CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over NL overall, supported by stronger fundamentals.
NL
NL Industries, Inc.
NL 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.
NL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
NL's revenue, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, but its profitability 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.
NL PE Valuation
NL has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for CAT, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
NL Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for NL to show an outlook.
CAT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $29.73 | +17% |
| 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 NL on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
NL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.10 | -150% |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.52 | -147% |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.69 | -155% |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.77 | -156% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.20 | -83% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.10 | +139% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.25 | +421% |
| Q4 2022 | $0.69 | -34% |
NL has swung to a loss: it lost $0.10 per share over the past year, after a profit 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 NL on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
NL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $44M | +10% |
| Q2 2026 | $43.6M | +8% |
| Q1 2026 | $40.6M | +0.7% |
| Q4 2025 | $37.7M | -1.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $40M | +19% |
| Q2 2025 | $40.4M | +12% |
| Q1 2025 | $40.3M | +6.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $38.4M | -11% |
NL's revenue has picked up after three years of holding roughly level: $44M last quarter, up 10% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.1% | +2.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 14% | +7.1 points |
| Q1 2026 | 10% | +2.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 7.6% | -80 points |
| Q3 2025 | 4.6% | -1.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 6.9% | +4.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 7.8% | +4.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 88% | +77 points |
NL's operating margin was 7.1% last quarter, up 2.5 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.
NL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $8.4M | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.8M | +66% |
| Q1 2026 | -$3.9M | +$44.4M |
| Q4 2025 | -$4.7M | -154% |
| Q3 2025 | $7M | +$13.1M |
| Q2 2025 | $5.9M | -61% |
| Q1 2025 | -$48.3M | -850% |
| Q4 2024 | $8.7M | -58% |
NL's free cash flow has turned positive again: $10M over the past year, against −$27M 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 NL 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.
NL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | +18K shares |
| 1 year | +0.1% | +36K shares |
| 3 years | +0.1% | +66K shares |
| 5 years | +0.2% | +104K shares |
| Available history | +0.3% | +154K shares |
NL has 49M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
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.
NL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -5.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -5.8x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -6.7x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -7.7x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -2.5x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -2.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -3.9x | Net Cash |
NL 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).
NL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 62.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 77.4 | Neutral |
NL's weekly RSI is 63 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 77 (neutral).
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.1% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT is trading at 24x earnings, in line with the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
NL PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | NL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 24x | — |
NL 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.
NL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $6.97 | 4.2% above |
| 20 week MA | $6.62 | 9.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $6.26 | 16% above |
| 100 week MA | $6.58 | 10% above |
| 200 week MA | $6.44 | 13% above |
NL 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.
NL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $3.88 | $4.55 | +17% |
| 2021 | $4.55 | $7.09 | +56% |
| 2022 | $7.09 | $6.46 | -8.9% |
| 2023 | $6.46 | $5.61 | -13% |
| 2024 | $5.61 | $7.98 | +42% |
| 2025 | $7.98 | $5.46 | -32% |
| 2026 YTD | $5.46 | $7.26 | +33% |
NL has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.