Caterpillar (CAT) Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] (2009 - 2026)
Caterpillar's Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] was 22.08% in Q2 2026, up 0.25 percentage points from 21.83% a year earlier and up 3.02 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Caterpillar (CAT) Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] at Caterpillar came in at 19.70%, down 3.92 percentage points from FY2024.
- Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] shows a five-year change of +11.05 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In earlier years, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] was 23.62% in FY2024 (-2.32 pp), 25.94% in FY2023 (+10.39 pp), 15.55% in FY2022 (+1.98 pp) and 13.56% in FY2021 (+4.92 pp).
- The Q2 2026 figure marks the highest quarterly Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] since Q1 2025.
- Compared with a year earlier, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] was higher in two of the last eight quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -2.41 percentage points.
- The best year-over-year quarter for Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] over five years was Q4 2023 (a gain of 8.90 percentage points); the worst was Q2 2025 (a drop of 5.35 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, CAT's Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] in the three quarters before Q2 2026 was 19.06% (Q1 2026), 18.71% (Q4 2025) and 20.37% (Q3 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROCE (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caterpillar | 256.79 Bn | 228.09 Bn | 7.35 Bn | 22.25% |
| 2 | Amphenol | 183.76 Bn | 178.46 Bn | 4.02 Bn | 25.53% |
| 3 | Deere | 181.25 Bn | 149.34 Bn | 4.66 Bn | - |
| 4 | Eaton | 132.82 Bn | 129.76 Bn | 3.11 Bn | 12.64% |
| 5 | Parker-Hannifin | 115.39 Bn | 113.27 Bn | 2.26 Bn | 17.64% |
| 6 | 3M | 96.09 Bn | 77.53 Bn | 2.78 Bn | 18.67% |
| 7 | Emerson Electric | 90.66 Bn | 83.40 Bn | 2.66 Bn | 14.90% |
| 8 | Illinois Tool Works | 79.95 Bn | 76.63 Bn | 1.91 Bn | 38.87% |
| 9 | Vertiv Holdings | 70.25 Bn | 59.10 Bn | 1.64 Bn | 31.72% |
| 10 | Tenaris | 62.09 Bn | 33.35 Bn | 1.07 Bn | 10.99% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 22.25% |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 22.08% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 19.06% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 18.71% |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 20.37% |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 21.83% |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 22.56% |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 23.88% |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 25.26% |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 27.18% |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 25.84% |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 24.74% |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 21.73% |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 21.31% |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 17.23% |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 15.84% |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 15.42% |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 13.42% |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 13.05% |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 13.24% |
API Access
Caterpillar Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-capital-employed-%5Broce%5D&ticker=CAT&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-capital-employed-[roce]", "ticker": "CAT", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-capital-employed-%5Broce%5D&ticker=CAT&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();