x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 5.3x
EV/FCF 39.4x 23.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.1x 23.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.24 0.61

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATWFC
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 2.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% –
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% 9.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 10.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% 17.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 18.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% 309.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% -9.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% 309.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% -9.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATWFC
Gross margin 34.3% –
EBITDA margin 20.7% 88.9%
Operating margin 17.5% –
Pretax margin 18.6% 31.6%
Net margin 14.5% 24.9%
FCF margin 12.0% 22.1%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 22.1%
Return on equity 57.0% 12.7%
Return on assets 10.9% 1.0%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 14.8%
Return on capital employed 22.1% –
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATWFC
Debt / assets 44.0% 9.1%
Debt / equity 2.3x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 2.7x
Debt / FCF 5.0x 10.8x
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 92.0%
Equity / assets 18.9% 8.0%
Interest coverage 6.8x 1.7x
Current ratio 1.4x –
Quick ratio 0.5x –
Cash ratio 0.2x –
Altman Z-score 4.55 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATWFC
Dividend yield 0.7% 2.2%
Net buyback yield 2.3% 7.7%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 10.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.9% 24.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% 29.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.2% 5.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 7.3%

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.

ConsensusCATWFC
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 10.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $7.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +24.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +7.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $94.38BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +12.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATWFC
Held by institutions 72.3% 76.8%
Institutions holding 4,055 2,875
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +1.1%
Institutions buying 1,886 1,290
Institutions selling 1,595 1,134
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.14

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.

CATWFC
CAT 1.00 0.25
WFC 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT and WFC?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $318.29B, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) $251.40B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT and WFC?

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 29.4x, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 11.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 26.6x, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 10.5x). 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%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) +6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 24.9%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 14.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +32.0%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) -2.5%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +27.9%/yr, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) +10.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 0.02%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.4%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 25.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CAT and WFC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.25, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CAT and WFC?

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 7. 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.