CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
CAT has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
WLDN
Willdan Group, Inc.
WLDN has the edge over CAT overall, supported by stronger valuation.
CAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
CAT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
WLDN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
WLDN's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
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.
WLDN PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 17x | $69.88 | — |
| Cheap | 23x | $93.57 | +34% |
| Fair | 35x | $144 | +106% |
| Expensive | 113x | $467 | +569% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WLDN 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.
WLDN Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for WLDN to show an outlook.
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.
WLDN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.12 | +48% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.26 | +78% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.71 | +120% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.48 | +120% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.78 | +71% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.39 | +94% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.69 | +82% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.58 | +100% |
WLDN 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 WLDN on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
WLDN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $214.5M | +18% |
| Q2 2026 | $231M | +33% |
| Q1 2026 | $155.1M | +1.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $173.7M | +21% |
| Q3 2025 | $182M | +15% |
| Q2 2025 | $173.5M | +23% |
| Q1 2025 | $152.4M | +24% |
| Q4 2024 | $144.1M | -7.5% |
WLDN has the edge over CAT on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.6% | -0.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 8.5% | +1.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 4.7% | +0.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 6% | -1.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 8.2% | +2.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 6.8% | +2.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 4.6% | +0.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 7.5% | 0 points |
WLDN's operating margin was 7.6% last quarter, down 0.6 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.
WLDN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11.9M | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $42.2M | +82% |
| Q1 2026 | -$26.4M | -2736% |
| Q4 2025 | $36.7M | +18% |
| Q3 2025 | $9.8M | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $23.2M | +$24.5M |
| Q1 2025 | $1M | -96% |
| Q4 2024 | $31.1M | +144% |
WLDN 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 WLDN 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.
WLDN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.8% | +118K shares |
| 1 year | +2% | +312K shares |
| 3 years | +13% | +1.8M shares |
| 5 years | +18% | +2.4M shares |
| Available history | +30% | +3.6M shares |
WLDN has 16M diluted shares, up 2% from a year ago.
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 WLDN on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
WLDN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.0x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 0.3x | Very low |
WLDN's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
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).
WLDN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 25.3 | Neutral |
WLDN's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 25 (neutral).
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.
WLDN PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | WLDN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 17x | 24x | 30% below |
| PE % | 1 | 58 | 57 pts below |
WLDN 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 WLDN on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
WLDN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $72.8 | 3.9% below |
| 20 week MA | $76.9 | 9.2% below |
| 50 week MA | $89.2 | 22% below |
| 100 week MA | $77.4 | 9.7% below |
| 200 week MA | $51.6 | 36% above |
WLDN has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 36% above 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 WLDN on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
WLDN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $31.2 | $41.4 | +33% |
| 2021 | $41.4 | $32.1 | -22% |
| 2022 | $32.1 | $17.1 | -47% |
| 2023 | $17.1 | $21.5 | +26% |
| 2024 | $21.5 | $38.4 | +79% |
| 2025 | $38.4 | $111.3 | +190% |
| 2026 YTD | $111.3 | $69.9 | -37% |
WLDN's yearly returns have swung widely, from +190% in 2025 to −47% in 2022. It's down 37% so far in 2026.