CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
SMCI
Super Micro Computer, Inc.
SMCI has the edge over CAT overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
SMCI Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Weak | |
| Strong |
SMCI's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently strong, but its cash flow is weak.
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.
SMCI PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 4.3x | $26.99 | — |
| Current | 5.7x | $26.99 | — |
| Cheap | 13x | $61.50 | +128% |
| Fair | 19x | $88.86 | +229% |
| Expensive | 26x | $125 | +363% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
SMCI 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.
SMCI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for SMCI, with profitability improving. 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.
SMCI Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $6.22 | +31% |
| Q3 2026 | $4.75 | +274% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.26 | +94% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.91 | +4.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.36 | -41% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.27 | -45% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.68 | -13% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.83 | +2.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.32 | +81% |
SMCI 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 SMCI on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
SMCI Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $19.9B | +298% |
| Q2 2026 | $11.1B | +93% |
| Q1 2026 | $10.2B | +123% |
| Q4 2025 | $12.7B | +123% |
| Q3 2025 | $5B | -15% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.8B | +7.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.6B | +19% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.7B | +55% |
SMCI has the edge over CAT on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 10% | +6.7 points |
| Q2 2026 | 13% | +9.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 6.1% | +2.9 points |
| Q4 2025 | 3.7% | -2.8 points |
| Q3 2025 | 3.6% | -5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 4% | -1.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.2% | -6.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 6.5% | -3.7 points |
SMCI's operating margin was 10% last quarter, up 6.7 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 SMCI on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
SMCI Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$475.6M | +$474.2M |
| Q2 2026 | $718.7M | -15% |
| Q1 2026 | -$6.7B | -1227% |
| Q4 2025 | -$45.1M | +$222.2M |
| Q3 2025 | -$949.8M | -360% |
| Q2 2025 | $840.9M | +$1.5B |
| Q1 2025 | $594.1M | +$2.2B |
| Q4 2024 | -$267.3M | +$342.5M |
SMCI's free cash flow was −$6.5B over the past year, against $218M 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 SMCI 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.
SMCI Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +7.5% | +52M shares |
| 1 year | +13% | +86.1M shares |
| 3 years | +31% | +178M shares |
| 5 years | +42% | +220M shares |
| Available history | +44% | +229M shares |
SMCI has 749M diluted shares, up 13% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
| Q1 2022 | — |
| Q4 2021 | — |
| Q3 2021 | — |
| Q2 2021 | $12M |
| Q1 2021 | $43.1M |
| Q4 2020 | $46.4M |
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 more cash than debt.
SMCI Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | 2.2x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | 0.2x | Very low |
SMCI has more cash than debt.
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).
SMCI Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 19.1 | Oversold |
SMCI's weekly RSI is 41 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 19 (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.
SMCI PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | SMCI | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 5.7x | 28x | 80% below |
| PE % | 0 | 35 | 35 pts below |
SMCI 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 SMCI on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
SMCI Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $35.3 | 23% below |
| 20 week MA | $34.2 | 21% below |
| 50 week MA | $32.3 | 17% below |
| 100 week MA | $36.9 | 27% below |
| 200 week MA | $39.8 | 32% below |
SMCI is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 32% 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 SMCI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
SMCI Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $2.41 | $3.05 | +27% |
| 2021 | $3.05 | $4.27 | +40% |
| 2022 | $4.27 | $8.22 | +93% |
| 2023 | $8.22 | $28.4 | +246% |
| 2024 | $28.4 | $32.0 | +12% |
| 2025 | $32.0 | $30.6 | -4.2% |
| 2026 YTD | $30.6 | $27.0 | -12% |
SMCI has finished higher in five of the last six years, two of them by more than 50%. It's down 12% so far in 2026.