CAT vs FSS vs HSBC Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Federal Signal and Hsbc Holdings Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (TEX) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$613.45 -27.4% 1M +6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$269.38B
P/E
24.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
2 wins
FSS Federal Signal Corp /De/
$117.06 +0.6% 1M -0.8% 1Y
Market cap
$7.22B
P/E
24.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.55B
Div. yield
0.00%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
3 wins
HSBC Hsbc Holdings Plc
$85.92 -10.6% 1M +22.6% 1Y
Market cap
$312.12B
P/E
11.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$55.16B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Hsbc Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Hsbc Holdings 7, Federal Signal 3, Caterpillar 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATFSSHSBCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $269.38B $7.22B $312.12B HSBC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.8x 24.3x 11.8x HSBC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.2x 23.8x 9.4x HSBC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +24.0% +1,900.0% HSBC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 11.7% 47.9% HSBC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 16.0% — FSS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x — FSS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% CAT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.3% -0.8% +22.6% HSBC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +24.7%/yr +21.8%/yr +23.2%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.6% 33.3% 28.1% HSBC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 78/100 71/100 FSS

Percentile Scorecard

CATFSSHSBC

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

AxisCATFSSHSBC
Valuation 31 #141 of 203 60 #82 of 203 18 #295 of 359
Growth 70 #58 of 189 94 #13 of 189 89 #40 of 340
Profitability 92 #16 of 187 90 #20 of 187 85 #51 of 343
Financial Health 17 #184 of 221 78 #50 of 221 –
Shareholder Returns 62 #59 of 152 68 #50 of 152 93 #26 of 351
Overall 54 78 71
  • CAT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • FSS ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • HSBC ranked among 368 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATFSSHSBCSPY
1 month -27.4%+0.6%-10.6% -2.3%
3 months -26.2%-9.4%-20.3% -0.7%
6 months -29.9%-0.4%-4.7% +4.8%
Year to date +7.1%+7.8%+9.2% +10.3%
1 year +6.3%-0.8%+22.6% +10.3%
3 years +154.8%+81.9%+129.5% +73.0%
3 years, per year +36.6%+22.1%+31.9% +20.1%
5 years +201.4%+168.1%+183.6% +61.9%
5 years, per year +24.7%+21.8%+23.2% +10.1%
10 years +656.3%+856.4%+131.6% +258.6%
10 years, per year +22.4%+25.3%+8.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCATFSSHSBCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.6%33.3%28.1% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.1%32.2%28.3% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.911.191.25 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.15-0.020.81 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.4%-33.3%-34.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -42.4%-12.5%-20.3% -3.5%
52-week high $1,064.90$133.73$107.85 $779.14
52-week low $546.13$104.77$67.56 $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.

MultipleCATFSSHSBC
P/E now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 25.6x 24.1xmedian 25.6x 11.3xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 1.9x 2.8xmedian 1.9x 5.4xmedian 3.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 20.7xmedian 14.4x 14.7xmedian 14.4x —median 4.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.4xmedian 22.5x 19.6xmedian 22.5x —median 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 14.5xmedian 2.2x 4.5xmedian 2.2x 1.5xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.00median 1.36 0.90median 1.36 3.02median 1.46

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 monthsCATFSSHSBC
Revenue $74.73B $2.55B $55.16B
Gross profit $25.66B $741.70M –
Operating income $13.09B $412.80M $33.06B
Net income $10.84B $296.90M $28.08B
Free cash flow $8.99B $365.10M –
R&D $2.27B – –
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $4.83 $7.53
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $73.70M $222.46B
Total debt $45.15B $420.30M –
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 61.50M 3.51B
Enterprise value $241.07B $6.95B -$1.79T

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
MetricCATFSSHSBC
P/E 26.0x 24.1x 11.3x
P/FCF 31.4x 19.6x –
P/Operating cash flow 20.8x 17.7x –
P/S 3.8x 2.8x 5.4x
P/B 14.5x 4.5x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 14.9x 6.0x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 20.7x 14.7x –
EV/EBIT 24.5x 18.1x -16.4x
EV/Revenue 4.3x 2.9x -9.8x
EV/FCF 35.6x 20.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow 23.6x 18.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.00 0.90 3.02

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATFSSHSBC
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 24.0% 1,900%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 15.2% 50.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 24.8% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 20.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% 26.0% 40.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 25.7% 1.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% 25.9% 51.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 26.8% -1.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% 25.7% 68.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 26.7% 3.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% 62.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 45.6% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% 66.2% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 53.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATFSSHSBC
Gross margin 34.3% 29.1% –
EBITDA margin 20.7% 19.9% –
Operating margin 17.5% 16.2% 59.9%
Pretax margin 18.6% 15.2% 65.2%
Net margin 14.5% 11.7% 47.9%
FCF margin 12.0% 14.3% –
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 15.8% –
Return on equity 57.0% 19.2% 14.3%
Return on assets 10.9% 12.1% 0.8%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 16.0% –
Return on capital employed 22.1% 19.2% –
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.0x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.4x –
Stock comp / revenue – 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATFSSHSBC
Debt / assets 44.0% 17.1% –
Debt / equity 2.3x 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF 5.0x 1.2x –
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 35.7% 94.3%
Equity / assets 18.9% 64.3% 5.7%
Interest coverage 6.8x 17.9x –
Current ratio 1.4x 3.0x –
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.3x –
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x –
Altman Z-score 4.31 7.64 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATFSSHSBC
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.5% 4.4%
Net buyback yield 2.6% 0.0% –
Shareholder yield 3.6% 0.5% 4.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.9% 12.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% 9.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.2% 9.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 15.9% –

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.

ConsensusCATFSSHSBC
Forward P/E 24.2xFY2026 23.8xFY2026 9.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $4.92FY2026 $9.02FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +10.0% +9.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $2.79BFY2026 $70.05BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +28.1%FY2026 -1.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% -5.3% +18.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATFSSHSBC
Held by institutions 72.3% 100.0% 2.5%
Institutions holding 4,060 476 709
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +3.9% -0.3%
Institutions buying 1,890 251 404
Institutions selling 1,596 152 180
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.65 2.24

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.

CATFSSHSBC
CAT 1.00 0.49 0.44
FSS 0.49 1.00 0.36
HSBC 0.44 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, FSS and HSBC?

Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $269.38B, Federal Signal (FSS) $7.22B, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) $312.12B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, FSS and HSBC?

Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 24.8x, Federal Signal (FSS) 24.3x, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) 11.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 24.2x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.8x, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) 9.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) +1,900.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Federal Signal (FSS) 11.7%, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) 47.9%). On return on invested capital, Federal Signal (FSS) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Federal Signal (FSS) 16.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +6.3%, Federal Signal (FSS) -0.8%, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) +22.6%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +24.7%/yr, Federal Signal (FSS) +21.8%/yr, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) +23.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%, Federal Signal (FSS) 0.00%, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) 0.00%. Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.6%, Federal Signal (FSS) 33.3%, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) 28.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, FSS and HSBC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Hsbc Holdings (HSBC) leads on 7. 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.