CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has a slight edge over WAB overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
WAB
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
WAB 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.
WAB Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Stable |
WAB's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its balance sheet is 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'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.
WAB PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 25x | $301 | — |
| Cheap | 28x | $224 | -25% |
| Fair | 31x | $251 | -16% |
| Expensive | 37x | $302 | +0.4% |
| Current | 37x | $301 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WAB 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.
WAB Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WAB, with profitability improving.
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.
WAB Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $11.90 | +48% |
| Q3 2026 | $8.05 | +17% |
| Q2 2026 | $7.44 | +11% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.07 | +11% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.83 | +13% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.89 | +15% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.71 | +18% |
| Q1 2025 | $6.39 | +25% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.04 | +33% |
WAB 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 WAB on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
WAB Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.1B | +8.1% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.2B | +17% |
| Q1 2026 | $3B | +13% |
| Q4 2025 | $3B | +15% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.9B | +8.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.7B | +2.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.6B | +4.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.6B | +2.3% |
WAB's revenue has grown year over year for 22 quarters in a row: $3.1B last quarter, up 8.1% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 20% | +3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 19% | +1.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 18% | -0.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 12% | -0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 17% | +0.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 17% | +1.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 18% | +1.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 13% | +0.7 points |
WAB's operating margin was 20% last quarter, up 3 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
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.
WAB Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $381M | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $379M | +123% |
| Q1 2026 | $153M | +4.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $870M | +36% |
| Q3 2025 | $312M | -37% |
| Q2 2025 | $170M | -10% |
| Q1 2025 | $147M | -51% |
| Q4 2024 | $639M | +4.9% |
WAB 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 WAB 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.
WAB Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.5% | -800K shares |
| 1 year | -1.3% | -2.3M shares |
| 3 years | -5.8% | -10.4M shares |
| 5 years | -10% | -19.2M shares |
| Available history | -4.8% | -8.5M shares |
WAB has 169M diluted shares, down 1.3% from a year ago, with $837M in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $305M |
| Q2 2026 | $215M |
| Q1 2026 | $242M |
| Q4 2025 | $75M |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | $50M |
| Q1 2025 | $98M |
| Q4 2024 | $123M |
WAB spent $837M buying back its own shares over the past year, about three times what it spent the year before.
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 WAB on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
WAB Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.2x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.4x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.6x | Healthy |
WAB's net debt is about 2.2 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).
WAB Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 63.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 47.0 | Neutral |
WAB's weekly RSI is 63 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 47 (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 WAB on valuation relative to its sector.
WAB PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | WAB | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 37x | 24x | 55% above |
| PE % | 81 | 58 | 23 pts above |
WAB is trading at 37x earnings, a 55% 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.
WAB Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $285.5 | 5.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $284.5 | 5.6% above |
| 50 week MA | $262.2 | 15% above |
| 100 week MA | $228.4 | 32% above |
| 200 week MA | $181.6 | 65% above |
WAB 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.
WAB Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $78.6 | $73.3 | -6.7% |
| 2021 | $73.3 | $89.9 | +23% |
| 2022 | $89.9 | $100.5 | +12% |
| 2023 | $100.5 | $126.9 | +26% |
| 2024 | $126.9 | $192.0 | +51% |
| 2025 | $192.0 | $219.3 | +14% |
| 2026 YTD | $219.3 | $300.5 | +37% |
WAB has the edge over CAT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.