CAT vs PCAR Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Caterpillar's construction, mining, and energy equipment business against PACCAR's Kenworth/Peterbilt heavy truck manufacturing and its exposure to freight cycles.
Use this Caterpillar vs PACCAR comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
CAT holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CAT has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+23.44% vs +3.15%), though PCAR has the better forward P/E setup (17.56x vs 24.75x for CAT). CAT leads on both revenue growth (24.00%) and operating margin (22.18%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for CAT (+21.91%) than for PCAR (+12.52%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | CAT | PCAR |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 65.0 | 52.5 |
| AI ranki | #77 | #358 |
| Latest closei | $647.39 | $102.29 |
| 1M returni | -21.68% | -8.51% |
| 3M returni | -19.99% | -23.53% |
| 6M returni | -27.27% | -13.90% |
| 1Y returni | +23.44% | +3.15% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CAT | PCAR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.06K (+10.6%) started 2025-10-29 | $10.42K (+4.2%) started 2025-10-29 |
| 5Y ago | $36.18K (+261.8%) started 2021-11-01 | $23.26K (+132.6%) started 2021-11-01 |
| 10Y ago | $117.52K (+1075.2%) started 2016-10-31 | $57.82K (+478.2%) started 2016-10-31 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CAT | PCAR |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $367.85B | $65.97B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 34.48 | 26.39 |
| Forward P/Ei | 24.75 | 17.56 |
| Price/Salesi | 2.63 | 1.52 |
| EV/Revenuei | 5.45 | 2.59 |
| Analyst targeti | $975.61 | $141.03 |
| Target upsidei | +21.91% | +12.52% |
| Metric | CAT | PCAR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 24.00% | 0.50% |
| Earnings growthi | 68.20% | 4.20% |
| EPS growthi | +68.20% | +4.20% |
| FCF margini | +6.76% | +6.99% |
| Operating margini | 22.18% | 12.02% |
| Profit margini | 14.51% | 9.00% |
| ROIC proxyi | 56.97% | 12.76% |
| Return on equityi | 56.97% | 12.76% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.80% | 1.12% |
| Payout ratioi | 24.18% | 25.95% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.60 | 0.98 |
| Debt/equityi | 232.78 | 72.91 |
| Current ratioi | 1.37 | 5.52 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.78 | 4.89 |
Over the past year, CAT and PCAR have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.46), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | CAT | PCAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +10.57% | +4.15% |
| CAGRi | +10.59% | +4.16% | |
| Volatilityi | 39.99% | 26.83% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.34 | 0.12 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.48 | 0.18 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.21% | 25.99% | |
| Current drawdowni | 39.21% | 25.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.90% | 7.28% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.10% | 9.87% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.25% | 5.97% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.99% | 10.09% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +237.35% | +96.83% |
| CAGRi | +27.58% | +14.53% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.25% | 26.12% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.78 | 0.48 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.16 | 0.71 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.21% | 27.75% | |
| Current drawdowni | 39.21% | 25.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.26% | 9.18% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.33% | 11.68% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.25% | 10.97% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.13% | 12.10% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +845.51% | +290.27% |
| CAGRi | +25.21% | +14.60% | |
| Volatilityi | 31.75% | 26.27% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.73 | 0.48 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.06 | 0.71 | |
| Max drawdowni | 43.36% | 37.84% | |
| Current drawdowni | 39.21% | 25.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.93% | 9.16% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.21% | 11.57% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.28% | 10.97% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.36% | 19.70% |
| Category | CAT | PCAR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | CAT | PCAR |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery | Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery |
| Core business | Caterpillar Inc. provides construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in the United States and internationally. | PACCAR Inc designs, manufactures, and distributes light, medium, and heavy-duty commercial trucks in the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Europe, Central and South America, and internationally. |
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AI score, forward P/E, analyst target upside, operating margin, and revenue growth are scored head-to-head, with a running tally of which ticker leads on how many metrics.
Volatility, Sharpe and Sortino ratios, maximum, current, and average drawdown, Ulcer Index, and worst single-day and single-week drops across every timeframe.
Pairwise daily-return correlation for every combination, so you can see whether two holdings actually diversify each other or just move together.
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