Quick Ratio

The quick ratio, a measure of a company’s ability to pay short-term obligations using its most liquid assets (cash, marketable securities, and receivables, excluding inventory), currently stands at 0.72x.

This means for every dollar of current liabilities, CAT has only $0.72 in liquid assets. It sits exactly at the sector median of 0.72x, placing the firm in the 50th percentile among peers. The year-over-year change is not available, but quarter-over-quarter the quick ratio jumped from 0.11x to 0.72x, a +554.5% increase. While a ratio below 1.0 still signals potential liquidity pressure, the sharp recent improvement from a very low level reduces that risk substantially. This combination of a median-level ratio with a large upward trend suggests reduced near-term liquidity risk but does not eliminate caution. The metric supports the overall CAUTIOUS verdict because the ratio remains below 1.0, indicating that liquid assets still fall short of covering short-term liabilities.

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