CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has the edge over TRNS overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
TRNS
Transcat, Inc.
TRNS'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.
TRNS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Stable |
TRNS's revenue is currently healthy, and its profitability, cash flow and balance sheet 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 has the edge over TRNS in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
TRNS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 38x | $17.80 | -83% |
| Forward | 47x | $106 | — |
| Fair | 54x | $25.31 | -76% |
| Expensive | 83x | $39.15 | -63% |
| Current | 226x | $106 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
TRNS's PE is in its expensive range at 226x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 47x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
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.
TRNS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for TRNS, 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 has the edge over TRNS on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
TRNS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.27 | +383% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.47 | -62% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.36 | -75% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.57 | -64% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.86 | -54% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.23 | -39% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.44 | -17% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.57 | -3.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.89 | +45% |
TRNS's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $0.47 over the past year, against $2.02 in late 2024.
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 TRNS on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
TRNS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $97.1M | +18% |
| Q2 2026 | $92.9M | +22% |
| Q1 2026 | $89.3M | +16% |
| Q4 2025 | $83.9M | +26% |
| Q3 2025 | $82.3M | +21% |
| Q2 2025 | $76.4M | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $77.1M | +8.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $66.8M | +2.4% |
TRNS has the edge over CAT on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5.2% | +0.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 4% | -3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 4.8% | -4.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 0.1% | -3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 4.3% | -1.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 7% | -0.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 9% | -4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 3.1% | -3.4 points |
TRNS's operating margin was 5.2% last quarter, up 0.9 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.
TRNS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6.1M | -28% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.8M | +$5.8M |
| Q1 2026 | $2.6M | -67% |
| Q4 2025 | $9.5M | -2.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.4M | +194% |
| Q2 2025 | -$975K | -119% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.9M | +413% |
| Q4 2024 | $9.7M | +34% |
TRNS generated $23M in free cash flow over the past year, down 8.6% from 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 TRNS 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.
TRNS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.8% | +74K shares |
| 1 year | +1.6% | +148K shares |
| 3 years | +20% | +1.6M shares |
| 5 years | +26% | +2M shares |
| Available history | +26% | +2M shares |
TRNS has 10M diluted shares, up 1.6% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $1.9M |
| Q1 2026 | $372,000 |
| Q4 2025 | $13,000 |
| Q3 2025 | $110,000 |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | $357,000 |
| Q4 2024 | $182,000 |
| Q3 2024 | $1.4M |
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 TRNS on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
TRNS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 2.4x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.4x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.0x | Healthy |
TRNS's net debt is about 2.7 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), about the same as 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).
TRNS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 68.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 62.5 | Neutral |
TRNS's weekly RSI is 69 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 62 (neutral).
CAT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 24x | 1.3% below |
| PE % | 69 | 58 | 11 pts above |
CAT has the edge over TRNS on valuation relative to its sector.
TRNS PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | TRNS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 226x | 24x | 840% above |
| PE % | 97 | 58 | 39 pts above |
TRNS is trading at 226x earnings, a 840% 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 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.
TRNS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $90.1 | 18% above |
| 20 week MA | $88.9 | 20% above |
| 50 week MA | $79.4 | 34% above |
| 100 week MA | $79.9 | 33% above |
| 200 week MA | $91.5 | 16% above |
TRNS 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.
TRNS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $31.8 | $33.0 | +3.8% |
| 2021 | $33.0 | $92.9 | +181% |
| 2022 | $92.9 | $70.0 | -25% |
| 2023 | $70.0 | $109.3 | +56% |
| 2024 | $109.3 | $106.0 | -3% |
| 2025 | $106.0 | $58.9 | -44% |
| 2026 YTD | $58.9 | $106.3 | +81% |
TRNS has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.