ACM
Aecom
ACM offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over ACM overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
ACM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Stable |
ACM's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently stable, but its cash flow is under pressure.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
ACM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 11x | $70.11 | — |
| Cheap | 25x | $54.07 | -23% |
| Current | 32x | $70.11 | — |
| Fair | 36x | $77.53 | +11% |
| Expensive | 63x | $138 | +96% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ACM has the edge over CAT in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
CAT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 15x | $380 | -37% |
| Fair | 18x | $461 | -24% |
| Forward | 20x | $605 | — |
| Current | 24x | $605 | — |
| Expensive | 33x | $840 | +39% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CAT's PE is in its expensive range at 24x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 20x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
ACM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect ACM's earnings to grow, with its revenue and profitability holding steady.
CAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
CAT has the edge over ACM on the outlook, with more favorable revenue and profitability expectations.
ACM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $6.23 | +186% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.18 | -52% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.83 | -16% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.52 | +0.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.21 | +43% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.58 | +146% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.58 | +$4.67 |
| Q4 2024 | $3.51 | +680% |
| Q3 2024 | $2.95 | +656% |
ACM has the edge over CAT on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
CAT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $29.73 | +17% |
| Q3 2026 | $25.48 | +31% |
| Q2 2026 | $23.23 | +18% |
| Q1 2026 | $20.08 | -2% |
| Q4 2025 | $18.81 | -15% |
| Q3 2025 | $19.46 | -9.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $19.64 | -10% |
| Q1 2025 | $20.50 | -7.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $22.05 | +9.6% |
CAT earned $25.48 per share over the past year, up 31% from the year before.
ACM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $3.6B | -14% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.8B | +0.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.8B | -4.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.2B | +1.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.2B | +0.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.8B | -4.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $4B | +2.9% |
| Q3 2024 | $4.1B | +7% |
ACM's revenue has slid since its 2019 peak: $3.6B last quarter, down 14% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -2.1% | -9.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 6.5% | -0.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 5.8% | -0.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 5.7% | -0.1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 7% | +1.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 6.8% | +1.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 5.9% | +1.7 points |
| Q3 2024 | 5.8% | +3.7 points |
ACM's operating margin was −2.1% last quarter, down 9.2 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
CAT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $20.7B | +17% |
| Q2 2026 | $20.5B | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $17.4B | +22% |
| Q4 2025 | $19.1B | +18% |
| Q3 2025 | $17.6B | +9.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $16.6B | -0.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $14.2B | -9.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $16.2B | -5% |
CAT has the edge over ACM on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 20% | +3.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | +3.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 18% | -0.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -4.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 17% | -2.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 17% | -3.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 18% | -4.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 18% | -0.3 points |
CAT has the edge over ACM on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ACM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $54.9M | -79% |
| Q1 2026 | -$27.4M | -115% |
| Q4 2025 | $41.9M | -62% |
| Q3 2025 | $134.1M | -51% |
| Q2 2025 | $261.7M | -4.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $178.3M | +141% |
| Q4 2024 | $110.9M | +28% |
| Q3 2024 | $274.5M | +4.4% |
ACM still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2019 peak: $203M over the past year.
CAT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.7B | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.8B | +47% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.1B | +97% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.7B | +0.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.1B | -1.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | -4.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $579M | -63% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.7B | -22% |
CAT has the edge over ACM on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
ACM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.5% | -671K shares |
| 1 year | -3.4% | -4.5M shares |
| 3 years | -7.3% | -10.2M shares |
| 5 years | -14% | -20.3M shares |
| Available history | -18% | -29.1M shares |
ACM has the edge over CAT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $6,000 |
| Q1 2026 | $116M |
| Q4 2025 | $325.9M |
| Q3 2025 | $250.1M |
| Q2 2025 | $4.7M |
| Q1 2025 | $78.5M |
| Q4 2024 | $55.2M |
| Q3 2024 | $315.4M |
ACM spent $692M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 53% from the year before.
CAT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.3% | -1.6M shares |
| 1 year | -2.1% | -9.9M shares |
| 3 years | -10% | -51.7M shares |
| 5 years | -16% | -86.7M shares |
| Available history | -19% | -107M shares |
CAT has 461M diluted shares, down 2.1% from a year ago, with $8.1B in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.2B |
| Q2 2026 | $1.5B |
| Q1 2026 | $5B |
| Q4 2025 | $340M |
| Q3 2025 | $362M |
| Q2 2025 | $828M |
| Q1 2025 | $3.7B |
| Q4 2024 | $640M |
CAT spent $8.1B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 47% from the year before.
ACM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 2.0x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 1.4x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q3 2024 | 0.9x | Very low |
ACM's net debt is about 2.0 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year a year ago.
CAT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | 2.0x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | -0.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | 1.6x | Healthy |
CAT has the edge over ACM on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
ACM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 51.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 50.5 | Neutral |
ACM's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 51 (neutral).
CAT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 32.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 6.7 | Oversold |
CAT's weekly RSI is 33 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 7 (oversold).
ACM PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | ACM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 32x | 24x | 34% above |
| PE % | 40 | 58 | 18 pts below |
ACM is trading at 32x earnings, a 34% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.1% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT has the edge over ACM on valuation relative to its sector.
ACM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $62.4 | 12% above |
| 20 week MA | $65.6 | 6.9% above |
| 50 week MA | $78.7 | 11% below |
| 100 week MA | $95.2 | 26% below |
| 200 week MA | $92.8 | 24% below |
ACM has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8- and 20-week averages, but 24% below its 200-week average.
CAT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $709.0 | 15% below |
| 20 week MA | $797.0 | 24% below |
| 50 week MA | $771.3 | 22% below |
| 100 week MA | $586.7 | 3.2% above |
| 200 week MA | $443.1 | 37% above |
CAT has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 37% above its 200-week average.
ACM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $43.2 | $48.7 | +13% |
| 2021 | $48.7 | $75.9 | +56% |
| 2022 | $75.9 | $84.7 | +12% |
| 2023 | $84.7 | $92.4 | +9.1% |
| 2024 | $92.4 | $107.7 | +16% |
| 2025 | $107.7 | $97.4 | -9.5% |
| 2026 YTD | $97.4 | $70.1 | -28% |
ACM has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's down 28% so far in 2026.
CAT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $148.3 | $179.6 | +21% |
| 2021 | $179.6 | $206.2 | +15% |
| 2022 | $206.2 | $239.9 | +16% |
| 2023 | $239.9 | $295.7 | +23% |
| 2024 | $295.7 | $364.9 | +23% |
| 2025 | $364.9 | $583.0 | +60% |
| 2026 YTD | $583.0 | $605.3 | +3.8% |
CAT has the edge over ACM on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.