CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over KSCP overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
KSCP
Knightscope, Inc.
KSCP 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.
KSCP Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Weak | |
| Weak | |
| Unavailable |
KSCP's revenue is currently strong, but its profitability and cash flow are weak. There isn't enough data to rate its balance sheet.
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.
KSCP PE Valuation
KSCP 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.
KSCP Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Strong growth | |
| -- | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect KSCP'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 stronger earnings trend. Trailing diluted EPS is up 31% for CAT versus KSCP down 120%.
KSCP Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | -$14.58 | +$12.92 |
| Q2 2024 | -$16.50 | +$12.50 |
| Q1 2024 | -$18.00 | +$6.00 |
| Q4 2023 | -$17.00 | +$19.00 |
| Q3 2021 | -$163.00 | -$81.50 |
| Q2 2021 | -$161.50 | -$89.50 |
| Q1 2021 | -$100.50 | -$34.00 |
| Q4 2020 | -$96.00 | -$35.00 |
KSCP is still losing money, but far less than before: $2.87 per share over the past year, against $163.00 at its worst in late 2021.
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's revenue has grown year over year for five quarters in a row: $20.7B last quarter, up 17% from the same quarter a year ago.
| 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 KSCP on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
KSCP Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $8.7M | +177% |
| Q2 2026 | $9M | +228% |
| Q1 2026 | $6M | +106% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.5M | -9.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.1M | +24% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.7M | -14% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.9M | +29% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.8M | -6.6% |
KSCP has the edge over CAT on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -133% | +171 points |
| Q2 2026 | -145% | +83 points |
| Q1 2026 | -172% | +62 points |
| Q4 2025 | -445% | -200 points |
| Q3 2025 | -304% | +1.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | -228% | -17 points |
| Q1 2025 | -234% | +133 points |
| Q4 2024 | -245% | -1.6 points |
KSCP's operating margin was −133% last quarter, up 170 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
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 KSCP on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
KSCP Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$11.1M | -$3M |
| Q1 2026 | -$11.7M | -$5.3M |
| Q4 2025 | -$10.9M | -$5.7M |
| Q3 2025 | -$8.1M | -$3.4M |
| Q4 2024 | -$5.1M | +$893K |
| Q3 2024 | -$4.7M | +$2.2M |
| Q4 2023 | -$6M | -$292K |
| Q3 2023 | -$6.9M | -$2.2M |
KSCP has burned cash in almost every quarter: −$45M over the past year, against −$24M 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 KSCP 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.
KSCP Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +31% | +5.6M shares |
| 1 year | +141% | +13.8M shares |
| 3 years | +2655% | +22.7M shares |
| 5 years | +11459% | +23.4M shares |
| Available history | +11470% | +23.4M shares |
KSCP has 24M diluted shares, up 141% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q3 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
| Q4 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.
KSCP Net Leverage
KSCP's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
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).
KSCP Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 20.1 | Oversold |
| Stochastic | 3.4 | Oversold |
KSCP's weekly RSI is 20 (oversold) and its Stochastic is 3 (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.
KSCP PE vs Industrials Sector
KSCP 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 KSCP on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
KSCP Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $0.59 | 25% below |
| 20 week MA | $1.15 | 62% below |
| 50 week MA | $2.58 | 83% below |
| 100 week MA | $4.63 | 90% below |
| 200 week MA | $17.9 | 98% below |
KSCP is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 98% 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 KSCP on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
KSCP Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $814.5 | $85.5 | -90% |
| 2023 | $85.5 | $30.0 | -65% |
| 2024 | $30.0 | $14.0 | -54% |
| 2025 | $14.0 | $3.96 | -72% |
| 2026 YTD | $3.96 | $0.44 | -89% |
KSCP has finished every year since 2022 lower, and it's down 89% so far in 2026.