CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over HYFM overall, supported by stronger fundamentals.
HYFM
Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc.
HYFM 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.
HYFM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Weak | |
| Weak | |
| Under pressure | |
| Strong |
HYFM's balance sheet is currently strong, but its revenue, profitability and cash flow are 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.
HYFM PE Valuation
HYFM has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
HYFM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect HYFM's losses to shrink, with revenue growing.
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 HYFM on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
HYFM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -$60.90 | -$47.54 |
| Q1 2026 | -$62.30 | -$47.47 |
| Q4 2025 | -$62.35 | -$47.84 |
| Q3 2025 | -$13.97 | +$0.13 |
| Q2 2025 | -$13.36 | +$2.24 |
| Q1 2025 | -$14.83 | -$1.53 |
| Q4 2024 | -$14.51 | -$0.31 |
| Q3 2024 | -$14.10 | +$4.60 |
HYFM lost $60.90 per share over the past year, a bigger loss than the year before.
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 HYFM 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 HYFM on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
HYFM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $23.2M | -41% |
| Q1 2026 | $28.5M | -30% |
| Q4 2025 | $25.1M | -33% |
| Q3 2025 | $29.4M | -33% |
| Q2 2025 | $39.2M | -28% |
| Q1 2025 | $40.5M | -25% |
| Q4 2024 | $37.3M | -21% |
| Q3 2024 | $44M | -19% |
HYFM's revenue has slid since its 2021 peak: $23M last quarter, down 41% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -32% | +2 points |
| Q1 2026 | -31% | -3.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | -954% | -913 points |
| Q3 2025 | -44% | -24 points |
| Q2 2025 | -34% | +1.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | -27% | -11 points |
| Q4 2024 | -41% | -16 points |
| Q3 2024 | -21% | +9.4 points |
HYFM's operating margin was −32% last quarter, up 2 points from the same quarter a year ago.
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 HYFM on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
HYFM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -$9K | -101% |
| Q1 2026 | -$778K | +$11.2M |
| Q4 2025 | -$4.3M | -280% |
| Q3 2025 | -$207K | +$5.1M |
| Q2 2025 | $1.4M | -58% |
| Q1 2025 | -$12M | -$8.3M |
| Q4 2024 | $2.4M | +$4.1M |
| Q3 2024 | -$5.3M | -176% |
HYFM has burned cash in most quarters: −$5M over the past year, against −$13M 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 HYFM 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.
HYFM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +13.1K shares |
| 1 year | +2.8% | +131K shares |
| 3 years | +5.2% | +236K shares |
| 5 years | +14% | +572K shares |
| Available history | +45% | +1.5M shares |
HYFM has 5M diluted shares, up 2.8% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2020 | $2.6M |
| Q3 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
| Q4 2019 | — |
| Q3 2019 | — |
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.
HYFM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2020 | -5.4x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2020 | 26.6x | High |
HYFM 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).
HYFM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 9.8 | Oversold |
HYFM's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 10 (oversold).
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.3% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT is trading at 24x earnings, in line with the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
HYFM PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | HYFM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 24x | — |
HYFM has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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 the edge over HYFM on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
HYFM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $0.83 | 9.6% below |
| 20 week MA | $0.90 | 17% below |
| 50 week MA | $1.12 | 33% below |
| 100 week MA | $2.49 | 70% below |
| 200 week MA | $6.29 | 88% below |
HYFM is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 88% below its 200-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 HYFM on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
HYFM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $483.0 | $566.4 | +17% |
| 2021 | $566.4 | $283.2 | -50% |
| 2022 | $283.2 | $16.1 | -94% |
| 2023 | $16.1 | $9.18 | -43% |
| 2024 | $9.18 | $6.19 | -33% |
| 2025 | $6.19 | $1.70 | -73% |
| 2026 YTD | $1.70 | $0.75 | -56% |
HYFM has finished five years in a row lower, and it's down 56% so far in 2026.