CAT vs GBX vs WAB Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Greenbrier Companies and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$713.64 -13.1% 1M +35.4% 1Y
Market cap
$328.06B
P/E
30.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.88%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
7 wins
GBX Greenbrier Companies Inc
$37.50 -11.9% 1M -17.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.16B
P/E
14.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.46B
Div. yield
3.52%
Rail Equipment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 7, Greenbrier Companies 3, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATGBXWABLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $328.06B $1.16B $47.18B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.3x 14.7x 34.5x GBX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.7x 10.9x 24.0x GBX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% -24.0% +13.2% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 3.2% — CAT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 3.2% — CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 5.8x — CAT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.88% 3.52% 0.42% GBX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +35.4% -17.9% +39.3% WAB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +28.5%/yr -2.4%/yr +25.2%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.5% 31.8% 26.2% WAB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 40/100 45/100 CAT

Percentile Scorecard

CATGBXWAB

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

AxisCATGBXWAB
Valuation 21 #160 of 203 62 #78 of 203 34 #135 of 203
Growth 67 #63 of 188 10 #170 of 188 89 #22 of 188
Profitability 92 #15 of 183 27 #134 of 183 56 #82 of 183
Financial Health 17 #180 of 217 13 #188 of 217 27 #158 of 217
Shareholder Returns 56 #68 of 153 89 #18 of 153 20 #123 of 153
Overall 51 40 45
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • GBX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATGBXWABSPY
1 month -13.1%-11.9%-3.1% -0.2%
3 months -15.2%-27.6%-8.8% +3.9%
6 months -12.7%-22.6%+6.0% +8.2%
Year to date +24.6%-19.8%+30.7% +12.9%
1 year +35.4%-17.9%+39.3% +12.3%
3 years +199.1%+13.5%+168.3% +87.4%
3 years, per year +44.1%+4.3%+39.0% +23.3%
5 years +249.7%-11.6%+207.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year +28.5%-2.4%+25.2% +10.9%
10 years +759.7%+21.4%+262.2% +261.1%
10 years, per year +24.0%+2.0%+13.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCATGBXWABSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.5%31.8%26.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%36.0%24.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.850.410.99 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.87-0.561.50 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-54.6%-23.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -33.0%-36.3%-8.8% -1.2%
52-week high $1,064.90$58.87$305.87 $779.14
52-week low $524.47$37.50$196.14 $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.

MultipleCATGBXWAB
P/E now vs peer median 30.3xmedian 25.2x 14.7xmedian 25.2x 34.5xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 1.9x 0.5xmedian 1.9x 3.9xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 14.0x 10.1xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.5xmedian 21.7x -4.8xmedian 21.7x 28.7xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 2.3x 0.7xmedian 2.3x 4.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.32median 1.32 1.42median 1.32 1.44median 1.32

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 monthsCATGBXWAB
Revenue $74.73B $2.46B $12.21B
Gross profit $25.66B $333.70M $4.35B
Operating income $13.09B $143.60M $2.10B
Net income $10.84B $81.60M –
Free cash flow $8.99B -$239.70M –
R&D $2.27B – $261.00M
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $2.49 $8.07
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $235.10M $489.00M
Total debt $45.15B $1.84B –
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 31.77M 169.60M
Enterprise value $299.76B -$112.25M $47.21B

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
MetricCATGBXWAB
P/E 30.3x 14.7x 34.5x
P/FCF 36.5x -4.8x 28.7x
P/Operating cash flow 24.2x 29.4x 22.6x
P/S 4.4x 0.5x 3.9x
P/B 16.9x 0.7x 4.2x
P/Tangible book 17.3x 0.8x 6.4x
EV/EBITDA 23.7x 10.1x –
EV/EBIT 28.0x 19.3x –
EV/Revenue 4.9x 1.1x 3.9x
EV/FCF 40.7x -11.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow 27.0x 69.8x 22.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.32 1.42 1.44

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATGBXWAB
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% -24.0% 13.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% -14.5% 8.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% -45.1% 19.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% -8.9% 15.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% -60.1% 18.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% -6.6% 20.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% -61.7% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 2.6% –
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% -60.8% 17.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 10.4% 24.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% -85.1% 40.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% -17.8% 31.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% -1,531% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 6.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATGBXWAB
Gross margin 34.3% 13.6% –
EBITDA margin 20.7% 11.1% –
Operating margin 17.5% 5.8% –
Pretax margin 18.6% 3.2% –
Net margin 14.5% 3.2% –
FCF margin 12.0% -9.7% –
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 1.6% 17.1%
Return on equity 57.0% 4.8% 12.2%
Return on assets 10.9% 1.9% 5.9%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 3.2% –
Return on capital employed 22.1% – –
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 0.5x –
Stock comp / revenue – 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATGBXWAB
Debt / assets 44.0% 41.4% –
Debt / equity 2.3x 1.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 5.8x –
Debt / FCF 5.0x -7.7x –
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 61.9% 50.9%
Equity / assets 18.9% 38.1% 49.1%
Interest coverage 6.8x 2.0x –
Current ratio 1.4x – 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.5x – –
Cash ratio 0.2x – –
Altman Z-score 4.64 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATGBXWAB
Dividend yield 0.9% 3.5% 0.4%
Net buyback yield 2.2% 1.2% –
Shareholder yield 3.1% 4.7% 0.4%
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.

ConsensusCATGBXWAB
Forward P/E 27.7xFY2026 10.9xFY2027 24.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $3.44FY2027 $11.63FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +32.3%FY2027 +29.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +37.5% +5.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $2.82BFY2027 $12.82BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +14.7%FY2027 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +6.5% -2.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATGBXWAB
Held by institutions 72.3% 100.0% 92.6%
Institutions holding 4,057 271 1,195
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +3.9% +0.2%
Institutions buying 1,888 132 553
Institutions selling 1,595 83 409
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.59 1.35

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.

CATGBXWAB
CAT 1.00 0.16 0.66
GBX 0.16 1.00 0.38
WAB 0.66 0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, GBX and WAB?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $328.06B, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) $1.16B, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) $47.18B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, GBX and WAB?

Greenbrier Companies (GBX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 30.3x, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) 14.7x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 34.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 27.7x, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) 10.9x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 24.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Caterpillar (CAT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) -24.0%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +13.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) 3.2%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) 3.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +35.4%, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) -17.9%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +39.3%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +28.5%/yr, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) -2.4%/yr, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +25.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Greenbrier Companies (GBX) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.88%, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) 3.52%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 0.42%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.5%, Greenbrier Companies (GBX) 31.8%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 26.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, GBX and WAB?

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 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.