Caterpillar (MIC:CAT-RM) Beneish M-Score: -2.46 (As of Jun. 26, 2026)


What is Caterpillar Beneish M-Score?

Caterpillar MIC:CAT-RM 83 Beneish M-Score is -2.46 as of Jun. 26, 2026. GuruFocus rates MIC:CAT-RM with a GF Score™ of 83/100. The stock has 6 warning signs investors should review. Among 205 Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery companies, Caterpillar ranks worse than 50.24% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.46 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Caterpillar's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

MIC:CAT-RM' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -2.9   Med: -2.6   Max: -2.42
Current: -2.46

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Caterpillar was -2.42. The lowest was -2.90. And the median was -2.60.

Caterpillar Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Caterpillar's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Caterpillar Beneish M-Score Chart

Caterpillar Annual Data
Trend Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23 Dec24 Dec25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.58 -2.52 -2.66 -2.60 -2.47

Caterpillar Quarterly Data
Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24 Mar25 Jun25 Sep25 Dec25 Mar26
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.60 -2.55 -2.54 -2.47 -2.46

MIC:CAT-RM vs DE, PCAR, CNH: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery subindustry, Caterpillar's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

Caterpillar Beneish M-Score vs Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery Industry

For the Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery industry and Industrials sector, Caterpillar's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Caterpillar's Beneish M-Score falls into.


Caterpillar Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Caterpillar for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.1878+0.528 * 1.1248+0.404 * 0.9894+0.892 * 0.9659+0.115 * 1.1763
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.9641+4.679 * -0.040701-0.327 * 1.0131
=-2.44

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar26) TTM:Last Year (Mar25) TTM:
Total Receivables was ₽1,779,416.25 Mil.
Revenue was 1415647.964 + 1521000.809 + 1465179.106 + 1287868.735 = ₽5,689,696.61 Mil.
Gross Profit was 468549.806 + 435241.699 + 466767.286 + 421750 = ₽1,792,308.79 Mil.
Total Current Assets was ₽3,948,044.23 Mil.
Total Assets was ₽7,767,164.11 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was ₽1,239,575.99 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was ₽186,316.37 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was ₽579,778.82 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was ₽2,918,437.74 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was ₽2,490,857.59 Mil.
Net Income was 207205.665 + 190949.874 + 191059.754 + 169368.458 = ₽758,583.75 Mil.
Non Operating Income was 21135.14 + 39191.627 + 17278.447 + 6529.119 = ₽84,134.33 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 152010.433 + 285470.857 + 310430.566 + 242665.592 = ₽990,577.45 Mil.
 Total Receivables was ₽1,550,855.20 Mil.
Revenue was 1177248.72 + 1744750.182 + 1459606.245 + 1508685.628 = ₽5,890,290.78 Mil.
Gross Profit was 409628.687 + 597831.145 + 516924.998 + 562740.01 = ₽2,087,124.84 Mil.
Total Current Assets was ₽3,554,218.73 Mil.
Total Assets was ₽7,020,530.06 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was ₽1,109,748.39 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was ₽201,544.99 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was ₽622,553.34 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was ₽2,692,990.53 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was ₽2,133,159.15 Mil.

1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(1779416.246 / 5689696.614) / (1550855.199 / 5890290.775)
=0.312744 / 0.26329
=1.1878

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(2087124.84 / 5890290.775) / (1792308.791 / 5689696.614)
=0.354333 / 0.31501
=1.1248

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (3948044.232 + 1239575.986) / 7767164.108) / (1 - (3554218.731 + 1109748.39) / 7020530.056)
=0.332109 / 0.335667
=0.9894

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=5689696.614 / 5890290.775
=0.9659

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(201544.991 / (201544.991 + 1109748.39)) / (186316.37 / (186316.37 + 1239575.986))
=0.153699 / 0.130667
=1.1763

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(579778.821 / 5689696.614) / (622553.343 / 5890290.775)
=0.1019 / 0.105691
=0.9641

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((2490857.589 + 2918437.737) / 7767164.108) / ((2133159.149 + 2692990.529) / 7020530.056)
=0.696431 / 0.687434
=1.0131

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(758583.751 - 84134.333 - 990577.448) / 7767164.108
=-0.040701

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Caterpillar has a M-score of -2.44 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.46 mean?
Caterpillar (MIC:CAT-RM) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.46 as of Jun. 26, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Caterpillar and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, Caterpillar ranks #103 out of 205 companies in the Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery industry, placing it in the top 50.2%.
Is Caterpillar's Beneish M-Score too high?
Caterpillar's current Beneish M-Score is -2.46. Based on the distribution chart, Caterpillar ranks #103 out of 205 companies in the Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery industry, which is below the industry midpoint. Overall, Caterpillar has a GF Score™ of 83/100, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Caterpillar's Beneish M-Score compare to DE and PCAR?
According to the Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery industry distribution chart, Caterpillar ranks #103 out of 205 companies for Beneish M-Score. This places Caterpillar in the lower half of its industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Caterpillar and its competitors. Caterpillar's current Beneish M-Score is -2.46. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Caterpillar stock overvalued right now?
Caterpillar (MIC:CAT-RM) has a current Beneish M-Score of -2.46. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.46. Caterpillar's overall GF Score™ is 83/100 with 6 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Caterpillar (MIC:CAT-RM), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.46 as of Jun. 26, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Caterpillar Business Description

Address 5205 N. O\'Connor Boulevard, Suite 100, Irving, TX, USA, 75039
Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Its reporting segments are construction, resource, energy, and transportation. Market share approaches 20% across many products. Caterpillar operates a captive finance subsidiary to facilitate sales. The firm has a global reach that is approximately evenly balanced between the US and the rest of the world. Construction skews more domestic, while the other divisions are more geographically diversified. An independent network of over 150 dealers operates approximately 2,800 facilities, giving Caterpillar reach into about 190 countries for sales and support services.