AME
AMETEK, Inc.
AME offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has a slight edge over AME overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
AME Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Stable |
AME's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its balance sheet is stable.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
AME PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 26x | $241 | — |
| Cheap | 27x | $189 | -21% |
| Fair | 30x | $212 | -12% |
| Current | 34x | $241 | — |
| Expensive | 35x | $247 | +2.4% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
AME 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.
AME Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for AME, but weaker profitability.
CAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
CAT has the edge over AME on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
AME Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.24 | +30% |
| Q3 2026 | $7.09 | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.84 | +10% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.62 | +8.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.40 | +7.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.34 | +10% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.21 | +8.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $6.11 | +7.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.93 | +4.6% |
AME has the edge over CAT on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
CAT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $30.32 | +19% |
| 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.
AME Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.2B | +17% |
| Q2 2026 | $2B | +15% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.9B | +11% |
| Q4 2025 | $2B | +13% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.9B | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.8B | +2.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.7B | -0.2% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.8B | +1.8% |
AME's revenue has grown year over year for six quarters in a row: $2.2B last quarter, up 17% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 26% | +0.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 26% | -0.1 points |
| Q1 2026 | 27% | +0.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 25% | -1.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 26% | -0.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 26% | +0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 26% | +2.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 27% | +0.9 points |
AME has the edge over CAT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
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's revenue has grown year over year for five quarters in a row: $20.7B last quarter, up 17% from the same quarter a year ago.
| 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's operating margin was 20% last quarter, up 3.1 points from the same quarter a year ago.
AME Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $527.4M | +26% |
| Q2 2026 | $451.7M | +37% |
| Q1 2026 | $426M | +8% |
| Q4 2025 | $527.3M | +5.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $420M | -8.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $329.8M | -8.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $394.5M | +3.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $498.3M | +3.6% |
AME has the edge over CAT on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 generated $11.3B in free cash flow over the past year, up 26% from the year before.
AME Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +185K shares |
| 1 year | -0.7% | -1.6M shares |
| 3 years | -0.7% | -1.7M shares |
| 5 years | -1.3% | -3M shares |
| Available history | +0.3% | +645K shares |
AME has 230M diluted shares, down 0.7% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $146,000 |
| Q2 2026 | $165,000 |
| Q1 2026 | $27.9M |
| Q4 2025 | $270.4M |
| Q3 2025 | $145.5M |
| Q2 2025 | $111,000 |
| Q1 2025 | $18M |
| Q4 2024 | $144M |
AME spent $299M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 2.9% 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 the edge over AME on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| 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.
AME Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.8x | Very low |
AME's net debt is about 2.3 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 AME on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
AME Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 52.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 33.8 | Neutral |
AME's weekly RSI is 52 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (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).
AME PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | AME | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 34x | 24x | 41% above |
| PE % | 78 | 58 | 20 pts above |
AME is trading at 34x earnings, a 41% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.3% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT has the edge over AME on valuation relative to its sector.
AME Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $243.8 | 1.1% below |
| 20 week MA | $242.1 | 0.4% below |
| 50 week MA | $230.3 | 4.7% above |
| 100 week MA | $205.8 | 17% above |
| 200 week MA | $183.7 | 31% above |
AME has the edge over CAT on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
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.
AME Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $100.0 | $119.0 | +19% |
| 2021 | $119.0 | $142.6 | +20% |
| 2022 | $142.6 | $139.4 | -2.2% |
| 2023 | $139.4 | $164.9 | +18% |
| 2024 | $164.9 | $182.5 | +11% |
| 2025 | $182.5 | $208.5 | +14% |
| 2026 YTD | $208.5 | $241.0 | +16% |
AME has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
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 finished every year since 2020 higher, and it's up 3.8% so far in 2026.