# How PACCAR (PCAR) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/pcar
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on PCAR alone. It places PCAR (PACCAR Inc) against 18 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where PCAR stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: PCAR's full trading record, from October 1986 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** PCAR has gone against the market, falling 13.7% over the past 6 months while the S&P 500 rose 9.1%. PCAR is 20.2% below its high, bear-market territory, while the S&P 500 sits 1.3% below a record.
- **Stock or market?:** Not a move of its own: the commercial vehicles ETF XLI (State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF) fell 6.1% over the past 3 months, with CAT (Caterpillar, down 15.9%) and CMI (Cummins, down 15.8%), while the S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its commercial vehicle peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: CNH (CNH Industrial) rose 11.7%, while CAT fell 15.9%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** PCAR led its commercial vehicle peers in 2023, then fell behind CAT (Caterpillar) and DE (Deere & Company) in 2025. PCAR finished behind the S&P 500 in both 2024 and 2025.
- **Long term:** The past 5 years have been the better stretch: PCAR rose 128% against 81.7% for the S&P 500, after trailing over the decade. On the flip side, over the past decade, PCAR returned 15.3% a year against 15.5% a year for the S&P 500 (314% in total against 321%).
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, PCAR has typically fallen 1.3 times as far as the S&P 500. On the flip side, in the 2022 bear market, PCAR held up better than its commercial vehicle peers, including CAT (Caterpillar), DE and CMI.
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, PCAR has a correlation of 0.58 over 5 years, more closely than 88% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is some diversification, but not a hedge. When the S&P 500 had a down month, PCAR usually fell with it (17 of 22 months).
- **Better options**
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** WAB (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, industrial machinery) earned more than PCAR over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 25.6% a year at 26.2% volatility, against 17.9% a year at 26.1%.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only 30 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than PCAR with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT (Walmart), ABBV (AbbVie) and PM (Philip Morris International).

## How much would $10,000 in PCAR have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in PCAR over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of PCAR over the same span and PCAR's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in PCAR at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $395,017 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of PCAR, and ODFL finished highest, at $2,149,322.

## PCAR at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- PCAR's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 66.2%, from July 2007 to March 2009. It took about four years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- PCAR is still 20.2% below its all-time high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, PCAR's best was 2003, when it returned 89.8%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 46.3%. It lost money in six of those years.

- Type: Stock, Industrials (Industrial - Machinery)
- Trading since: October 17, 1986
- Market value: $58B
- Volatility (5 years): 26.1%; Sharpe ratio: 0.76
- Worst decline ever: −66.2%, from July 18, 2007 to March 9, 2009; back at its high by July 11, 2013

| Period | PCAR total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −4.1% |
| 3 months | −11.2% |
| 6 months | −13.7% |
| year to date | −0.5% |
| 1 year | +15.7% |
| 3 years | +50.2% |
| 5 years | +128% |
| 10 years | +314% |

## PCAR against the whole market

Where PCAR ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does PCAR rank among all stocks?

This section ranks PCAR on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- PCAR's worst decline of the past 10 years ranks in the top 5% of the 2,187 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top fell the least.

| Measure | PCAR | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +15.7% | 1,378 of 3,287 (top 42%) |
| 3-year return | +50.2% | 1,540 of 3,017 (top 52%) |
| 5-year return | +128% | 541 of 2,893 (top 19%) |
| 10-year return | +314% | 551 of 2,202 (top 26%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 26.1% | 419 of 2,893 (top 15%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.76 | 343 of 2,893 (top 12%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −37.9% | 99 of 2,187 (top 5%) |

### What has beaten PCAR on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 20 stocks and ten ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than PCAR over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half PCAR's swings, CAH has the best return for its risk: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, 5% less than PCAR's 26.1%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.55 against 0.76 for PCAR.

