BA
The Boeing Company
BA offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
KAI
Kadant Inc.
KAI has the edge over BA overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger valuation.
BA Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure |
BA's profitability is currently healthy, and its revenue and cash flow are stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
KAI Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
KAI's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
BA PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 18x | $172 | — |
| Cheap | 51x | $496 | +189% |
| Fair | 82x | $790 | +360% |
| Expensive | 91x | $876 | +411% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
BA has the edge over KAI in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
KAI PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 20x | $198 | -33% |
| Forward | 22x | $295 | — |
| Current | 30x | $295 | — |
| Fair | 31x | $306 | +3.7% |
| Expensive | 36x | $356 | +21% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
KAI's PE is in its fair range at 30x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 22x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
BA Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect BA to return to profit, with revenue growing. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
KAI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for KAI, with profitability improving.
BA Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $9.66 | +$23.38 |
| Q2 2026 | $2.78 | +$19.33 |
| Q1 2026 | $2.53 | +$20.49 |
| Q4 2025 | $2.48 | +$20.84 |
| Q3 2025 | -$13.72 | -$0.83 |
| Q2 2025 | -$16.55 | -$10.93 |
| Q1 2025 | -$17.96 | -$14.42 |
| Q4 2024 | -$18.36 | -$14.69 |
BA has the edge over KAI on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
KAI Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $13.52 | +36% |
| Q3 2026 | $9.91 | +15% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.30 | +3.6% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.77 | -6.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $8.65 | -8.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.65 | -11% |
| Q2 2025 | $8.98 | -7.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $9.42 | -1.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $9.48 | -4.2% |
KAI earned $9.91 per share over the past year, up 15% from the year before.
BA Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $24.2B | +3.9% |
| Q2 2026 | $24.6B | +8% |
| Q1 2026 | $22.2B | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $23.9B | +57% |
| Q3 2025 | $23.3B | +30% |
| Q2 2025 | $22.7B | +35% |
| Q1 2025 | $19.5B | +18% |
| Q4 2024 | $15.2B | -31% |
BA has the edge over KAI on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.5% | +22 points |
| Q2 2026 | 0.6% | +1.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 2% | -0.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 37% | +61 points |
| Q3 2025 | -21% | +12 points |
| Q2 2025 | -0.8% | +5.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 2.4% | +2.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | -25% | -26 points |
BA's operating margin was 1.5% last quarter, up 22 points from the same quarter a year ago.
KAI Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $313.2M | +15% |
| Q2 2026 | $312.9M | +23% |
| Q1 2026 | $281.5M | +18% |
| Q4 2025 | $286.2M | +11% |
| Q3 2025 | $271.6M | 0% |
| Q2 2025 | $255.3M | -7.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $239.2M | -3.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $258M | +8.1% |
KAI's revenue has grown year over year for four quarters in a row: $313M last quarter, up 15% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 17% | +1.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 16% | +0.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 14% | -0.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -0.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 16% | -2.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 15% | -2.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 15% | +0.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 14% | -2 points |
KAI has the edge over BA on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
BA Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $464M | +95% |
| Q2 2026 | $631M | +$831M |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.5B | +$836M |
| Q4 2025 | $375M | +$4.5B |
| Q3 2025 | $238M | +$2.2B |
| Q2 2025 | -$200M | +$4.1B |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.3B | +$1.6B |
| Q4 2024 | -$4.1B | -239% |
BA has the edge over KAI on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
KAI Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $58.1M | +32% |
| Q2 2026 | $42.6M | +17% |
| Q1 2026 | $18.7M | -1.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $54.7M | +18% |
| Q3 2025 | $44.1M | -8.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $36.5M | +58% |
| Q1 2025 | $19M | +15% |
| Q4 2024 | $46.3M | -6.4% |
KAI's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $174M over the past year, up 19% from the year before.
BA Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +2.1M shares |
| 1 year | +4.3% | +32.8M shares |
| 3 years | +31% | +186M shares |
| 5 years | +35% | +204M shares |
| Available history | +40% | +227M shares |
BA has 793M diluted shares, up 4.3% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2019 | — |
KAI Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +10K shares |
| 1 year | +0.2% | +27K shares |
| 3 years | +0.8% | +89K shares |
| 5 years | +1.4% | +161K shares |
| Available history | +3.2% | +372K shares |
KAI has the edge over BA on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
BA Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.0x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 5.7x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 6.0x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 6.9x | High |
| Q2 2024 | 361.8x | High |
| Q1 2024 | 36.1x | High |
| Q4 2023 | 36.4x | High |
| Q3 2023 | 96.1x | High |
BA's net debt is about 3.0 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from more than 20 years a year ago.
KAI Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.6x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 1.1x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.9x | Very low |
KAI has the edge over BA on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
BA Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 31.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 9.6 | Oversold |
BA's weekly RSI is 31 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 10 (oversold).
KAI Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 51.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 33.9 | Neutral |
KAI's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (neutral).
BA PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | BA | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 18x | 24x | 26% below |
| PE % | 0 | 58 | 58 pts below |
BA has the edge over KAI on valuation relative to its sector.
KAI PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | KAI | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 30x | 24x | 24% above |
| PE % | 47 | 58 | 11 pts below |
KAI is trading at 30x earnings, a 24% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
BA Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $184.6 | 7.1% below |
| 20 week MA | $203.8 | 16% below |
| 50 week MA | $215.5 | 20% below |
| 100 week MA | $205.9 | 17% below |
| 200 week MA | $200.6 | 14% below |
BA is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 14% below its 200-week average.
KAI Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $272.9 | 8.2% above |
| 20 week MA | $291.8 | 1.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $303.9 | 2.8% below |
| 100 week MA | $314.2 | 6% below |
| 200 week MA | $291.2 | 1.4% above |
KAI has the edge over BA on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
BA Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $330.1 | $217.2 | -34% |
| 2021 | $217.2 | $204.2 | -6% |
| 2022 | $204.2 | $189.1 | -7.4% |
| 2023 | $189.1 | $260.7 | +38% |
| 2024 | $260.7 | $180.7 | -31% |
| 2025 | $180.7 | $216.4 | +20% |
| 2026 YTD | $216.4 | $171.6 | -21% |
BA has finished lower in four of the last six years. It's down 21% so far in 2026.
KAI Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $105.8 | $137.3 | +30% |
| 2021 | $137.3 | $224.2 | +63% |
| 2022 | $224.2 | $177.0 | -21% |
| 2023 | $177.0 | $280.3 | +58% |
| 2024 | $280.3 | $350.8 | +25% |
| 2025 | $350.8 | $293.9 | -16% |
| 2026 YTD | $293.9 | $295.4 | +0.5% |
KAI has the edge over BA on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.