AMSC vs CAT vs CEPL Stock Comparison

American Superconductor, Caterpillar and Capstone Energy Plus Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (HWM) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$553.47 -35.9% 1M -2.8% 1Y
Market cap
$253.27B
P/E
21.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.77B
Div. yield
1.13%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 5, American Superconductor 4, Capstone Energy Plus 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAMSCCATCEPLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.16B $253.27B $84.65M CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 8.6x 21.5x 25.0x AMSC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x 21.5x — CAT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +31.1% +20.3% +5.4% AMSC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 38.6% 15.2% 3.5% AMSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 16.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.2x -0.7x CEPL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.13% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -59.6% -2.8% — CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.3%/yr +21.9%/yr — CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 85.5% 41.1% 113.4% CAT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 85/100 57/100 77/100 AMSC

Percentile Scorecard

AMSCCATCEPL

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

AxisAMSCCATCEPL
Valuation 84 #11 of 63 37 #129 of 204 98 #2 of 63
Growth 98 #2 of 60 73 #52 of 191 92 #6 of 60
Profitability 82 #11 of 57 92 #16 of 189 84 #10 of 57
Financial Health 78 #17 of 72 19 #180 of 221 24 #55 of 72
Shareholder Returns – 64 #58 of 159 86 #5 of 30
Overall 85 57 77
  • AMSC ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • CAT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • CEPL ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAMSCCATCEPLSPY
1 month -24.7%-35.9%-40.2% -5.9%
3 months -27.1%-35.4%-68.8% -4.6%
6 months -54.9%-38.2%— +0.2%
Year to date -16.7%-3.4%— +7.5%
1 year -59.6%-2.8%— +8.2%
3 years +209.4%+132.3%— +68.3%
3 years, per year +45.8%+32.5%— +19.0%
5 years +35.9%+168.8%— +56.5%
5 years, per year +6.3%+21.9%— +9.4%
10 years +236.8%+572.4%— +251.5%
10 years, per year +12.9%+21.0%— +13.4%

Risk

MeasureAMSCCATCEPLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 85.5%41.1%113.4% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 98.0%44.3%119.6% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.151.772.37 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.70-0.07— 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.0%-48.0%-78.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -59.6%-48.0%-78.1% -5.9%
52-week high $59.42$1,064.90$11.88 $779.14
52-week low $23.98$546.13$2.55 $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.

MultipleAMSCCATCEPL
P/E now vs peer median 8.6xmedian 25.0x 21.5xmedian 23.4x 25.0xmedian 25.0x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 2.3x 3.3xmedian 1.7x 0.8xmedian 2.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 35.1xmedian 18.3x 17.4xmedian 13.4x 8.3xmedian 18.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 68.9xmedian 28.3x 26.3xmedian 21.9x 29.5xmedian 28.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 1.8x 11.8xmedian 2.1x -1.9xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.16median 0.65 1.65median 1.02 0.91median 0.65

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 monthsAMSCCATCEPL
Revenue $349.05M $77.77B $103.06M
Gross profit $97.71M $27.05B $35.07M
Operating income $18.03M $14.25B $4.53M
Net income $134.82M $11.83B $3.56M
Free cash flow – $9.62B $2.87M
R&D $15.41M $2.31B $4.03M
EPS (diluted) $2.87 $25.67 $0.10
Cash & equivalents $169.92M $7.93B $32.30M
Total debt – $45.20B $25.34M
Shares (diluted) 47.03M 460.90M 34.34M
Enterprise value $566.82M $224.57B $75.48M

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
MetricAMSCCATCEPL
P/E 8.6x 21.5x 25.0x
P/FCF 68.9x 26.3x 29.5x
P/Operating cash flow – 17.9x 18.9x
P/S 3.3x 3.3x 0.8x
P/B 2.0x 11.8x -1.9x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 12.0x -1.7x
EV/EBITDA 35.1x 17.4x 8.3x
EV/EBIT 55.0x 20.4x 17.1x
EV/Revenue 2.8x 3.7x 0.8x
EV/FCF – 30.2x 27.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 20.5x 17.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.16 1.65 0.91

