CAT vs OSK vs WM Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Oshkosh and Waste Management Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CAT Caterpillar Inc
$553.47 -35.9% 1M -2.8% 1Y
Market cap
$255.79B
P/E
21.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.77B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins
OSK Oshkosh Corp
$136.79 +3.5% 1M +9.4% 1Y
Market cap
$8.33B
P/E
16.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.76B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins
WM Waste Management Inc
$241.26 +16.1% 1M +20.3% 1Y
Market cap
$94.05B
P/E
30.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$26.07B
Div. yield
0.02%
Solid Waste Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 5, Oshkosh 4, Waste Management 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATOSKWMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $255.79B $8.33B $94.05B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.6x 16.7x 30.6x OSK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.5x 15.4x 28.1x OSK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.3% +4.2% +5.2% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.2% 4.6% 11.8% CAT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.8% 10.2% 11.4% CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.2x 0.6x 3.0x OSK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.02% WM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.8% +9.4% +20.3% WM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +21.9%/yr +3.5%/yr +8.6%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.1% 39.8% 21.3% WM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 66/100 56/100 OSK

Percentile Scorecard

CATOSKWM

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

AxisCATOSKWM
Valuation 37 #129 of 204 89 #23 of 204 50 #9 of 17
Growth 73 #52 of 191 40 #115 of 191 57 #7 of 15
Profitability 92 #16 of 189 58 #80 of 189 93 #2 of 15
Financial Health 19 #180 of 221 51 #108 of 221 6 #16 of 17
Shareholder Returns 64 #58 of 159 91 #16 of 159 71 #3 of 8
Overall 57 66 56
  • CAT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • OSK ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • WM ranked among 17 companies in Waste Management

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATOSKWMSPY
1 month -35.9%+3.5%+16.1% -5.9%
3 months -35.4%-10.9%+5.3% -4.6%
6 months -38.2%-10.6%+8.9% +0.2%
Year to date -3.4%+8.9%+9.8% +7.5%
1 year -2.8%+9.4%+20.3% +8.2%
3 years +132.3%+48.6%+42.6% +68.3%
3 years, per year +32.5%+14.1%+12.6% +19.0%
5 years +168.8%+18.8%+50.9% +56.5%
5 years, per year +21.9%+3.5%+8.6% +9.4%
10 years +572.4%+147.7%+280.7% +251.5%
10 years, per year +21.0%+9.5%+14.3% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureCATOSKWMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.1%39.8%21.3% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.3%39.0%20.5% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.771.29-0.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.070.240.95 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.0%-43.5%-18.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -48.0%-23.1%-2.1% -5.9%
52-week high $1,064.90$177.94$246.51 $779.14
52-week low $546.13$118.59$199.62 $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.

MultipleCATOSKWM
P/E now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 23.4x 17.0xmedian 23.4x 31.3xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 1.7x 0.8xmedian 1.7x 3.7xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 13.4x 9.1xmedian 13.4x 15.3xmedian 15.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.3xmedian 21.9x 8.9xmedian 21.9x 25.7xmedian 17.7x
P/B now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 2.1x 1.8xmedian 2.1x 9.7xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.65median 1.02 45.72median 1.02 2.99median 2.86

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 monthsCATOSKWM
Revenue $77.77B $10.76B $26.07B
Gross profit $27.05B $1.66B $10.53B
Operating income $14.25B $734.30M $4.80B
Net income $11.83B $498.50M $3.07B
Free cash flow $9.62B $942.10M $3.74B
R&D $2.31B – –
EPS (diluted) $25.67 $8.01 $7.68
Cash & equivalents $7.93B $558.00M $247.00M
Total debt $45.20B $1.10B $23.37B
Shares (diluted) 460.90M 62.24M 399.80M
Enterprise value $227.09B $6.64B $92.89B

