CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
HQI
HireQuest, Inc.
HQI has the edge over CAT overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger fundamentals.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
HQI Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
HQI's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently strong, and its revenue is stable.
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.
HQI PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 20x | $10.54 | -43% |
| Forward | 24x | $18.53 | — |
| Fair | 25x | $13.50 | -27% |
| Current | 35x | $18.53 | — |
| Expensive | 41x | $21.65 | +17% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
HQI 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 | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for CAT, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
HQI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for HQI, with profitability improving.
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 has the edge over HQI in the latest year-over-year earnings comparison.
HQI Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.77 | +46% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.53 | +8.2% |
HQI's earnings per share have climbed steadily: $0.53 over the past year, up 8.2% from the year before, and higher year over year every quarter since late 2026.
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 HQI 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's operating margin was 20% last quarter, up 3.1 points from the same quarter a year ago.
HQI Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $8.8M | +3.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $8.1M | +6% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.5M | -13% |
| Q4 2025 | $7M | -13% |
HQI's revenue has held roughly level: $9M last quarter, up 3.7% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 41% | +28 points |
| Q1 2026 | 23% | +2.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 19% | -9.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 29% | N/A |
| Q2 2025 | 14% | N/A |
| Q1 2025 | 20% | N/A |
| Q4 2024 | 28% | N/A |
HQI has the edge over CAT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
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 HQI in the latest year-over-year cash flow comparison.
HQI Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $1.6M | -37% |
| Q1 2026 | $250K | -86% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.6M | -23% |
CAT has the edge over HQI in the latest year-over-year cash flow comparison.
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 HQI 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.
HQI Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.6% | -86K shares |
| 1 year | -1.3% | -180K shares |
HQI has 14M diluted shares, down 1.3% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $570,000 |
| Q1 2026 | $1.9M |
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 HQI on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
HQI Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.6x | Very low |
HQI has more cash than debt.
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).
HQI Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 62.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 58.2 | Neutral |
HQI's weekly RSI is 63 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 58 (neutral).
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 HQI on valuation relative to its sector.
HQI PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | HQI | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 35x | 24x | 45% above |
| PE % | 75 | 58 | 17 pts above |
HQI is trading at 35x earnings, a 45% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x, though its earnings don't support one.
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.
HQI Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $17.8 | 4% above |
| 20 week MA | $15.9 | 16% above |
| 50 week MA | $13.0 | 42% above |
| 100 week MA | $12.0 | 55% above |
| 200 week MA | $14.4 | 29% above |
HQI has the edge over CAT on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
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.
HQI Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $6.99 | $9.10 | +30% |
| 2021 | $9.10 | $20.4 | +124% |
| 2022 | $20.4 | $17.0 | -17% |
| 2023 | $17.0 | $15.4 | -9.5% |
| 2024 | $15.4 | $13.7 | -11% |
| 2025 | $13.7 | $10.4 | -24% |
| 2026 YTD | $10.4 | $18.5 | +78% |
HQI has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.