### Is there a better investment than PCAR?

The table below lists investments that beat PCAR over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among PCAR's popular alternatives, CAT, DE and ALSN were ahead of PCAR in most short and long periods.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, WAB (industrial machinery) earned more than PCAR over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 25.6% a year at 26.2% volatility, against 17.9% a year at 26.1%.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only 30 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than PCAR with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT, ABBV and PM.

The 15 strongest of 30 investments that beat PCAR over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with PCAR | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PCAR: PACCAR Inc (this page) |  | +17.9% | 26.1% | 0.76 | −37.9% | +314% |  |  |
| [WMT](https://easycompare.io/research/wmt): Walmart Inc. | Discount Retail | +20.8% | 22.6% | 0.96 | −25.7% | +508% | 0.39 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [COR](https://easycompare.io/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +24.2% | 22.8% | 1.07 | −32.4% | +406% | 0.53 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [CAH](https://easycompare.io/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +42.1% | 24.7% | 1.55 | −46.1% | +349% | 0.36 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| ACT: Enact Holdings Inc. | Insurance | +20.5% | 24.3% | 0.89 | −20.2% | — | 0.40 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [MPLX](https://easycompare.io/research/mplx): MPLX Lp | Oil & Gas Midstream | +23.5% | 18.8% | 1.22 | −75.2% | +350% | 0.61 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [ABBV](https://easycompare.io/research/abbv): AbbVie Inc. | Pharmaceuticals | +26.1% | 23.4% | 1.11 | −45.1% | +603% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| DBJP: Xtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF | International | +20.9% | 19.2% | 1.09 | −31.3% | +348% | 0.43 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | International Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +428% | 0.48 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [PM](https://easycompare.io/research/pm): Philip Morris International Inc. | Tobacco | +21.0% | 23.4% | 0.94 | −42.9% | +242% | 0.35 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [WELL](https://easycompare.io/research/well): Welltower Inc. | Healthcare REITs | +26.0% | 23.8% | 1.09 | −63.3% | +379% | 0.36 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [TJX](https://easycompare.io/research/tjx): The TJX Companies, Inc. | Specialty Retail | +19.9% | 22.3% | 0.93 | −42.5% | +361% | 0.47 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [BNY](https://easycompare.io/research/bny): Bank of New York Mellon Corp | Banks | +22.7% | 24.4% | 0.97 | −50.5% | +341% | 0.66 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [WMB](https://easycompare.io/research/wmb): The Williams Companies, Inc. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +24.6% | 24.0% | 1.04 | −68.1% | +288% | 0.54 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [CM](https://easycompare.io/research/cm): Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Banks | +19.2% | 21.6% | 0.93 | −47.3% | +395% | 0.56 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [TRV](https://easycompare.io/research/trv): The Travelers Companies, Inc. | Property & Casualty Insurance | +22.4% | 22.3% | 1.02 | −46.3% | +347% | 0.58 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |

## PCAR against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against PCAR, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do PCAR's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 18 popular alternatives earned more than PCAR over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- 13 of the 18 popular alternatives earned less than PCAR over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, PCAR returned 17.9% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (26.1% against 17.1%).