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
MetricCATOSKWM
P/E 21.5x 17.0x 31.3x
P/FCF 26.3x 8.9x 25.7x
P/Operating cash flow 17.9x 7.4x 14.6x
P/S 3.3x 0.8x 3.7x
P/B 11.8x 1.8x 9.7x
P/Tangible book 12.0x 2.2x 15.2x
EV/EBITDA 17.4x 9.1x 15.3x
EV/EBIT 20.4x 12.2x 24.8x
EV/Revenue 3.7x 0.8x 4.6x
EV/FCF 30.2x 9.5x 31.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.5x 7.9x 18.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.65 45.72 2.99

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATOSKWM
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.3% 4.2% 5.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 4.6% 9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 18.1% -10.1% -21.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 2.4% 11.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 24.9% -22.8% 17.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.4% -1.5% 10.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 27.6% -25.2% 19.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% -1.5% 10.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 30.3% -22.4% 21.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 0.4% 10.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.9% 16.3% 12.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.9% 36.2% 14.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 27.2% 26.0% 55.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.5% 69.7% 30.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATOSKWM
Gross margin 34.8% 15.4% 40.4%
EBITDA margin 21.4% 9.1% 29.8%
Operating margin 18.3% 6.8% 18.4%
Pretax margin 19.3% 5.9% 14.9%
Net margin 15.2% 4.6% 11.8%
FCF margin 12.4% 8.8% 14.3%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 10.5% 25.2%
Return on equity 57.9% 11.0% 31.0%
Return on assets 11.3% 4.9% 6.6%
Return on invested capital 16.8% 10.2% 11.4%
Return on capital employed 22.3% 10.5% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.1x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 2.3x 2.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATOSKWM
Debt / assets 42.3% 10.7% 50.2%
Debt / equity 2.1x 0.2x 2.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.2x 0.6x 3.0x
Debt / FCF 4.7x 1.2x 6.2x
Liabilities / assets 79.9% 55.6% 78.8%
Equity / assets 20.1% 44.4% 21.2%
Interest coverage 7.2x 6.1x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.7x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 4.10 3.14 3.00

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATOSKWM
Dividend yield 1.1% 1.6% 1.5%
Net buyback yield 3.2% 4.1% 1.6%
Shareholder yield 4.4% 5.7% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 24.1% – 48.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 29.7% – 39.4%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.8% – 13.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.2% – 9.6%

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.

ConsensusCATOSKWM
Forward P/E 21.5xFY2026 15.4xFY2026 28.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.73FY2026 $8.91FY2026 $8.59FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.0%FY2026 -17.4%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +30.7% +52.9% +8.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $83.62BFY2026 $10.52BFY2026 $25.88BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +23.7%FY2026 +1.0%FY2026 +2.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.8% +6.1% +11.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATOSKWM
Held by institutions 72.3% 100.0% 82.3%
Institutions holding 4,063 601 2,352
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% +5.1% +0.8%
Institutions buying 1,892 309 1,096
Institutions selling 1,597 188 903
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.64 1.21

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.

CATOSKWM
CAT 1.00 0.60 -0.30
OSK 0.60 1.00 0.03
WM -0.30 0.03 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, OSK and WM?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $255.79B, Oshkosh (OSK) $8.33B, Waste Management (WM) $94.05B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, OSK and WM?

Oshkosh (OSK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 21.6x, Oshkosh (OSK) 16.7x, Waste Management (WM) 30.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Oshkosh (OSK) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 21.5x, Oshkosh (OSK) 15.4x, Waste Management (WM) 28.1x). 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) +20.3%, Oshkosh (OSK) +4.2%, Waste Management (WM) +5.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.2%, Oshkosh (OSK) 4.6%, Waste Management (WM) 11.8%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 16.8%, Oshkosh (OSK) 10.2%, Waste Management (WM) 11.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Waste Management (WM) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) -2.8%, Oshkosh (OSK) +9.4%, Waste Management (WM) +20.3%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +21.9%/yr, Oshkosh (OSK) +3.5%/yr, Waste Management (WM) +8.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%, Oshkosh (OSK) 0.00%, Waste Management (WM) 0.02%. Oshkosh (OSK) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waste Management (WM) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 41.1%, Oshkosh (OSK) 39.8%, Waste Management (WM) 21.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, OSK and WM?

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 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.