What is Caterpillar's inventory lifo reserve?

Caterpillar (CAT) reported inventory lifo reserve of $4.31B in Q4 2025.

How has Caterpillar's inventory lifo reserve changed year-over-year?

Caterpillar's inventory lifo reserve increased by 11.4% year-over-year, from $3.86B to $4.31B.

What is the long-term trend for Caterpillar's inventory lifo reserve?

Over 5 years (2020 to 2025), Caterpillar's inventory lifo reserve has grown at a 15.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $2.13B to $4.31B.

What does inventory lifo reserve mean?

The difference between inventory value under LIFO accounting versus FIFO or average cost methods.

Discontinued — last reported Q3 '17

Current Assets

Inventory LIFO Reserve

Caterpillar Inventory LIFO Reserve increased by 11.4% to $4.31B in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 11.4%, from $3.86B to $4.31B. Over 5 years (FY 2020 to FY 2025), Inventory LIFO Reserve shows an upward trend with a 15.1% CAGR.

Analysis

StatementBalance Sheet Statement

SectionCurrent Assets

CategoryEfficiency

SignalContext dependent

VolatilityStable

First reportedQ3 2015

Last reportedQ3 2017

How to read this metric

An increasing reserve indicates rising inventory costs over time, while a decrease may suggest inventory liquidation or falling costs.

Detailed definition

The LIFO reserve represents the cumulative difference between the cost of inventory calculated under the Last-In, First-...

Peer comparison

Common among US-based industrial and energy firms; peers using FIFO will have a zero reserve.

Metric ID: inventory_lifo_reserve

Historical Data

5 periods

	Q4 '21	Q4 '22	Q4 '23	Q4 '24	Q4 '25
Value	$2.60B	$3.32B	$3.42B	$3.86B	$4.31B
QoQ Change	—	+27.8%	+3.1%	+12.9%	+11.4%
YoY Change	—	+27.8%	+3.1%	+12.9%	+11.4%

Range$2.60B – $4.31B

CAGR+65.6%

Avg YoY Growth+13.8%

Median YoY Growth+12.1%

Current Streak4+ quarters growth