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Cramer’s Top 10 American Companies (Updated)

The world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining machines operates a “terrific” engine business, Cramer said, and an “unparalleled” global distribution network.

Caterpillar plans to collect $60 billion in revenues in 2012 and earn up to $10 a share that year, which means the stock at press time was trading at about nine times 2012 earnings despite a 20% long-term growth rate. That’s just too cheap for a company this good.

Another quick note on CAT: Bucyrus once graced this story as well, as one of Cramer's favorite American companies. But Caterpillar has since bought BUCY for $8.6 billion, forcing Cramer to remove the mining-equipment maker from this list. So instead of 11 top American companies, now there are 10.

When this story published, Cramer's charitable trust owned Caterpillar.