### Has PCAR consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares PCAR with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- Six of the 18 popular alternatives, led by R, CAT and CMI, outperformed PCAR in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- R outperformed PCAR in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of PCAR | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PCAR: PACCAR Inc (this page) | +15.7% | +50.2% | +128% | +314% |  |  | 0.76 |
| R: Ryder System, Inc. | +31.6% | +149% | +206% | +407% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.85 |
| [CAT](https://easycompare.io/research/cat): Caterpillar Inc. | +37.7% | +203% | +288% | +936% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 1.01 |
| [CMI](https://easycompare.io/research/cmi): Cummins Inc. | +31.4% | +160% | +148% | +444% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 0.77 |
| ALSN: Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. | +36.2% | +99.1% | +234% | +367% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 0.96 |
| [DE](https://easycompare.io/research/de): Deere & Company | +38.3% | +75.4% | +96.1% | +755% | 4/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.60 |
| BLBD: Blue Bird Corporation | +3.7% | +211% | +189% | +290% | 3/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.65 |
| MTW: The Manitowoc Company, Inc. | +98.2% | +69.4% | +8.4% | +28.0% | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.28 |
| DAN: Dana Incorporated | +53.4% | +150% | +32.4% | +137% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.36 |
| BWA: BorgWarner Inc. | +37.9% | +57.7% | +55.9% | +121% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.43 |
| [ODFL](https://easycompare.io/research/odfl): Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. | +34.7% | −2.5% | +23.4% | +747% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.30 |
| [GM](https://easycompare.io/research/gm): General Motors Company | +34.0% | +168% | +39.5% | +193% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.36 |
| OSK: Oshkosh Corp | +0.1% | +57.3% | +36.2% | +192% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.35 |
| WNC: Wabash National Corporation | +45.3% | −34.4% | −12.4% | +15.8% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.19 |
| CNH: CNH Industrial N.V. | +10.9% | +10.3% | −24.3% | +78.9% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.04 |
| AGCO: AGCO Corporation | −2.0% | −2.5% | −7.5% | +155% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.14 |
| [F](https://easycompare.io/research/f): Ford Motor Company | +6.0% | +25.9% | +3.0% | +71.8% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.21 |
| TEX: Terex Corporation | −3.4% | +14.8% | +21.6% | +141% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.31 |
| GT: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company | −39.8% | −65.5% | −78.5% | −85.4% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.34 |

### How did PCAR do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where PCAR ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, PCAR finished in the top quarter in nine of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in two. In 2025, it ranked 14 of 19.
- PCAR finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 17 of its 29 full calendar years, and behind it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, BLBD came out ahead of PCAR most often, in seven of the 11 years both traded.

| Year | PCAR | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +8.0% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +10.8% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +54.5% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +17.0% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +5.6% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +11.8% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +45.1% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −15.3% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +14.9% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +37.1% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How PCAR has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were PCAR's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all three of PCAR's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: PCAR fell 43.9% from February to October 1998, while the S&P 500 slipped only 3.0%.
- The slowest recovery came after PCAR fell 66.2% from July 2007 to March 2009; it did not regain that peak until July 2013, four years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −66.2% | July 18, 2007 | March 9, 2009 | July 11, 2013 | −54.4% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −46.3% | May 3, 1989 | August 23, 1990 | May 30, 1991 | — |  |
| −43.9% | February 20, 1998 | October 13, 1998 | July 9, 2001 | −3.0% |  |
| −43.0% | June 10, 1987 | October 28, 1987 | April 5, 1988 | — |  |
| −40.9% | March 4, 2002 | October 9, 2002 | March 17, 2003 | −31.8% | dot-com bust |

### How did PCAR do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far PCAR, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- PCAR fell further than the S&P 500 in seven of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2011 euro debt crisis, when PCAR fell 35.0% and the S&P 500 fell 17.9%.
- Among its popular alternatives, DE held up best, falling less than PCAR in six of the ten crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | PCAR fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −40.9% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −62.5% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −3.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −35.0% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −27.9% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −7.8% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −23.9% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −34.0% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −17.4% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −6.0% | −3.4% |

