Head to head · SEC data as of September 11, 2026
Caterpillar
87
Quality score · out of 100
John Deere
73
Quality score · out of 100
Caterpillar comes in ahead: a quality score of 87 versus 73 for John Deere. Caterpillar wins on net margin (14.5% vs 10.2%), ROE (55.9% vs 17.4%) and revenue growth (11.2% vs 5.4%). John Deere answers with less debt (0.7× vs 1.91×).
| Metric | Caterpillar | John Deere |
|---|---|---|
| Quality score (0-100) | 87 | 73 |
| Net margin | 14.5% | 10.2% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| ROE | 55.9% | 17.4% |
| Net debt/EBITDA | 1.91× | 0.7× |
| FCF margin | 14.3% | 12.5% |
| Revenue growth (annualized) | 11.2% | 5.4% |
| Earnings growth (annualized) | 30.1% | 13.5% |
TTM metrics with official SEC data, refreshed daily. Bold green marks the winner of each metric. A dash means the metric doesn't apply or isn't reliable.
Caterpillar. Caterpillar is the world's largest maker of heavy construction and mining machinery: excavators, giant trucks, engines and generators. It's a very cyclical company, a thermometer of global spending on infrastructure and commodities.
John Deere. Deere (John Deere) is the world's largest maker of farm machinery —tractors, combines— plus construction and forestry equipment. Its bet is precision agriculture: increasingly autonomous, connected machines partly monetized as subscription software.
Open your account in minutes with regulated brokers and buy U.S. and European stocks from small amounts. No paperwork.
The serious investor's standard
Open free account →Anyone who wants low commissions and access to almost any market in the world.
Popular in the U.S.
Open free account →Anyone investing in the U.S. who wants a powerful, commission-free stock app.
Investing carries risk of loss.
What this comparison doesn't tell you
The score measures business quality, not whether the stock is cheap or expensive: the better company can be the worse investment if you overpay. For the valuation verdict, enter each one's current price in the analyzer:
Who has the stronger fundamentals today, Caterpillar or John Deere?
By the StockSemáforo model (profitability, growth and financial strength, built on official SEC data), Caterpillar scores higher: 87 versus 73 out of 100. The score is recomputed nightly with the latest filings.
Does that make Caterpillar the better investment?
No. The score measures business quality, not valuation: an excellent company can trade at an excessive price and be a poor investment at that price. To find out whether it's cheap or expensive, enter its current quote in the StockSemáforo analyzer.
Other comparisons
Booking vs Expedia · Lockheed Martin vs RTX · UPS vs FedEx · Delta vs United Airlines · Joby vs Archer · See all comparisons →
Who's behind the methodology and model · how the score is computed
Data: official SEC filings (EDGAR) · Recomputed on September 11, 2026
Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Report it and we'll review it.