CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over KELYB overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger fundamentals.
KELYB
Kelly Services, Inc.
KELYB 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.
KELYB Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy |
KELYB'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.
KELYB PE Valuation
KELYB 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 |
CAT has the edge over KELYB on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
KELYB Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect KELYB's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
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 KELYB on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
KELYB 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% |
KELYB 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 KELYB 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 KELYB on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
KELYB 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% |
KELYB'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 |
KELYB'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 KELYB on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
KELYB 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% |
KELYB'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 KELYB 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.
KELYB 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 |
KELYB 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 KELYB on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
KELYB 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 |
KELYB'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).
KELYB Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 55.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 64.1 | Neutral |
KELYB's weekly RSI is 56 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 64 (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.
KELYB PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | KELYB | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 24x | — |
KELYB 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.
KELYB Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $24.0 | 2.2% below |
| 20 week MA | $23.4 | 0.4% above |
| 50 week MA | $18.1 | 30% above |
| 100 week MA | $15.4 | 53% above |
| 200 week MA | $17.5 | 34% above |
KELYB 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.
KELYB Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $21.4 | $20.2 | -5.4% |
| 2021 | $20.2 | $17.1 | -15% |
| 2022 | $17.1 | $16.5 | -3.6% |
| 2023 | $16.5 | $21.7 | +32% |
| 2024 | $21.7 | $14.0 | -35% |
| 2025 | $14.0 | $8.48 | -39% |
| 2026 YTD | $8.48 | $23.5 | +177% |
KELYB has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.