Caterpillar is a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. Co.'s Construction Industries segment supports customers using machinery in infrastructure, forestry and building construction. Co.'s Resource Industries segment supports customers using machinery in mining and heavy construction and quarry and aggregates. Co.'s Energy and Transportation segment supports customers in oil and gas, power generation, marine, rail and industrial applications, including Co.'s machines. Co. also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. We show 56 historical shares outstanding datapoints in our CAT shares outstanding history coverage, used to compute CAT market cap on those dates.
Understanding the changing numbers of shares outstanding, the changing
share price, and the resulting changing Caterpillar market cap history over the course of time is important for investors
interested in comparing Caterpillar's market cap history versus its peers.
Many "beginner" or "novice" investors will look at one stock trading at a price of $10 per share and another trading at
a price of $20 per share and think the latter company is worth twice as much. Of course, that is a completely meaningless comparison without also knowing how many shares outstanding there are for each of the two companies,
and then calculating their respective market caps. Comparing the share price of Caterpillar versus a peer is one thing; comparing
Caterpillar market cap versus a peer is a completely different story.
Furthermore, via fluctuation both in per-share price and in the number of shares outstanding (via issuance of new shares over time, the repurchase of existing shares),
the market cap for a company like Caterpillar can fluctuate over the course of history.
With this page we aim to empower investors researching Caterpillar by allowing them to research the Caterpillar market cap history. |
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Video: The Importance of Market Cap
