Caterpillar Inc. scores 83 for management and 75 for moat. The management score rests on a return on invested capital of 11.4% and a gross margin of 32.3% — figures that describe a business turning capital into profit efficiently. The balance sheet carries debt at 2.03x equity, which magnifies both the returns above and the risk beneath them. The solid moat and exceptional management are not the same judgement, and the gap between them is where the argument about this business sits.
The price anchors are built on deliberately conservative assumptions. Growth is modelled at 10.1% a year, the rate measured from the filings. The exit multiple assumed is 20.2x. That produces an intrinsic value of $304.75, a 10-CAP price of $224.14 and a payback time price of $283.44, with the value zone set at the highest of the three, $283.44. Today's price of $826.35 is 192% above it.
The operating figures describe a business performing at a high level; the price asks for that performance to continue and then some. A margin of safety score of 18 is the measure of how little room that leaves for being wrong.
| Price | $826.35 |
| Market cap | $380.6B |
| P/E ratio | 35.5x |
| Return on invested capital | 11.4% |
| Gross margin | 32.3% |
| Debt to equity | 2.03x |
| Free cash flow yield | 2.8% |
| Growth rate used | 10.1% |
| Growth rate measured | 10.0% |
| Exit multiple assumed | 20.2x |
| Company | Moat | Buy price |
| Deere & Company (DE) | 56 | $182.13 |
| Cnh Industrial Nv (CNH) | 41 | $11.03 |
| Oshkosh Corp (OSK) | 83 | $226.20 |
| Aebi Schmidt Holding Ag (AEBI) | 43 | $4.44 |
Every number above is built on assumptions that can be changed. In Moatly you can move the growth rate, the exit multiple and the margin of safety and watch every figure recalculate, so you are testing your own view of Caterpillar Inc. rather than accepting ours.