What if you invested $1,000 in Caterpillar in 2005? (Inflation-Adjusted)

CAT · Industrial · Adjusted to 2026 dollars using BLS CPI-U data

View nominal (non-adjusted) version

Using BLS CPI-U data, cumulative inflation from 2005 to 2026 totals 72%. Your $1,000 in Caterpillar grew to $26,604 in raw dollar terms, but in real purchasing power terms that gain is equivalent to $15,467 in constant 2005 dollars. That reflects a +13.8% per year real annualized return after accounting for price changes over 21 years.

Nominal final value

$26,604

+2560.4% total return

Real value (2005 dollars)

$15,467

+1446.7% real total return

Real annualized return

+13.8%

vs. +16.7% nominal annualized

Cumulative CPI-U inflation since 2005: 72% (1 dollar in 2005 = $1.72 in 2026)

Year-by-Year (Inflation-Adjusted)

$1,000 in Caterpillar since 2005, values in constant 2005 dollars

YearNominal ValueReal Value (2005 $)
2005$1,000$1,000
2006$1,552$1,507
2007$1,488$1,402
2008$1,679$1,523
2009$749$684
2010$1,324$1,178
2011$2,522$2,156
2012$2,890$2,420
2013$2,677$2,194
2014$2,607$2,107
2015$2,279$1,842
2016$1,840$1,466
2017$2,946$2,295
2018$5,163$3,903
2019$4,318$3,189
2020$4,380$3,183
2021$6,281$4,346
2022$7,069$4,480
2023$9,056$5,528
2024$11,001$6,524
2025$13,824$8,037
2026$24,835$14,439

Inflation adjustment uses BLS CPI-U annual data, deflated to 2026 dollars. Nominal stock data from Yahoo Finance (split-adjusted closing prices). Real values are expressed in constant 2005 purchasing-power dollars. For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. See our methodology and full disclaimer.