CAT vs GNRC vs HYLN Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Generac Holdings and Hyliion Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$713.64 -13.1% 1M +35.4% 1Y
Market cap
$330.59B
P/E
30.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
6 wins
GNRC Generac Holdings Inc.
$193.75 -6.9% 1M +1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$11.75B
P/E
45.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.44B
Div. yield
–
Power Equipment Industrials
3 wins
HYLN Hyliion Holdings Corp.
$3.29 -22.0% 1M +48.2% 1Y
Market cap
$599.56M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$9.25M
Div. yield
–
Power Equipment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 6, Generac Holdings 3, Hyliion Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATGNRCHYLNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $330.59B $11.75B $599.56M CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.5x 45.5x -11.5x CAT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.7x 20.8x — GNRC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +0.6% +163.2% HYLN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 5.8% -564.3% CAT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 7.9% — CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 1.6x — GNRC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +35.4% +1.8% +48.2% HYLN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +28.5%/yr -17.4%/yr -16.4%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.5% 57.1% 99.0% CAT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 64/100 57/100 GNRC

Percentile Scorecard

CATGNRCHYLN

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

AxisCATGNRCHYLN
Valuation 21 #160 of 203 73 #17 of 61 33 #41 of 61
Growth 67 #63 of 188 42 #34 of 58 88 #8 of 58
Profitability 92 #15 of 183 87 #8 of 55 13 #48 of 55
Financial Health 17 #180 of 217 46 #39 of 71 93 #6 of 71
Shareholder Returns 56 #68 of 153 72 #9 of 30 –
Overall 51 64 57
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • GNRC ranked among 71 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • HYLN ranked among 71 companies in Clean Energy Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATGNRCHYLNSPY
1 month -13.1%-6.9%-22.0% -0.2%
3 months -15.2%-0.8%-7.1% +3.9%
6 months -12.7%-10.8%+81.8% +8.2%
Year to date +24.6%+42.1%+78.8% +12.9%
1 year +35.4%+1.8%+48.2% +12.3%
3 years +199.1%+135.7%+483.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year +44.1%+33.1%+80.1% +23.3%
5 years +249.7%-61.5%-59.1% +67.9%
5 years, per year +28.5%-17.4%-16.4% +10.9%
10 years +759.7%+405.9%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +24.0%+17.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCATGNRCHYLNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.5%57.1%99.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%54.7%92.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.852.183.17 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.870.030.49 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-83.7%-94.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -33.0%-34.4%-59.4% -1.2%
52-week high $1,064.90$295.54$8.10 $779.14
52-week low $524.47$136.37$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.

MultipleCATGNRCHYLN
P/E now vs peer median 30.3xmedian 25.2x 44.1xmedian 27.2x -11.2xmedian 27.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 1.9x 2.6xmedian 2.4x 63.5xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 14.0x 18.7xmedian 18.4x -10.3xmedian 18.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.5xmedian 21.7x 30.1xmedian 28.6x -10.4xmedian 28.6x
P/B now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 2.3x 4.0xmedian 1.7x 3.5xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 2.32median 1.32 3.39median 0.79 -0.37median 0.79

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 monthsCATGNRCHYLN
Revenue $74.73B $4.44B $9.25M
Gross profit $25.66B $1.76B $603.00K
Operating income $13.09B $421.49M -$58.73M
Net income $10.84B $258.77M -$52.19M
Free cash flow $8.99B $379.25M -$56.62M
R&D $2.27B $249.51M $37.27M
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $4.33 $-0.29
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $264.92M $13.20M
Total debt $45.15B $1.33B –
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 59.64M 178.44M
Enterprise value $302.29B $10.58B $265.46M

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
MetricCATGNRCHYLN
P/E 30.3x 44.1x -11.2x
P/FCF 36.5x 30.1x -10.4x
P/Operating cash flow 24.2x 20.9x -13.9x
P/S 4.4x 2.6x 63.5x
P/B 16.9x 4.0x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 17.3x 4.3x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 23.7x 18.7x -10.3x
EV/EBIT 28.0x 29.6x -8.9x
EV/Revenue 4.9x 2.8x 56.6x
EV/FCF 40.7x 33.0x -9.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.0x 22.8x -12.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.32 3.39 -0.37

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATGNRCHYLN
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 0.6% 163.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 3.3% 62.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% -0.4% 154.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 10.4% 29.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% -25.0% 11.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 9.0% 29.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% -26.1% 7.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 10.1% 30.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% -26.7% 8.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 13.0% 30.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% -19.6% 10.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 71.1% 30.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% -25.9% 16.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 188.3% 24.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATGNRCHYLN
Gross margin 34.3% 39.5% 6.5%
EBITDA margin 20.7% 15.1% -551.3%
Operating margin 17.5% 9.5% -635.2%
Pretax margin 18.6% 7.6% -564.5%
Net margin 14.5% 5.8% -564.3%
FCF margin 12.0% 8.5% -612.3%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 12.3% -458.2%
Return on equity 57.0% 9.3% -29.7%
Return on assets 10.9% 4.6% -28.2%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 7.9% –
Return on capital employed 22.1% 9.4% -33.4%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.8x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 2.1x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.1% 64.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATGNRCHYLN
Debt / assets 44.0% 23.0% –
Debt / equity 2.3x 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 1.6x –
Debt / FCF 5.0x 3.5x –
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 50.1% 5.6%
Equity / assets 18.9% 49.9% 94.4%
Interest coverage 6.8x 6.2x –
Current ratio 1.4x 2.0x 7.6x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.8x 7.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 6.8x
Altman Z-score 4.64 4.42 32.65

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATGNRCHYLN
Dividend yield 0.9% – –
Net buyback yield 2.2% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 3.1% -0.1% –
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.

ConsensusCATGNRCHYLN
Forward P/E 27.7xFY2026 20.8xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $9.31FY2026 $-0.32FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +46.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +42.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $4.60BFY2026 $14.80MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +9.1%FY2026 +325.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +48.6% +127.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATGNRCHYLN
Held by institutions 72.3% 89.4% 33.4%
Institutions holding 4,057 998 168
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% -1.0% +19.5%
Institutions buying 1,888 531 106
Institutions selling 1,595 321 38
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.65 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.

CATGNRCHYLN
CAT 1.00 0.65 0.41
GNRC 0.65 1.00 0.34
HYLN 0.41 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, GNRC and HYLN?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $330.59B, Generac Holdings (GNRC) $11.75B, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) $599.56M.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, GNRC and HYLN?

Caterpillar (CAT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 30.5x, Generac Holdings (GNRC) 45.5x, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -11.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Generac Holdings (GNRC) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 27.7x, Generac Holdings (GNRC) 20.8x). 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) +18.4%, Generac Holdings (GNRC) +0.6%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) +163.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Generac Holdings (GNRC) 5.8%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -564.3%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Generac Holdings (GNRC) 7.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +35.4%, Generac Holdings (GNRC) +1.8%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) +48.2%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +28.5%/yr, Generac Holdings (GNRC) -17.4%/yr, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) -16.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Caterpillar (CAT) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.5%, Generac Holdings (GNRC) 57.1%, Hyliion Holdings (HYLN) 99.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, GNRC 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.