### How closely does PCAR move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- DE took just 66% of the S&P 500's losses, against 108% for PCAR, while still keeping 110% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, PCAR captured 103% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 108% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.97. It amplified the market's moves in both directions.
- Six of the 18 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than PCAR's 0.95, led by DE, CAT and ODFL.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PCAR: PACCAR Inc (this page) | 103% | 108% | 0.97 |
| R: Ryder System, Inc. | 120% | 129% | 1.47 |
| [CAT](https://easycompare.io/research/cat): Caterpillar Inc. | 148% | 122% | 1.27 |
| [CMI](https://easycompare.io/research/cmi): Cummins Inc. | 118% | 118% | 1.15 |
| ALSN: Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. | 111% | 112% | 1.07 |
| [DE](https://easycompare.io/research/de): Deere & Company | 110% | 66.0% | 0.98 |
| BLBD: Blue Bird Corporation | 91.0% | 89.0% | 1.32 |
| MTW: The Manitowoc Company, Inc. | 153% | 279% | 2.07 |
| DAN: Dana Incorporated | 174% | 274% | 2.26 |
| BWA: BorgWarner Inc. | 109% | 157% | 1.31 |
| [ODFL](https://easycompare.io/research/odfl): Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. | 127% | 107% | 1.10 |
| [GM](https://easycompare.io/research/gm): General Motors Company | 107% | 135% | 1.31 |
| OSK: Oshkosh Corp | 127% | 178% | 1.41 |
| WNC: Wabash National Corporation | 115% | 217% | 1.64 |
| CNH: CNH Industrial N.V. | 113% | 168% | 1.48 |
| AGCO: AGCO Corporation | 99.0% | 121% | 1.22 |
| [F](https://easycompare.io/research/f): Ford Motor Company | 105% | 167% | 1.51 |
| TEX: Terex Corporation | 133% | 199% | 1.60 |
| GT: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company | 77.0% | 263% | 1.63 |

### What diversifies PCAR?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in PCAR into GLD would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+20.1% for PCAR alone, +20.6% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, DXJ, SMH and GLD have moved largely independently of PCAR over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.48 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- CAH made money in four of the six calendar years in which PCAR lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with PCAR | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in PCAR's 6 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.48 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 1 of 6 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.28 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 2 of 6 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.07 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 3 of 6 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.43 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 0 of 6 |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 0.23 | +153% | 24.2% | 0.89 | 1 of 6 |
| EDIV: State Street SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | 0.41 | +69.9% | 13.8% | 0.84 | 0 of 6 |
| AVDV: Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF | 0.49 | +91.4% | 17.4% | 0.84 | 0 of 6 |
| PTLC: Pacer Trendpilot US Large Cap ETF | 0.47 | +57.4% | 11.8% | 0.83 | 1 of 6 |

## Common questions

### What was PCAR's worst drawdown?

PCAR's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 66.2%, from July 2007 to March 2009. It took about four years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were PCAR's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, PCAR's best year was 2003, when it returned 89.8%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -46.3%.

### Is there a better investment than PCAR?

Among PCAR's popular alternatives, CAT, DE and ALSN were ahead of PCAR in most short and long periods. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, WAB (industrial machinery) earned more than PCAR over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 25.6% a year at 26.2% volatility, against 17.9% a year at 26.1%.

### Is PCAR more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. PCAR's volatility over the past 5 years was 26.1%, 1.5 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, PCAR's return lands within 26.1% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is PCAR's Sharpe ratio?

PCAR's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.76, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so PCAR earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is PCAR with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, PCAR's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.58 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against PCAR instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a PCAR holding.

### What are the best alternatives to PCAR?

Of the 18 popular alternatives we compared, six outperformed PCAR in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: R, CAT and CMI.

### Did PCAR outperform the S&P 500?

PCAR finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 17 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +8.0%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did PCAR do in stock market crashes?

PCAR fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in two of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in seven. The clearest case was the 2011 euro debt crisis, when PCAR fell 35.0% and the S&P 500 fell 17.9%.

### What diversifies PCAR?

These had a low correlation with PCAR over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, DXJ (correlation 0.48), SMH (correlation 0.28) and GLD (correlation 0.07); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.36), CLS (correlation 0.30) and FIX (correlation 0.44). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Caterpillar (CAT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cat)
- [Cummins (CMI) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cmi)
- [Deere & Company (DE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/de)
- [Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/odfl)
- [General Motors (GM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/gm)
- [Ford Motor (F) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/f)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)
- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/goog)
- [Microsoft (MSFT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/msft)
- [Amazon.com (AMZN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/pcar
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against PCAR live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=PCAR&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research