BW
Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc.
BW offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over BW overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
BW Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Weak | |
| Strong |
BW's revenue and balance sheet are currently strong, and its profitability is stable, but its cash flow is weak.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
BW PE Valuation
BW has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year. If it returns to profit as analysts expect, today's price would be 12x next year's earnings.
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.
BW Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect BW to return to profit, with revenue growing.
CAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for CAT, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
BW Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.40 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.40 | +$0.92 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.12 | +$1.60 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.82 | +$0.03 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.48 | +$0.34 |
| Q3 2025 | -$1.32 | -$0.48 |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.72 | +$0.37 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.85 | +$1.58 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.82 | +$1.56 |
BW is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.40 per share over the past year, against $2.43 at its worst in early 2024.
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 has the edge over BW on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
BW Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $290.8M | +95% |
| Q2 2026 | $319.7M | +122% |
| Q1 2026 | $214.4M | +18% |
| Q4 2025 | $138.8M | +109% |
| Q3 2025 | $149M | -29% |
| Q2 2025 | $144.1M | -38% |
| Q1 2025 | $181.2M | -13% |
| Q4 2024 | $66.3M | -71% |
BW's revenue has grown year over year for four quarters in a row: $291M last quarter, up 95% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.7% | +0.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 3.7% | -2 points |
| Q1 2026 | -0.8% | -4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 4.2% | +34 points |
| Q3 2025 | 4.4% | +5.1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 5.6% | -12 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.2% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | -30% | -30 points |
BW's operating margin was 4.7% last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
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 BW on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| 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 BW on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
BW Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$135.5M | -$97.9M |
| Q2 2026 | -$24M | +$4M |
| Q1 2026 | $10.7M | +$23.5M |
| Q4 2025 | -$7.2M | +$16.4M |
| Q3 2025 | -$37.6M | +$34.2M |
| Q2 2025 | -$28.1M | -$11.8M |
| Q1 2025 | -$12.8M | +$5.5M |
| Q4 2024 | -$23.6M | -363% |
BW has burned cash in most quarters: −$156M over the past year, against −$102M the year before.
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 BW on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
BW Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +2.7% | +4.2M shares |
| 1 year | +61% | +60M shares |
| 3 years | +79% | +70M shares |
| 5 years | +82% | +71.7M shares |
| Available history | +242% | +112M shares |
BW has 159M diluted shares, up 61% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $37.9M |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | $386,000 |
| Q4 2024 | $62,000 |
| Q3 2024 | $258,000 |
| Q2 2024 | $16,000 |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | $13,000 |
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 BW 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.
BW Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.8x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -9.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -3.7x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -2.5x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -5.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | 5.1x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 7.5x | High |
BW has the edge over CAT on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
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 more cash than debt.
BW Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 37.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 8.3 | Oversold |
BW's weekly RSI is 38 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 8 (oversold).
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).
BW PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | BW | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 24x | — |
BW has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.1% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT is trading at 24x earnings, in line with the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
BW Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $4.82 | 0.8% above |
| 20 week MA | $7.42 | 35% below |
| 50 week MA | $10.4 | 53% below |
| 100 week MA | $6.13 | 21% below |
| 200 week MA | $4.63 | 5% above |
BW's trend is mixed: it's above two of its five weekly moving averages, and 5% above 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.
BW Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $3.59 | $3.42 | -4.7% |
| 2021 | $3.42 | $9.25 | +170% |
| 2022 | $9.25 | $5.17 | -44% |
| 2023 | $5.17 | $1.46 | -72% |
| 2024 | $1.46 | $1.70 | +16% |
| 2025 | $1.70 | $5.25 | +209% |
| 2026 YTD | $5.25 | $4.86 | -7.4% |
BW's yearly returns have swung widely, from +209% in 2025 to −72% in 2023. It's down 7.4% 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 BW on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.