CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over LNN overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
LNN
Lindsay Corporation
LNN 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.
LNN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Strong |
LNN's balance sheet is currently strong, and its revenue, profitability and cash flow are stable.
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.
LNN PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 19x | $98.95 | -8.4% |
| Current | 20x | $108 | — |
| Forward | 21x | $108 | — |
| Fair | 22x | $117 | +7.9% |
| Expensive | 41x | $219 | +103% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
LNN 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 |
CAT has the edge over LNN on the outlook, with more favorable valuation and earnings expectations.
LNN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Decline | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect LNN's profitability to improve, but its revenue to decline. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
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.
LNN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.21 | -2.2% |
| Q3 2026 | $5.33 | -21% |
| Q2 2026 | $5.21 | -25% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.46 | -22% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.75 | +8.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.78 | +13% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.95 | +5.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.02 | +12% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.22 | -0.5% |
LNN 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 has the edge over LNN 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 LNN on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
LNN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $161.6M | +5.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $160.8M | -5.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $157.7M | -16% |
| Q4 2025 | $155.8M | -6.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $153.6M | -0.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $169.5M | +22% |
| Q1 2025 | $187.1M | +23% |
| Q4 2024 | $166.3M | +3.1% |
LNN's revenue is recovering but still below its 2022 peak: $162M last quarter, up 5.2% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.8% | +2.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 12% | -2.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 8.3% | -8.9 points |
| Q4 2025 | 13% | 0 points |
| Q3 2025 | 7.4% | -1.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 14% | -0.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 17% | +2.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 13% | -0.5 points |
LNN's operating margin was 9.8% last quarter, up 2.4 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 LNN on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
LNN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $39.6M | -20% |
| Q2 2026 | -$1.4M | -105% |
| Q1 2026 | $11.6M | +363% |
| Q4 2025 | -$15.1M | -221% |
| Q3 2025 | $49.8M | +4.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $25.7M | -0.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.5M | +$24.1M |
| Q4 2024 | $12.5M | -17% |
LNN still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2023 peak: $35M over the past year.
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 461M diluted shares, down 2.1% from a year ago, with $8.1B in buybacks over the past year.
| 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.
LNN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.9% | +95K shares |
| 1 year | -4.4% | -482K shares |
| 3 years | -5.7% | -626K shares |
| 5 years | -5% | -549K shares |
| Available history | -3.6% | -392K shares |
LNN has the edge over CAT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | $25.2M |
| Q1 2026 | $25.2M |
| Q4 2025 | $30.3M |
| Q3 2025 | $8.9M |
| Q2 2025 | $1.2M |
| Q3 2024 | $4.6M |
LNN spent $81M buying back its own shares over the past year.
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.
LNN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -1.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.7x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
LNN has the edge over CAT on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
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).
LNN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 24.2 | Neutral |
LNN's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 24 (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.
LNN PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | LNN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 20x | 24x | 16% below |
| PE % | 38 | 58 | 20 pts below |
LNN has the edge over CAT on valuation relative to its sector.
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 LNN on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
LNN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $109.5 | 1.3% below |
| 20 week MA | $113.4 | 4.7% below |
| 50 week MA | $116.9 | 7.6% below |
| 100 week MA | $124.0 | 13% below |
| 200 week MA | $124.7 | 13% below |
LNN is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its 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 the edge over LNN on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
LNN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $96.8 | $127.3 | +32% |
| 2021 | $127.3 | $151.9 | +19% |
| 2022 | $151.9 | $165.2 | +8.8% |
| 2023 | $165.2 | $129.2 | -22% |
| 2024 | $129.2 | $120.1 | -7% |
| 2025 | $120.1 | $119.0 | -0.9% |
| 2026 YTD | $119.0 | $108.1 | -9.2% |
LNN has finished three years in a row lower, and it's down 9.2% so far in 2026.