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAMSCCATCEPL
Revenue growth (1Y) 31.1% 20.3% 5.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 42.8% 5.3% 9.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 23.8% 18.1% 29.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 72.0% 5.2% 52.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 55.7% 24.9% 305.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 40.3% 7.4% 30.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 790.3% 27.6% 190.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 65.9% 9.1% 28.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 736.8% 30.3% 151.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 52.9% 13.0% 27.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 22.9% 11.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 6.9% 35.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 27.2% -8.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 3.5% 29.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAMSCCATCEPL
Gross margin 28.0% 34.8% 34.0%
EBITDA margin 8.1% 21.4% 9.1%
Operating margin 5.2% 18.3% 4.4%
Pretax margin 6.3% 19.3% 3.4%
Net margin 38.6% 15.2% 3.5%
FCF margin – 12.4% 2.8%
Operating cash flow margin – 18.2% 4.3%
Return on equity 23.3% 57.9% –
Return on assets 17.5% 11.3% 3.1%
Return on invested capital – 16.8% –
Return on capital employed 2.9% 22.3% 12.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.7x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 6.0% – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAMSCCATCEPL
Debt / assets – 42.3% 22.1%
Debt / equity – 2.1x -0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.2x -0.7x
Debt / FCF – 4.7x 8.8x
Liabilities / assets 24.9% 79.9% 139.4%
Equity / assets 75.1% 20.1% -39.4%
Interest coverage – 7.2x 1.1x
Current ratio 2.4x 1.4x 1.0x
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.5x 0.6x
Cash ratio 1.1x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 2.82 4.10 -10.53

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAMSCCATCEPL
Dividend yield – 1.1% –
Net buyback yield – 3.2% 0.5%
Shareholder yield – 4.4% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 24.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 29.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 4.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 4.2% –

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.

ConsensusAMSCCATCEPL
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 21.5xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $0.90FY2026 $25.73FY2026 $-0.01FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -75.0%FY2026 +35.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +40.0% +30.7% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $383.43MFY2026 $83.62BFY2026 $115.36MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.2%FY2026 +23.7%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.7% +1.8% +28.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAMSCCATCEPL
Held by institutions 73.7% 72.3% –
Institutions holding 278 4,063 –
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.4% +0.6% –
Institutions buying 172 1,892 –
Institutions selling 77 1,597 –
Buyers to sellers 2.23 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.

AMSCCATCEPL
AMSC 1.00 0.60 0.64
CAT 0.60 1.00 0.48
CEPL 0.64 0.48 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AMSC, CAT and CEPL?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Superconductor (AMSC) $1.16B, Caterpillar (CAT) $253.27B, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) $84.65M.

Which stock is cheaper, AMSC, CAT and CEPL?

American Superconductor (AMSC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Superconductor (AMSC) 8.6x, Caterpillar (CAT) 21.5x, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) 25.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Caterpillar (CAT) is cheapest (American Superconductor (AMSC) 26.6x, Caterpillar (CAT) 21.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

American Superconductor (AMSC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Superconductor (AMSC) +31.1%, Caterpillar (CAT) +20.3%, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) +5.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Superconductor (AMSC) has the highest net margin (American Superconductor (AMSC) 38.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) 15.2%, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) 3.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: American Superconductor (AMSC) -59.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) -2.8%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (American Superconductor (AMSC) +6.3%/yr, Caterpillar (CAT) +21.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Caterpillar (CAT) 1.13%. American Superconductor (AMSC) and Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Caterpillar (CAT) has been the steadiest (American Superconductor (AMSC) 85.5%, Caterpillar (CAT) 41.1%, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) 113.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 5. 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.