CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over TIC overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and lower modeled downside.
TIC
TIC Solutions, Inc.
TIC 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.
TIC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure | |
| Stable | |
| Weak |
TIC's revenue is currently healthy, and its cash flow is stable, but its profitability and balance sheet 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'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.
TIC PE Valuation
TIC 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 |
CAT has the edge over TIC on the outlook, with more favorable earnings and profitability expectations.
TIC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Turning to a loss | |
| Growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect TIC's revenue to grow, but its earnings and profitability to decline. 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 has the edge over TIC in the latest year-over-year earnings comparison.
TIC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.61 | -$0.19 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.64 | +$0.85 |
TIC is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.61 per share over the past year, against $1.49 at its worst in mid-2025.
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 TIC on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
TIC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $639.6M | +35% |
| Q2 2026 | $584.3M | +86% |
| Q1 2026 | $488M | +108% |
| Q4 2025 | $508.3M | +94% |
| Q3 2025 | $473.9M | +56% |
TIC has the edge over CAT on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.5% | +3.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 1.9% | -4 points |
| Q1 2026 | -6% | -1.9 points |
| Q4 2025 | -3.8% | -2.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | -1.4% | +24 points |
| Q2 2025 | 5.8% | N/A |
| Q1 2025 | -4% | N/A |
| Q4 2024 | -1.3% | N/A |
TIC's operating margin was 2.5% last quarter, up 3.9 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.
TIC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $22.3M | +116% |
| Q2 2026 | -$29.5M | -$14.9M |
| Q1 2026 | $4.2M | -85% |
| Q4 2025 | $37.1M | +242% |
| Q3 2025 | $10.3M | +119% |
| Q2 2025 | -$14.5M | +$20.9M |
| Q1 2025 | $28.3M | +84% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.9M | -80% |
TIC 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 TIC 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.
TIC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | +7.8K shares |
| 1 year | -1.1% | -2.3M shares |
TIC has 218M diluted shares, down 1.1% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $7M |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | — |
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 TIC on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
TIC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 6.2x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 6.4x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 6.9x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 7.3x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 9.8x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 7.5x | High |
TIC's net debt is about 6.2 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 9.8 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).
TIC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 61.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 78.3 | Neutral |
TIC's weekly RSI is 62 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 78 (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.
TIC PE vs Industrials Sector
TIC 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 |
TIC has stronger trend alignment. CAT is above 2 of 5 weekly averages versus TIC above 3 of 3.
TIC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $9.43 | 13% above |
| 20 week MA | $8.97 | 19% above |
| 50 week MA | $9.04 | 18% above |
TIC is in an uptrend: it's above all three of its weekly moving averages, and 18% above its 50-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 TIC on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
TIC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $12.6 | $10.6 | -16% |
| 2026 YTD | $10.6 | $10.6 | +0.1% |
TIC has finished every year since 2025 lower, and it's roughly flat so far in 2026.