Caterpillar (CAT): return calculator
Caterpillar (CAT) shares, the world's largest maker of construction and mining machinery, listed in New York.
Updated
- Type
- Stocks
- Market
- NYSE
- Currency
- USD
- Sector
- Industrials
- Data range
- 2016-07 – 2026-06 · 10 years
- Source
- Yahoo Finance
US$1,000 invested 9 years ago would be worth today
US$11,118
+1,011.8% total return
Try your own values in the calculators below.
Return calculator
Pick an amount and a period to see what an investment in Caterpillar (CAT) would be worth today. By default we include reinvested dividends (total return).
Lump sum
What a one-off investment would be worth today.
Monthly investing (DCA)
What investing the same amount every month would be worth.
Estimate before taxes, fees and currency-conversion costs. Past performance does not guarantee future returns.
Investment growth
Performance
Data for the last 10 years · 2016-07 → 2026-06
Comparison with the market
US$1,000 invested vs S&P 500 ETF (SPY):
- Caterpillar (CAT)
- US$14,949
- S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
- US$3,861
Caterpillar (CAT) beat S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by US$11,088 (+287%) over this period.
Risk & drawdowns
The largest peak-to-trough drop in the window was -30%. An investor who bought near the prior peak would have seen the investment fall significantly before recovering.
Scenarios
Illustrative results based on the available data.
US$1,000 5 years ago
US$4,954
lump sum, +395.38948335851813% return
US$100/mo for 5 years
US$22,086
invested US$6,100
If it repeats +31.36%/yr for 10 years
US$15,298
projection from US$1,000 (hypothetical)
About Caterpillar (CAT)
Caterpillar is the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment — excavators, tractors, trucks and loaders — and also produces engines, turbines and locomotives. Its yellow machines are a symbol of heavy industry. A large part of revenue comes from outside the United States and from the services and spare parts sold over the life of the equipment.
It trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker CAT and is part of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices. It is a "dividend aristocrat", with decades of consecutive increases, but the business is highly cyclical: it depends on construction, infrastructure and mining investment and on commodity prices.
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Frequently asked questions
How much did Caterpillar (CAT) return over the last 10 years?
Do these calculations include dividends?
Do they include taxes or fees?
What currency are the values in?
Does past performance predict the future?
Sources & methodology
Prices: Yahoo Finance. Monthly series, total return (dividends reinvested). Data through 2026-06.
Total return assumes dividends are reinvested; you can turn that off to see price-only appreciation. Values are estimates before taxes, fees and currency-conversion costs.
Page generated and reviewed by the Calculadora Capital editorial team. Last updated 2026-06.