CAT vs FSS vs HYLN Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Federal Signal and Hyliion Holdings Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$647.25 -21.7% 1M +10.5% 1Y
Market cap
$286.42B
P/E
24.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.77B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
2 wins
FSS Federal Signal Corp /De/
$115.22 +0.8% 1M -11.2% 1Y
Market cap
$6.82B
P/E
23.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.55B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins
HYLN Hyliion Holdings Corp.
$3.42 -14.7% 1M +50.7% 1Y
Market cap
$574.05M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$9.25M
Div. yield
–
Power Equipment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Federal Signal leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Federal Signal 5, Caterpillar 2, Hyliion Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATFSSHYLNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $286.42B $6.82B $574.05M CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.2x 23.0x -11.0x FSS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.1x 23.4x — FSS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.3% +24.0% +163.2% HYLN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 11.7% -564.3% FSS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 16.0% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.7x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +10.5% -11.2% +50.7% HYLN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.0%/yr +21.9%/yr -15.8%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.3% 34.9% 98.6% FSS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 77/100 57/100 FSS

Percentile Scorecard

CATFSSHYLN

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

AxisCATFSSHYLN
Valuation 29 #144 of 203 58 #85 of 203 33 #42 of 62
Growth 74 #49 of 188 92 #16 of 188 90 #7 of 59
Profitability 77 #43 of 183 92 #16 of 183 13 #48 of 55
Financial Health 8 #199 of 216 77 #50 of 216 93 #6 of 72
Shareholder Returns 31 #105 of 152 65 #54 of 152 –
Overall 44 77 57
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • FSS ranked among 222 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

PeriodCATFSSHYLNSPY
1 month -21.7%+0.8%-14.7% +0.7%
3 months -20.0%-7.7%-5.0% +3.7%
6 months -27.3%-6.4%+79.1% +7.1%
Year to date +13.0%+6.1%+85.9% +12.8%
1 year +10.5%-11.2%+50.7% +11.9%
3 years +167.3%+98.4%+478.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +38.8%+25.7%+79.5% +22.8%
5 years +217.3%+169.1%-57.7% +67.6%
5 years, per year +26.0%+21.9%-15.8% +10.9%
10 years +671.6%+849.1%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +22.7%+25.2%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCATFSSHYLNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.3%34.9%98.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.5%35.9%92.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.881.273.17 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.26-0.320.51 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.2%-33.3%-94.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -39.2%-13.8%-57.8% -1.2%
52-week high $1,064.90$133.73$8.10 $779.14
52-week low $546.13$104.77$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.

MultipleCATFSSHYLN
P/E now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 25.8x 23.7xmedian 25.8x -11.7xmedian 26.6x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 1.9x 2.8xmedian 1.9x 66.1xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.6x 14.5xmedian 14.6x -10.7xmedian 18.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 42.3xmedian 22.2x 19.3xmedian 22.2x -10.8xmedian 30.1x
P/B now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 2.2x 4.5xmedian 2.2x 3.6xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.95median 1.45 0.89median 1.45 -0.38median 0.97

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 monthsCATFSSHYLN
Revenue $77.77B $2.55B $9.25M
Gross profit – $741.70M $603.00K
Operating income $14.25B $412.80M -$58.73M
Net income $11.83B $296.90M -$52.19M
Free cash flow – $365.10M -$56.62M
R&D $2.31B – $37.27M
EPS (diluted) $25.58 $4.83 $-0.29
Cash & equivalents $7.93B $73.70M $13.20M
Total debt – $420.30M –
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 61.50M 178.44M
Enterprise value $286.42B $6.55B $239.94M

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
MetricCATFSSHYLN
P/E 25.2x 23.7x -11.7x
P/FCF 42.3x 19.3x -10.8x
P/Operating cash flow 21.0x 17.5x -14.4x
P/S 3.8x 2.8x 66.1x
P/B 13.9x 4.5x 3.6x
P/Tangible book 14.1x 5.9x 3.6x
EV/EBITDA – 14.5x -10.7x
EV/EBIT – 17.9x -9.3x
EV/Revenue 3.8x 2.9x 59.1x
EV/FCF – 20.2x -9.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.0x 18.3x -12.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.95 0.89 -0.38

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATFSSHYLN
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.3% 24.0% 163.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 15.2% 62.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 24.8% 154.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 20.2% 29.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 24.9% 26.0% 11.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 25.7% 29.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 27.6% 25.9% 7.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 26.8% 30.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.9% 25.7% 8.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 26.7% 30.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.9% 62.4% 10.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.9% 45.6% 30.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 66.2% 16.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 53.2% 24.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATFSSHYLN
Gross margin – 29.1% 6.5%
EBITDA margin – 19.9% -551.3%
Operating margin – 16.2% -635.2%
Pretax margin – 15.2% -564.5%
Net margin – 11.7% -564.3%
FCF margin – 14.3% -612.3%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 15.8% -458.2%
Return on equity 57.9% 19.2% -29.7%
Return on assets 11.3% 12.1% -28.2%
Return on invested capital – 16.0% –
Return on capital employed – 19.2% -33.4%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.0x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.4x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.6% 64.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATFSSHYLN
Debt / assets – 17.1% –
Debt / equity – 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.7x –
Debt / FCF – 1.2x –
Liabilities / assets 79.9% 35.7% 5.6%
Equity / assets 20.1% 64.3% 94.4%
Interest coverage – 17.9x –
Current ratio 1.4x 3.0x 7.6x
Quick ratio – 1.3x 7.1x
Cash ratio – 0.3x 6.8x
Altman Z-score – 7.56 34.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATFSSHYLN
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.5% –
Net buyback yield – 0.0% –
Shareholder yield 1.0% 0.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 12.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 9.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 9.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 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.

ConsensusCATFSSHYLN
Forward P/E 25.1xFY2026 23.4xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $4.92FY2026 $-0.32FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +10.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $2.79BFY2026 $14.80MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +28.1%FY2026 +325.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% -5.3% +127.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATFSSHYLN
Held by institutions 72.3% 100.0% 33.4%
Institutions holding 4,059 475 168
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +3.9% +19.5%
Institutions buying 1,890 250 106
Institutions selling 1,595 152 38
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.64 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.

CATFSSHYLN
CAT 1.00 0.50 0.39
FSS 0.50 1.00 0.19
HYLN 0.39 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, FSS and HYLN?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $286.42B, Federal Signal (FSS) $6.82B, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) $574.05M.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, FSS and HYLN?

Federal Signal (FSS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 24.2x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.0x, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -11.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Federal Signal (FSS) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 25.1x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +20.3%, Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) +163.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Federal Signal (FSS) has the highest net margin (Federal Signal (FSS) 11.7%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -564.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +10.5%, Federal Signal (FSS) -11.2%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) +50.7%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +26.0%/yr, Federal Signal (FSS) +21.9%/yr, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -15.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.00%, Federal Signal (FSS) 0.01%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) 0.00%. Caterpillar (CAT) and Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Federal Signal (FSS) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.3%, Federal Signal (FSS) 34.9%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) 98.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, FSS 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, Federal Signal (FSS) 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.