AMSC vs BW vs CAT Stock Comparison

American Superconductor, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises and Caterpillar Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CAT Caterpillar Inc
$591.25 -30.3% 1M +8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$258.63B
P/E
23.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 6, American Superconductor 3, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAMSCBWCATLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.17B $439.09M $258.63B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 8.5x -13.2x 23.8x AMSC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.2x 26.3x 22.9x CAT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +25.9% +42.6% +18.4% BW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 42.6% -4.0% 14.5% AMSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 14.3% 15.9% CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -2.8x 2.5x BW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -53.3% -1.6% +8.0% CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.3%/yr -13.3%/yr +23.5%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 85.3% 115.4% 40.7% CAT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 84/100 49/100 55/100 AMSC

Percentile Scorecard

AMSCBWCAT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAMSCBWCAT
Valuation 86 #10 of 63 58 #27 of 63 33 #137 of 204
Growth 97 #3 of 60 70 #19 of 60 71 #57 of 191
Profitability 82 #11 of 57 71 #17 of 57 93 #14 of 189
Financial Health 78 #17 of 72 41 #43 of 72 17 #183 of 221
Shareholder Returns 81 #7 of 32 7 #30 of 32 63 #60 of 159
Overall 84 49 55
  • AMSC ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • BW ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • CAT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAMSCBWCATSPY
1 month -12.4%-34.8%-30.3% -1.0%
3 months -20.3%-61.3%-32.2% -0.4%
6 months -54.0%-76.3%-36.2% +4.5%
Year to date -8.8%-42.0%+3.2% +12.4%
1 year -53.3%-1.6%+8.0% +13.6%
3 years +238.8%+44.3%+145.6% +76.4%
3 years, per year +50.2%+13.0%+34.9% +20.8%
5 years +48.8%-50.9%+187.2% +63.7%
5 years, per year +8.3%-13.3%+23.5% +10.4%
10 years +268.8%-97.3%+618.3% +267.7%
10 years, per year +13.9%-30.4%+21.8% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureAMSCBWCATSPY
Volatility, 1Y 85.3%115.4%40.7% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 97.6%105.4%43.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.313.201.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.63-0.010.20 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.0%-97.4%-44.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -55.8%-83.2%-44.5% -1.6%
52-week high $59.42$21.85$1,064.90 $779.14
52-week low $25.01$3.68$546.13 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAMSCBWCAT
P/E now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 26.4x -15.8xmedian 26.4x 25.1xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.0xmedian 2.6x 0.7xmedian 2.6x 3.6xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 45.9xmedian 19.6x 12.5xmedian 19.6x 20.1xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 62.0xmedian 29.9x -9.4xmedian 29.9x 30.2xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.8x 9.6xmedian 1.8x 14.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.18median 0.71 -0.64median 0.71 1.93median 1.16

