CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over KE overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
KE
Kimball Electronics, Inc.
KE's outlook is improving despite an expensive valuation.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
KE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy |
KE's balance sheet is currently healthy, and its revenue and profitability are stable, 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 has the edge over KE in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
KE PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 12x | $10.17 | -49% |
| Forward | 13x | $20.10 | — |
| Fair | 15x | $12.92 | -36% |
| Current | 24x | $20.10 | — |
| Expensive | 27x | $22.42 | +12% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
KE's PE is in its expensive range at 24x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 13x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
CAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
CAT has the edge over KE on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
KE Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for KE, 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.
KE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.59 | +90% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.84 | -13% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.13 | +66% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.05 | +50% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.97 | +213% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.96 | +92% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.68 | -16% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.70 | -45% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.31 | -86% |
KE 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 has the edge over KE 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 KE on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
KE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $390.8M | +6.9% |
| Q2 2026 | $371.6M | -2.3% |
| Q1 2026 | $352.9M | -5.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $341.3M | -4.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $365.6M | -2.3% |
| Q2 2025 | $380.5M | -12% |
| Q1 2025 | $374.6M | -12% |
| Q4 2024 | $357.4M | -15% |
KE's revenue is recovering but still below its 2023 peak: $391M last quarter, up 6.9% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.2% | -0.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 7.8% | +3.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 3.3% | +0.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 3.1% | +0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 4% | +1.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 4.3% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.1% | +4.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 2.3% | -1.6 points |
KE's operating margin was 3.2% last quarter, down 0.8 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 KE on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
KE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$28.3M | -$25.9M |
| Q2 2026 | $34M | -50% |
| Q1 2026 | $494K | -98% |
| Q4 2025 | -$11.2M | -149% |
| Q3 2025 | -$2.5M | -108% |
| Q2 2025 | $68.4M | +73% |
| Q1 2025 | $27M | -9.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $23.1M | +$67M |
KE's free cash flow was −$5M over the past year, against $116M 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 KE 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.
KE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.8% | -187K shares |
| 1 year | -1.3% | -328K shares |
| 3 years | -2.6% | -657K shares |
| 5 years | -2.8% | -720K shares |
| Available history | -3% | -749K shares |
KE has 25M diluted shares, down 1.3% from a year ago, with $14M in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.1M |
| Q2 2026 | $2.2M |
| Q1 2026 | $4M |
| Q4 2025 | $4.4M |
| Q3 2025 | $1.2M |
| Q2 2025 | $3M |
| Q1 2025 | $3M |
| Q4 2024 | $3.1M |
KE spent $14M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 33% from the year before.
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 KE on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
KE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.6x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 2.2x | Moderate |
KE's net debt is about 1.6 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year a year ago.
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).
KE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 38.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 21.9 | Neutral |
KE's weekly RSI is 38 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 22 (neutral).
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.1% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT has the edge over KE on valuation relative to its sector.
KE PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | KE | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 0.4% below |
| PE % | 77 | 58 | 19 pts above |
KE is trading at 24x earnings, in line with the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
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 KE on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
KE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $25.1 | 20% below |
| 20 week MA | $24.9 | 19% below |
| 50 week MA | $25.8 | 22% below |
| 100 week MA | $23.5 | 15% below |
| 200 week MA | $23.4 | 14% below |
KE is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 14% 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 KE on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
KE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $17.9 | $15.6 | -12% |
| 2021 | $15.6 | $21.2 | +36% |
| 2022 | $21.2 | $22.4 | +5.4% |
| 2023 | $22.4 | $27.0 | +20% |
| 2024 | $27.0 | $18.8 | -30% |
| 2025 | $18.8 | $29.2 | +55% |
| 2026 YTD | $29.2 | $20.1 | -31% |
KE is down 31% so far in 2026, after finishing higher in four of the previous six years.