CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT's fundamentals are strong, but it looks expensive: trading at 24x earnings, above its usual 18x. Analysts expect strong earnings growth, though they disagree widely on how much.
LASE
Laser Photonics Corporation
There isn't enough reported data to score LASE yet.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
LASE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Under pressure | |
| Weak | |
| Weak | |
| Weak |
LASE's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently 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.
LASE PE Valuation
LASE 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.
LASE Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for LASE 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 LASE on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
LASE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.80 | -$0.35 |
| Q2 2026 | -$1.02 | -$0.71 |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.06 | -$0.78 |
| Q4 2025 | -$1.02 | -$0.80 |
| Q3 2023 | -$0.68 | -424% |
| Q2 2023 | -$0.51 | -383% |
LASE lost $0.80 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'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 LASE on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
LASE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.1M | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.8M | -30% |
| Q1 2026 | $915.6K | -60% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.5M | +97% |
| Q3 2025 | $919.3K | +37% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6M | +317% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.3M | +208% |
| Q1 2024 | $743K | -40% |
LASE has the edge over CAT on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -200% | +150 points |
| Q2 2026 | -132% | -95 points |
| Q1 2026 | -303% | -235 points |
| Q4 2025 | -298% | -43 points |
| Q3 2025 | -350% | -95 points |
| Q2 2025 | -37% | +112 points |
| Q1 2025 | -69% | +5.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | -255% | N/A |
LASE's operating margin was −200% last quarter, up 150 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 LASE on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
LASE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$2.7M | -450% |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.8M | -$685.6K |
| Q3 2025 | $771.8K | +$4M |
| Q1 2025 | -$1.2M | -$139.9K |
| Q3 2024 | -$3.2M | -$2.8M |
| Q2 2024 | -$2.4M | -$581.1K |
| Q1 2024 | -$1M | +$298K |
| Q2 2023 | -$1.8M | -756% |
LASE has burned cash in most quarters: −$12M over the past year, against −$6M 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 LASE 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.
LASE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +31% | +12.2M shares |
| 1 year | +261% | +37.3M shares |
| 3 years | +525% | +43.3M shares |
| 5 years | +94% | +25M shares |
| Available history | +956% | +46.7M shares |
LASE has 52M diluted shares, up 261% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| 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.
LASE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2020 | 8.4x | High |
LASE's net debt is about 8.4 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
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).
LASE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 5.0 | Oversold |
LASE's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 5 (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.
LASE PE vs Industrials Sector
LASE 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 LASE on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
LASE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $0.70 | 20% below |
| 20 week MA | $0.98 | 43% below |
| 50 week MA | $1.32 | 58% below |
| 100 week MA | $2.43 | 77% below |
| 200 week MA | $2.75 | 80% below |
LASE is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 80% 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 LASE on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
LASE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $2.58 | $2.41 | -6.6% |
| 2023 | $2.41 | $1.18 | -51% |
| 2024 | $1.18 | $6.64 | +463% |
| 2025 | $6.64 | $2.65 | -60% |
| 2026 YTD | $2.65 | $0.56 | -79% |
LASE's yearly returns have swung widely, from +463% in 2024 to −60% in 2025. It's down 79% so far in 2026.