CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over PRIM overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
PRIM
Primoris Services Corporation
PRIM's outlook is improving despite an expensive valuation.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
PRIM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Under pressure | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Stable |
PRIM's profitability and balance sheet are currently stable, but its revenue and cash flow are 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 has the edge over PRIM in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
PRIM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 11x | $18.84 | -74% |
| Fair | 14x | $23.96 | -67% |
| Forward | 15x | $71.55 | — |
| Expensive | 25x | $44.94 | -37% |
| Current | 40x | $71.55 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
PRIM's PE is in its expensive range at 40x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 15x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
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.
PRIM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for PRIM, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
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 earned $25.48 per share over the past year, up 31% from the year before.
PRIM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $4.67 | +164% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.77 | -65% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.55 | -42% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.54 | +20% |
| Q4 2025 | $5.03 | +52% |
| Q3 2025 | $5.07 | +68% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.41 | +55% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.78 | +43% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.32 | +43% |
PRIM 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 PRIM on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| 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 PRIM on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
PRIM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2B | -10% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.7B | -11% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.6B | -5.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.9B | +6.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.2B | +32% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.9B | +21% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.6B | +17% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.7B | +15% |
PRIM's revenue is shrinking: $2B last quarter, down 10% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.9% | -1.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | -1.6% | -8.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 1.6% | -2.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 4.2% | -0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 6.3% | +0.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 6.7% | +1.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 4.3% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 5% | +0.1 points |
PRIM's operating margin was 4.9% last quarter, down 1.4 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 PRIM on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
PRIM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $98.1M | -34% |
| Q2 2026 | -$31.2M | -169% |
| Q1 2026 | -$150.4M | -688% |
| Q4 2025 | $121.1M | -55% |
| Q3 2025 | $148.4M | -6.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $45.3M | +$53.5M |
| Q1 2025 | $25.6M | +$64.5M |
| Q4 2024 | $270M | +46% |
PRIM still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2024 peak: $38M 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 the edge over PRIM 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.
PRIM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.2% | +100K shares |
| 1 year | -1.3% | -703K shares |
| 3 years | -0.5% | -251K shares |
| 5 years | -0.5% | -267K shares |
| Available history | +6.7% | +3.4M shares |
PRIM has 54M diluted shares, down 1.3% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $100M |
| Q4 2022 | — |
| Q3 2022 | $2.6M |
| Q4 2020 | $494,000 |
| Q3 2020 | $2.6M |
| Q2 2020 | $950,000 |
| Q1 2020 | $7.4M |
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 PRIM on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
PRIM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 1.8x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.7x | Very low |
PRIM's net debt is about 2.0 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year 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).
PRIM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 34.3 | Neutral |
PRIM's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (neutral).
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.1% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT has the edge over PRIM on valuation relative to its sector.
PRIM PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | PRIM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 40x | 24x | 68% above |
| PE % | 100 | 58 | 42 pts above |
PRIM is trading at 40x earnings, a 68% premium to 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 the edge over PRIM on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
PRIM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $72.9 | 1.9% below |
| 20 week MA | $77.9 | 8.2% below |
| 50 week MA | $113.4 | 37% below |
| 100 week MA | $102.4 | 30% below |
| 200 week MA | $71.7 | 0.1% below |
PRIM is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 0.1% 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 PRIM on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
PRIM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $21.9 | $27.8 | +27% |
| 2021 | $27.8 | $24.3 | -12% |
| 2022 | $24.3 | $21.9 | -9.9% |
| 2023 | $21.9 | $33.2 | +52% |
| 2024 | $33.2 | $77.7 | +134% |
| 2025 | $77.7 | $129.2 | +66% |
| 2026 YTD | $129.2 | $71.6 | -45% |
PRIM is down 45% so far in 2026, after finishing higher in four of the previous six years.