CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over KELYA overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
KELYA
Kelly Services, Inc.
KELYA 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.
KELYA Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy |
KELYA'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'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.
KELYA PE Valuation
KELYA 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.
KELYA Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for KELYA to show an outlook.
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 KELYA on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
KELYA Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$3.57 | +$0.87 |
| Q2 2026 | -$7.78 | -$7.62 |
| Q1 2026 | -$7.57 | -$7.01 |
| Q4 2025 | -$7.24 | -$7.22 |
| Q3 2025 | -$4.44 | -486% |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.16 | -112% |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.56 | -140% |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.02 | -102% |
KELYA lost $3.57 per share over the past year, a smaller 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 KELYA 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 KELYA on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
KELYA Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $927.2M | -0.8% |
| Q2 2026 | $1B | -5.8% |
| Q1 2026 | $1B | -11% |
| Q4 2025 | $1B | -12% |
| Q3 2025 | $935M | -9.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.1B | +4.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.2B | +11% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.2B | -3.3% |
KELYA's revenue has slid since its 2019 peak: $927M last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.1% | +11 points |
| Q2 2026 | 1.6% | -0.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | -0.5% | -1.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | -0.1% | +4.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | -11% | -11 points |
| Q2 2025 | 2% | +0.9 points |
| Q1 2025 | 0.9% | -1.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | -4.8% | -5.3 points |
KELYA's operating margin was 0.1% last quarter, up 11 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 KELYA on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
KELYA Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$56.2M | -$28.6M |
| Q2 2026 | $47.7M | -49% |
| Q1 2026 | -$26.5M | -224% |
| Q4 2025 | $26.9M | +107% |
| Q3 2025 | -$27.6M | -$4.9M |
| Q2 2025 | $93.4M | +71% |
| Q1 2025 | $21.4M | +$50.6M |
| Q4 2024 | $13M | -68% |
KELYA's free cash flow was −$8M over the past year, against $100M 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 KELYA 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.
KELYA Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -1.4% | -500K shares |
| 1 year | -1.7% | -600K shares |
| 3 years | -3.1% | -1.1M shares |
| 5 years | -12% | -4.8M shares |
| Available history | -11% | -4.5M shares |
KELYA has 35M diluted shares, down 1.7% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q3 2023 | $7.4M |
| Q2 2023 | $16.5M |
| Q1 2023 | $18.3M |
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
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 KELYA on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
KELYA Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.8x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 2.5x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 14.6x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 8.0x | High |
| Q3 2024 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q2 2024 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q1 2024 | -2.7x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2023 | -2.2x | Net Cash |
KELYA's net debt is about 1.8 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 2.3 years 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).
KELYA Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 46.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 29.7 | Neutral |
KELYA's weekly RSI is 47 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 30 (neutral).
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.
KELYA PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | KELYA | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 24x | — |
KELYA 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 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.
KELYA Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $15.5 | 11% below |
| 20 week MA | $15.5 | 11% below |
| 50 week MA | $12.1 | 14% above |
| 100 week MA | $12.3 | 12% above |
| 200 week MA | $16.0 | 13% below |
KELYA's trend is mixed: it's above two of its five weekly moving averages, and 13% 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 finished every year since 2020 higher, and it's up 3.8% so far in 2026.
KELYA Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $22.2 | $20.8 | -6.2% |
| 2021 | $20.8 | $17.2 | -18% |
| 2022 | $17.2 | $16.8 | -2% |
| 2023 | $16.8 | $21.6 | +28% |
| 2024 | $21.6 | $13.2 | -39% |
| 2025 | $13.2 | $8.61 | -35% |
| 2026 YTD | $8.61 | $13.8 | +60% |
KELYA has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.