CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
$879.89
Cyclical & Capital-Intensive
80%
Normalized Earnings × Cycle Multiple
Strong
·
Conviction
Overvalued
Trading 57.0% above fair value
You pay
$879.89
Bear
$453.82
Fair
$560.60
Bull
$667.38
Bear
$453.82
-48.4%
$18.83 × 20x + net cash
Fair
$560.60
-36.3%
$18.83 × 24x + net cash
Bull
$667.38
-24.2%
$18.83 × 28x + net cash
Key Value Driver
Through-cycle normalized EPS ($18.83)
Implied Market Multiple
46.7x
Summary
Our base-case estimate uses Normalized Earnings × Cycle Multiple. We then blend that result with the average analyst price target of $867.33 from 53 analysts, using a 35% weight on analyst consensus. That produces an estimated intrinsic value of $560.60 per share.
Warnings
This company has a built-in lending arm whose debt is mixed in with the main business. We capped the debt adjustment to avoid overstating what the core business owes.
Price-to-book value of 25.7x is above the normal range for this type of business (0.7x-2.0x). The stock may already price in a strong cycle.
Wall Street's average price target is $867.33 (from 53 analysts). Our estimate is 54% below the consensus -- consider that gap carefully.
Key Risks
- Standard 10-year DCF produces unreliable terminal values for cyclicals
- 'Cheap' P/E at cycle peak is the most common value trap — normalize first
- Captive finance subsidiaries have different risk profiles from manufacturing