Better Buy: Deere vs. Caterpillar

Analyst Brendan Byrnes examines manufacturing giants Deereand Caterpillar, both of which have underperformed the market so far this year. Deere has been hurt by a saturated North American farm-equipment market, though it does look cheap and should benefit from long-term trends in advancing food quality, especially in developing countries. Still, Brendan picks Caterpillar as the better buy right now, trading at less than 10 times earnings and with a more attractive growth profile than Deere. Caterpillar's high-margin resource industries segment, which includes mining, is one that bears watching closely. Check out the following video for more on these two industrial behemoths.

Caterpillar is the market-share leader in an industry in which size matters, and its quality products, extensive service network, and unparalleled brand strength combine to give it solid competitive advantages. But does that make it a buy now according to our analysts? Read all about Caterpillar's strengths and weaknesses in our brand-new report. Just click here to access it now.

The article Better Buy: Deere vs. Caterpillar originally appeared on Fool.com.

Andrew Tonner and The Motley Fool have no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Brendan Byrnes owns shares of Caterpillar. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.