BW vs CAT vs HYLN Stock Comparison

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Caterpillar and Hyliion Holdings 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
$258.31B
P/E
23.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
6 wins
HYLN Hyliion Holdings Corp.
$3.01 -27.3% 1M +44.0% 1Y
Market cap
$475.55M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$9.25M
Div. yield
–
Power Equipment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 6, Hyliion Holdings 3, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBWCATHYLNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $453.32M $258.31B $475.55M CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -13.7x 23.8x -9.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.3x 22.9x — CAT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +42.6% +18.4% +163.2% HYLN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.0% 14.5% -564.3% CAT
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% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.6% +8.0% +44.0% HYLN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -13.3%/yr +23.5%/yr -18.9%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 115.4% 40.7% 98.6% CAT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 55/100 58/100 HYLN

Percentile Scorecard

BWCATHYLN

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

AxisBWCATHYLN
Valuation 58 #27 of 63 33 #137 of 204 36 #41 of 63
Growth 70 #19 of 60 71 #57 of 191 88 #8 of 60
Profitability 71 #17 of 57 93 #14 of 189 13 #50 of 57
Financial Health 41 #43 of 72 17 #183 of 221 96 #4 of 72
Shareholder Returns 7 #30 of 32 63 #60 of 159 –
Overall 49 55 58
  • BW ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • CAT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • HYLN 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

PeriodBWCATHYLNSPY
1 month -34.8%-30.3%-27.3% -1.0%
3 months -61.3%-32.2%-23.2% -0.4%
6 months -76.3%-36.2%+25.9% +4.5%
Year to date -42.0%+3.2%+63.6% +12.4%
1 year -1.6%+8.0%+44.0% +13.6%
3 years +44.3%+145.6%+349.9% +76.4%
3 years, per year +13.0%+34.9%+65.1% +20.8%
5 years -50.9%+187.2%-64.9% +63.7%
5 years, per year -13.3%+23.5%-18.9% +10.4%
10 years -97.3%+618.3%— +267.7%
10 years, per year -30.4%+21.8%— +13.9%

Risk

MeasureBWCATHYLNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 115.4%40.7%98.6% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 105.4%43.5%92.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.201.813.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.010.200.45 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -97.4%-44.5%-94.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -83.2%-44.5%-62.8% -1.6%
52-week high $21.85$1,064.90$8.10 $779.14
52-week low $3.68$546.13$1.58 $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.

MultipleBWCATHYLN
P/E now vs peer median -15.8xmedian 26.4x 25.1xmedian 25.5x -10.3xmedian 26.4x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 2.6x 3.6xmedian 1.9x 58.1xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.5xmedian 19.6x 20.1xmedian 14.4x -9.3xmedian 19.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median -9.4xmedian 29.9x 30.2xmedian 23.3x -9.5xmedian 29.9x
P/B now vs peer median 9.6xmedian 1.8x 14.0xmedian 2.2x 3.2xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median -0.64median 0.71 1.93median 1.16 -0.34median 0.71

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 monthsBWCATHYLN
Revenue $821.95M $74.73B $9.25M
Gross profit $160.14M $25.66B $603.00K
Operating income $22.49M $13.09B -$58.73M
Net income -$18.35M $10.84B -$52.19M
Free cash flow -$58.17M $8.99B -$56.62M
R&D – $2.27B $37.27M
EPS (diluted) $-0.21 $23.45 $-0.29
Cash & equivalents $308.63M $6.71B $13.20M
Total debt $209.43M $45.15B –
Shares (diluted) 154.51M 462.50M 178.44M
Enterprise value -$75.70M $230.01B $141.44M

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
MetricBWCATHYLN
P/E -15.8x 25.1x -10.3x
P/FCF -9.4x 30.2x -9.5x
P/Operating cash flow -15.8x 20.0x -12.7x
P/S 0.7x 3.6x 58.1x
P/B 9.6x 14.0x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 12.5x 14.3x 3.2x
EV/EBITDA 12.5x 20.1x -9.3x
EV/EBIT 20.0x 23.7x -8.1x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 4.2x 51.2x
EV/FCF -7.7x 34.5x -8.4x
EV/Operating cash flow -12.9x 22.9x -11.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.64 1.93 -0.34

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBWCATHYLN
Revenue growth (1Y) 42.6% 18.4% 163.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.5% 4.9% 62.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.7% 11.7% 154.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -2.8% 5.6% 29.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 879.4% 13.7% 11.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.5% 7.7% 29.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 87.7% 14.9% 7.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 17.3% 9.0% 30.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 87.1% 17.1% 8.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 24.6% 13.0% 30.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 72.4% 19.3% 10.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -73.7% 10.6% 30.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 57.3% 16.2% 16.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -120.7% 7.4% 24.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBWCATHYLN
Gross margin 19.5% 34.3% 6.5%
EBITDA margin 4.4% 20.7% -551.3%
Operating margin 2.7% 17.5% -635.2%
Pretax margin -8.8% 18.6% -564.5%
Net margin -4.0% 14.5% -564.3%
FCF margin -7.1% 12.0% -612.3%
Operating cash flow margin -4.2% 18.2% -458.2%
Return on equity – 57.0% -29.7%
Return on assets -8.9% 10.9% -28.2%
Return on invested capital 14.3% 15.9% –
Return on capital employed 5.9% 22.1% -33.4%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.8x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.3x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 2.0% – 64.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBWCATHYLN
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 94.3% 81.1% 5.6%
Equity / assets 5.7% 18.9% 94.4%
Interest coverage 0.9x 6.8x –
Current ratio 1.5x 1.4x 7.6x
Quick ratio 1.1x 0.5x 7.1x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.2x 6.8x
Altman Z-score -0.96 4.24 29.67

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBWCATHYLN
Dividend yield – 1.1% –
Net buyback yield -70.1% 2.7% –
Shareholder yield -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.

ConsensusBWCATHYLN
Forward P/E 26.3xFY2026 22.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $0.14FY2026 $25.79FY2026 $-0.32FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +35.3%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +221.4% +31.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.01BFY2026 $84.12BFY2026 $14.80MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +71.1%FY2026 +24.5%FY2026 +325.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +35.9% +1.5% +127.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBWCATHYLN
Held by institutions 88.0% 72.3% 33.4%
Institutions holding 200 4,063 168
Change in shares held, QoQ +24.0% +0.6% +19.5%
Institutions buying 146 1,892 106
Institutions selling 41 1,597 38
Buyers to sellers 3.56 1.18 2.79

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.

BWCATHYLN
BW 1.00 0.43 0.34
CAT 0.43 1.00 0.39
HYLN 0.34 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BW, CAT and HYLN?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) $453.32M, Caterpillar (CAT) $258.31B, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) $475.55M.

Which company is growing faster?

Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) +42.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) +163.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -4.0%, Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -564.3%). 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 Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) returned the most: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -1.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) +8.0%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) +44.0%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -13.3%/yr, Caterpillar (CAT) +23.5%/yr, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -18.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Caterpillar (CAT) has been the steadiest (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 115.4%, Caterpillar (CAT) 40.7%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) 98.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.