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAMSCBWCAT
Revenue $320.87M $821.95M $74.73B
Gross profit $91.62M $160.14M $25.66B
Operating income $15.63M $22.49M $13.09B
Net income $136.58M -$18.35M $10.84B
Free cash flow $20.52M -$58.17M $8.99B
R&D $15.36M – $2.27B
EPS (diluted) $2.90 $-0.21 $23.45
Cash & equivalents $143.71M $308.63M $6.71B
Total debt – $209.43M $45.15B
Shares (diluted) 47.12M 154.51M 462.50M
Enterprise value $527.44M -$89.94M $230.32B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAMSCBWCAT
P/E 9.2x -15.8x 25.1x
P/FCF 62.0x -9.4x 30.2x
P/Operating cash flow 36.3x -15.8x 20.0x
P/S 4.0x 0.7x 3.6x
P/B 2.2x 9.6x 14.0x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 12.5x 14.3x
EV/EBITDA 45.9x 12.5x 20.1x
EV/EBIT 72.2x 20.0x 23.7x
EV/Revenue 3.5x 0.5x 4.2x
EV/FCF 55.0x -7.7x 34.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 32.2x -12.9x 22.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.18 -0.64 1.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAMSCBWCAT
Revenue growth (1Y) 25.9% 42.6% 18.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 41.4% 3.5% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 23.6% 20.7% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 93.8% -2.8% 5.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 98.9% 879.4% 13.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 36.3% 17.5% 7.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 793.8% 87.7% 14.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 62.4% 17.3% 9.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 653.7% 87.1% 17.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 49.9% 24.6% 13.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 20.8% 72.4% 19.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 56.8% -73.7% 10.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -21.2% 57.3% 16.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 44.7% -120.7% 7.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAMSCBWCAT
Gross margin 28.6% 19.5% 34.3%
EBITDA margin 7.7% 4.4% 20.7%
Operating margin 4.9% 2.7% 17.5%
Pretax margin 6.4% -8.8% 18.6%
Net margin 42.6% -4.0% 14.5%
FCF margin 6.4% -7.1% 12.0%
Operating cash flow margin 10.9% -4.2% 18.2%
Return on equity 24.2% – 57.0%
Return on assets 18.2% -8.9% 10.9%
Return on invested capital – 14.3% 15.9%
Return on capital employed 2.6% 5.9% 22.1%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.9x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.3x 1.9x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 5.6% 2.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAMSCBWCAT
Debt / assets – 21.0% 44.0%
Debt / equity – 3.7x 2.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – -2.8x 2.5x
Debt / FCF – -3.6x 5.0x
Liabilities / assets 24.9% 94.3% 81.1%
Equity / assets 75.1% 5.7% 18.9%
Interest coverage – 0.9x 6.8x
Current ratio 2.4x 1.5x 1.4x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.1x 0.5x
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.6x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.14 -0.96 4.24

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAMSCBWCAT
Dividend yield – – 1.1%
Net buyback yield 0.0% -70.1% 2.7%
Shareholder yield 0.0% -70.1% 3.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 25.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 31.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 4.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 4.1%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAMSCBWCAT
Forward P/E 29.2xFY2026 26.3xFY2026 22.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.90FY2026 $0.14FY2026 $25.79FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -75.0%FY2026 – +35.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +40.0% +221.4% +31.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $383.43MFY2026 $1.01BFY2026 $84.12BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.2%FY2026 +71.1%FY2026 +24.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.7% +35.9% +1.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAMSCBWCAT
Held by institutions 73.7% 88.0% 72.3%
Institutions holding 278 200 4,063
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.4% +24.0% +0.6%
Institutions buying 173 146 1,892
Institutions selling 77 41 1,597
Buyers to sellers 2.25 3.56 1.18

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AMSCBWCAT
AMSC 1.00 0.29 0.48
BW 0.29 1.00 0.43
CAT 0.48 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AMSC, BW and CAT?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Superconductor (AMSC) $1.17B, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) $439.09M, Caterpillar (CAT) $258.63B.

Which stock is cheaper, AMSC, BW and CAT?

American Superconductor (AMSC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Superconductor (AMSC) 8.5x, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -13.2x, Caterpillar (CAT) 23.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Caterpillar (CAT) is cheapest (American Superconductor (AMSC) 29.2x, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 26.3x, Caterpillar (CAT) 22.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Superconductor (AMSC) +25.9%, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) +42.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Superconductor (AMSC) has the highest net margin (American Superconductor (AMSC) 42.6%, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -4.0%, Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 14.3%, Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: American Superconductor (AMSC) -53.3%, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -1.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) +8.0%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (American Superconductor (AMSC) +8.3%/yr, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -13.3%/yr, Caterpillar (CAT) +23.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: American Superconductor (AMSC) 0.00%, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 0.00%, Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%. American Superconductor (AMSC) and Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Caterpillar (CAT) has been the steadiest (American Superconductor (AMSC) 85.3%, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 115.4%, Caterpillar (CAT) 40.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AMSC, BW and CAT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Caterpillar (CAT) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.