Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. CAT scored 35.9, GEV scored 69.4 — GEV leads.
Compare another set
CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery · Quality-Growth
35.9
$800.47 · $368.0B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
33.5
GEV leads
GEV
GE Vernova Inc.
Specialty Industrial Machinery · Quality-Growth
69.4
$1,004.73 · $267.6B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestGEV28.8x
Fastest growthGEV+13.0%
Strongest balance sheetGEV0.28
Highest qualityGEV80 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
CAT
stronger →← stronger
GEV
76
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
80
50
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
84
12
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
49
GEV is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
CAT
GEV
$9.0bB+
FCF
$12.4bA-
+4.3%C+
Rev
+13.0%B+
2.33D
D/E
0.28A-
34.3xC+
P/E
28.8xB
1.39B
PEG
1.96C+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
CAT
GEV
250% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
15% above
~42%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~12%/yr
-74%
1-yr DCF upside
-23%
-71%
5-yr DCF upside
-13%
-68%
10-yr DCF upside
+3%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
CAT
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Cyclical growth
GEV
Why this score
Buying back stock
Short track record
The companies
CATCaterpillar Inc.
Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery · $800.47 · beta 1.58
Why now
Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery · market cap $368.0b. Down 25% from 52-week high of $1073.46 — deep drawdown territory. 26 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $970.80 (implying +21% upside).
Moat
Net margin 15% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 57% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $368.0b market cap places it among the largest companies in the sector — distribution, R&D, and customer-acquisition costs amortize across a base peers can't replicate.
Risk
D/E 2.33 is elevated — limits strategic flexibility and raises refinancing exposure if rates stay higher for longer. Beta 1.58 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. Trailing P/E 34x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
Specialty Industrial Machinery · market cap $267.6b. 16% off the 52-week high of $1195.94. Revenue growing +13%, comfortably above the S&P median. 33 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $1,225 (implying +22% upside).
Moat
Net margin 23% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 80% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 131% of net income, helped by cash released from working capital ($14.2b) that doesn't repeat every year.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where CAT and GEV diverge
On the headline score the gap is 33.5 points in favor of GEV. The widest single difference is Value, where GEV leads by 37.1 points.
ValueCAT 12.3 · GEV 49.4GEV +37.1
GrowthCAT 50.0 · GEV 84.2GEV +34.2
QualityCAT 75.6 · GEV 80.5GEV +4.9
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is GEV or CAT the better stock?
GEV scores higher: GEV 69.4, CAT 35.9 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do GEV and CAT differ most?
The widest gap is value, where GEV leads by 37 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. GEV leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are GEV and CAT scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.