CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has a slight edge over CDNL overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger fundamentals.
CDNL
Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. Class A Common Stock
CDNL offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
CDNL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure | |
| Strong |
CDNL's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, but its cash flow is under pressure.
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.
CDNL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 2.4x | $5.64 | — |
| Current | 4.6x | $5.64 | — |
| Cheap | 17x | $20.70 | +267% |
| Fair | 33x | $41.09 | +629% |
| Expensive | 46x | $57.51 | +920% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CDNL has the edge over CAT in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
CAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
CAT has the edge over CDNL on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
CDNL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for CDNL, with profitability holding steady.
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.
CDNL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.33 | +88% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.24 | +727% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.19 | +70% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.47 | +123% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.65 | +120% |
CDNL has the edge over CAT on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 has the edge over CDNL on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
CDNL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $201.9M | +65% |
| Q2 2026 | $226.9M | +114% |
| Q1 2026 | $167.5M | +105% |
| Q4 2025 | $145.8M | +72% |
| Q3 2025 | $122.3M | +60% |
| Q2 2025 | $106.1M | +38% |
| Q1 2025 | $81.8M | +6.3% |
CDNL has the edge over CAT on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -4.3% | -14 points |
| Q2 2026 | 6.8% | -4.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 8.8% | -0.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 6% | -3.6 points |
| Q3 2025 | 9.7% | +0.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | -2.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 9.5% | -4.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 9.6% | N/A |
CDNL's operating margin was −4.3% last quarter, down 14 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2024.
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 CDNL on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
CDNL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $738.6K | -19% |
| Q2 2026 | -$12M | -$4M |
| Q1 2026 | -$961 | -100% |
| Q4 2025 | -$524.2K | -108% |
| Q3 2025 | $909.1K | -95% |
CDNL's free cash flow has turned negative after years in the green: −$12M over the past year.
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 CDNL 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.
CDNL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -52% | -22.5M shares |
| 1 year | +56% | +7.4M shares |
CDNL has 21M diluted shares, up 56% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
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.
CDNL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | 1.9x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 0.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.8x | Very low |
CDNL has the edge over CAT on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
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).
CDNL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 26.5 | Oversold |
| Stochastic | 2.9 | Oversold |
CDNL's weekly RSI is 27 (oversold) and its Stochastic is 3 (oversold).
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.
CDNL PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CDNL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 4.6x | 24x | 81% below |
| PE % | 0 | 2 | 2 pts below |
CDNL has the edge over CAT on valuation relative to its sector.
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 stronger trend alignment. CAT is above 2 of 5 weekly averages versus CDNL above 0 of 2.
CDNL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $18.0 | 69% below |
| 20 week MA | $38.5 | 85% below |
CDNL is in a downtrend: it's below all two of its weekly moving averages, and 85% below its 20-week average.
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 CDNL on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
CDNL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $29.7 | $23.6 | -20% |
| 2026 YTD | $23.6 | $5.64 | -76% |
CDNL has finished every year since 2025 lower, and it's down 76% so far in 2026.