CAT vs CEPL vs ALSN Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Capstone Energy Plus and Allison Transmission Holdings Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$647.25 -21.7% 1M +10.5% 1Y
Market cap
$297.54B
P/E
25.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.77B
Div. yield
0.97%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Allison Transmission Holdings leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Allison Transmission Holdings 8, Capstone Energy Plus 2, Caterpillar 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATCEPLALSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $297.54B $90.18M $9.09B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.2x 26.6x 17.3x ALSN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.1x — 14.4x ALSN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.3% +5.4% +37.6% ALSN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 3.5% 12.0% ALSN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 10.7% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.7x 3.4x CEPL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.97% — 1.04% ALSN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +10.5% — +34.9% ALSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.0%/yr — +27.0%/yr ALSN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.3% 112.7% 31.3% ALSN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 76/100 58/100 CEPL

Percentile Scorecard

CATCEPLALSN

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

AxisCATCEPLALSN
Valuation 29 #144 of 203 97 #3 of 62 75 #52 of 203
Growth 74 #49 of 188 93 #5 of 59 43 #108 of 188
Profitability 77 #43 of 183 85 #9 of 55 89 #21 of 183
Financial Health 8 #199 of 216 24 #55 of 72 15 #183 of 216
Shareholder Returns 31 #105 of 152 82 #6 of 29 70 #47 of 152
Overall 44 76 58
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • CEPL ranked among 72 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • ALSN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATCEPLALSNSPY
1 month -21.7%-37.8%-2.6% +0.7%
3 months -20.0%-64.8%-4.6% +3.7%
6 months -27.3%—-18.1% +7.1%
Year to date +13.0%—+12.4% +12.8%
1 year +10.5%—+34.9% +11.9%
3 years +167.3%—+115.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +38.8%—+29.2% +22.8%
5 years +217.3%—+229.9% +67.6%
5 years, per year +26.0%—+27.0% +10.9%
10 years +671.6%—+275.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year +22.7%—+14.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCATCEPLALSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.3%112.7%31.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.5%122.0%30.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.883.761.05 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.26—1.11 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.2%-77.8%-34.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -39.2%-76.7%-19.1% -1.2%
52-week high $1,064.90$11.88$136.00 $779.14
52-week low $546.13$2.64$79.27 $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.

MultipleCATCEPLALSN
P/E now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 25.8x 26.6xmedian 26.6x 17.3xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 1.9x 0.9xmedian 2.6x 2.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.6x 8.9xmedian 18.9x 11.6xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 42.3xmedian 22.2x 31.4xmedian 30.1x 12.3xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 2.2x -2.0xmedian 1.9x 4.6xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.95median 1.45 0.97median 0.97 -6.06median 1.45

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 monthsCATCEPLALSN
Revenue $77.77B $103.06M $4.40B
Gross profit – $35.07M $1.60B
Operating income $14.25B $4.53M $861.00M
Net income $11.83B $3.56M $529.00M
Free cash flow – $2.87M $737.00M
R&D $2.31B $4.03M $197.00M
EPS (diluted) $25.58 $0.10 $6.30
Cash & equivalents $7.93B $32.30M $399.00M
Total debt – $109.19M $4.14B
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 34.34M 84.00M
Enterprise value $297.54B $81.01M $5.98B

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
MetricCATCEPLALSN
P/E 25.2x 26.6x 17.3x
P/FCF 42.3x 31.4x 12.3x
P/Operating cash flow 21.0x 20.1x 9.7x
P/S 3.8x 0.9x 2.1x
P/B 13.9x -2.0x 4.6x
P/Tangible book 14.1x -1.8x 24.4x
EV/EBITDA – 8.9x 11.6x
EV/EBIT – 18.4x 14.9x
EV/Revenue 3.8x 0.8x 2.9x
EV/FCF – 29.0x 17.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.0x 18.6x 13.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.95 0.97 -6.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATCEPLALSN
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.3% 5.4% 37.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 9.3% 14.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 29.5% 3.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 52.0% 4.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 24.9% 305.8% -13.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 30.7% -0.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 27.6% 190.1% -30.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 28.8% -5.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.9% 151.0% -29.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 27.5% -2.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.9% 11.9% 14.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.9% 35.5% 7.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -8.6% 12.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 29.3% 6.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATCEPLALSN
Gross margin – 34.0% 36.4%
EBITDA margin – 9.1% 25.1%
Operating margin – 4.4% 19.6%
Pretax margin – 3.4% 15.7%
Net margin – 3.5% 12.0%
FCF margin – 2.8% 16.7%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 4.3% 21.3%
Return on equity 57.9% – 27.3%
Return on assets 11.3% 3.1% 6.1%
Return on invested capital – – 10.7%
Return on capital employed – 12.2% 11.7%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.3x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATCEPLALSN
Debt / assets – 22.1% 47.5%
Debt / equity – -0.6x 2.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.7x 3.4x
Debt / FCF – 8.8x 5.6x
Liabilities / assets 79.9% 139.4% 77.3%
Equity / assets 20.1% -39.4% 22.7%
Interest coverage – 1.1x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.0x 1.8x
Quick ratio – 0.6x 1.0x
Cash ratio – 0.4x 0.3x
Altman Z-score – -10.51 1.81

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATCEPLALSN
Dividend yield 1.0% – 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 0.4% 1.4%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 0.4% 2.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCATCEPLALSN
Forward P/E 25.1xFY2026 – 14.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $-0.01FY2026 $7.67FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 – +4.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% – +45.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $115.36MFY2026 $6.32BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026 +109.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +28.2% +1.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATCEPLALSN
Held by institutions 72.3% – 100.0%
Institutions holding 4,059 – 567
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% – +1.1%
Institutions buying 1,890 – 258
Institutions selling 1,595 – 230
Buyers to sellers 1.18 – 1.12

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.

CATCEPLALSN
CAT 1.00 0.47 0.53
CEPL 0.47 1.00 0.04
ALSN 0.53 0.04 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, CEPL and ALSN?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $297.54B, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) $90.18M, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) $9.09B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, CEPL and ALSN?

Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 25.2x, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) 26.6x, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 17.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 25.1x, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 14.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +20.3%, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) +5.4%, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) +37.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) has the highest net margin (Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) 3.5%, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 12.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +10.5%, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) +34.9%. Over five years, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +26.0%/yr, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) +27.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.97%, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 1.04%. Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.3%, Capstone Energy Plus (CEPL) 112.7%, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) 31.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN) leads on 8. 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.