CAT vs DELL
Caterpillar Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc., side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | CAT | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $67.6B | $113.5B |
| Net income | $8.9B | $5.9B |
| Gross margin | 99.9% | 20.0% |
| Net margin | 13.1% | 5.2% |
| Return on equity | 43.5% | · |
| Diluted EPS | $18.81 | $8.68 |
| Dividend / share | $5.94 | $2.10 |
| Payout ratio | 31.0% | 24.6% |
| Free cash flow | $8.9B | $8.6B |
| Equity | · | $-2.5B |
| Net debt / equity | 1.23× | · |
| Current ratio | 1.44× | 0.91× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 10.1% | 5.5% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | 24.2% | 12.8% |
DELL bills 1.7× the revenue of CAT, and CAT keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (13.1% against 5.2%).
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
10 years side by side
| Fiscal year | CAT | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $67.6B | $113.5B |
| FY2024 | $64.8B | $95.6B |
| FY2023 | $67.1B | $88.4B |
| FY2022 | $59.4B | $102.3B |
| FY2021 | $51.0B | $101.2B |
| FY2020 | $41.7B | $86.7B |
| FY2019 | $53.8B | $84.8B |
| FY2018 | $54.7B | $90.6B |
| FY2017 | $45.5B | $79.0B |
| FY2016 | $38.5B | $61.6B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | CAT | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $8.9B | $5.9B |
| FY2024 | $10.8B | $4.6B |
| FY2023 | $10.3B | $3.4B |
| FY2022 | $6.7B | $2.4B |
| FY2021 | $6.5B | $5.6B |
| FY2020 | $3.0B | $3.2B |
| FY2019 | $6.1B | $4.6B |
| FY2018 | $6.1B | $-2.3B |
| FY2017 | $759.0M | $-2.8B |
| FY2016 | $-59.0M | $-1.7B |
12 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −$45,949,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2024 | −$30,758,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2023 | −$21,365,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2022 | −$42,874,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2021 | −$50,226,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2020 | −$44,922,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2019 | −$31,015,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2018 | −$35,899,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2017 | −$33,578,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2016 | −$23,105,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2015 | −$3,900,000,000 | DELL |
| FY2014 | +$1,042,000,000 | CAT |
The higher-revenue side has changed between CAT and DELL over this period. The gap has widened since the earliest year compared.
12 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
12 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +7.9 pp | CAT |
| FY2024 | +11.9 pp | CAT |
| FY2023 | +11.6 pp | CAT |
| FY2022 | +8.9 pp | CAT |
| FY2021 | +7.1 pp | CAT |
| FY2020 | +3.1 pp | CAT |
| FY2019 | +4.8 pp | CAT |
| FY2018 | +13.6 pp | CAT |
| FY2017 | +5.4 pp | CAT |
| FY2016 | +2.6 pp | CAT |
| FY2015 | +7.5 pp | CAT |
| FY2014 | +6.7 pp | CAT |
CAT has kept the higher net margin in every one of these 12 fiscal years.
12 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
CAT's net margin has been more volatile than DELL's over the 12 comparable fiscal years — 5.2 percentage points of standard deviation against 3.7.
12 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
CAT led in net margin in every one of the 12 comparable fiscal years — a structural lead, not a recent swing.
12 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
DELL's return on equity has been more volatile than CAT's over the 4 comparable fiscal years — 11.6 percentage points of standard deviation against 6.4.
4 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
CAT led in return on equity in every one of the 4 comparable fiscal years — a structural lead, not a recent swing.
4 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.