In the latest close session, Caterpillar (CAT) was down 1.74% at $873.28. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.02%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.51%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.18%.
Heading into today, shares of the construction equipment company had lost 10.9% over the past month, lagging the Industrial Products sector's loss of 1.06% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.77%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Caterpillar in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on August 4, 2026. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $6.25, marking a 32.42% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $19.31 billion, indicating a 16.56% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $24.87 per share and a revenue of $77.17 billion, representing changes of +30.48% and +14.18%, respectively, from the prior year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Caterpillar. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.91% higher. Caterpillar is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
With respect to valuation, Caterpillar is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 35.74. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.73, so one might conclude that Caterpillar is trading at a premium comparatively.
We can also see that CAT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.74. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.58.
The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 178, finds itself in the bottom 28% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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Caterpillar Inc. (CAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).