CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has a slight edge over LHX overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
LHX
L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
LHX has slightly lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
LHX Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy |
LHX's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
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.
LHX PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 21x | $272 | — |
| Current | 25x | $272 | — |
| Cheap | 26x | $275 | +1.2% |
| Fair | 31x | $334 | +23% |
| Expensive | 38x | $403 | +48% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
LHX has the edge over CAT in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
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.
LHX Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for LHX, with profitability improving.
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 earned $25.48 per share over the past year, up 31% from the year before.
LHX Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $12.93 | +21% |
| Q3 2026 | $10.72 | +15% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.90 | +11% |
| Q1 2026 | $9.21 | +9.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $8.53 | +8.4% |
| Q3 2025 | $9.31 | +47% |
| Q2 2025 | $8.95 | +43% |
| Q1 2025 | $8.43 | +37% |
| Q4 2024 | $7.87 | +22% |
LHX 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'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 LHX on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
LHX Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6.1B | +7.1% |
| Q2 2026 | $5.9B | +8.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.7B | +12% |
| Q4 2025 | $21.9B | +296% |
| Q3 2025 | $5.7B | +6.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.4B | +2.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.1B | -1.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.5B | +3.4% |
LHX's revenue has grown year over year for six quarters in a row: $6.1B last quarter, up 7.1% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 13% | +2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 11% | +0.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 11% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 9.7% | -0.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 11% | +1.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | +1.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 10% | +3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 10% | +8.9 points |
LHX's operating margin was 13% last quarter, up 2 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 generated $11.3B in free cash flow over the past year, up 26% from the year before.
LHX Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.3B | +195% |
| Q2 2026 | $771M | +40% |
| Q1 2026 | -$194M | -$93M |
| Q4 2025 | $1.8B | +78% |
| Q3 2025 | $427M | -39% |
| Q2 2025 | $552M | -16% |
| Q1 2025 | -$101M | +$118M |
| Q4 2024 | $1B | +55% |
LHX has the edge over CAT on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 LHX 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.
LHX Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -400K shares |
| 1 year | -0.6% | -1.2M shares |
| 3 years | -1.7% | -3.2M shares |
| 5 years | -7.3% | -14.7M shares |
| Available history | -16% | -35.2M shares |
LHX has 187M diluted shares, down 0.6% from a year ago, with $754M in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $73M |
| Q2 2026 | $229M |
| Q1 2026 | $296M |
| Q4 2025 | $156M |
| Q3 2025 | $176M |
| Q2 2025 | $253M |
| Q1 2025 | $569M |
| Q4 2024 | $42M |
LHX spent $754M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 28% 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 LHX on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
LHX Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.6x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.8x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.0x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 3.3x | Elevated |
| Q2 2025 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q1 2025 | 3.3x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.6x | Elevated |
LHX's net debt is about 1.6 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 3.3 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).
LHX Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 49.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 55.9 | Neutral |
LHX's weekly RSI is 49 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 56 (neutral).
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.3% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT has the edge over LHX on valuation relative to its sector.
LHX PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | LHX | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 25x | 24x | 5.4% above |
| PE % | 15 | 58 | 43 pts below |
LHX is trading at 25x 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 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.
LHX Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $252.9 | 7.5% above |
| 20 week MA | $266.6 | 2% above |
| 50 week MA | $302.5 | 10% below |
| 100 week MA | $274.3 | 0.9% below |
| 200 week MA | $241.3 | 13% above |
LHX 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 the edge over LHX on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
LHX Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $201.7 | $185.2 | -8.2% |
| 2021 | $185.2 | $208.3 | +12% |
| 2022 | $208.3 | $206.2 | -1% |
| 2023 | $206.2 | $210.6 | +2.1% |
| 2024 | $210.6 | $212.4 | +0.8% |
| 2025 | $212.4 | $296.8 | +40% |
| 2026 YTD | $296.8 | $271.8 | -8.4% |
LHX has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's down 8.4% so far in 2026.