CAT vs TSLA vs FSS Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Tesla and Federal Signal Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$686.82 -15.5% 1M +32.0% 1Y
Market cap
$318.29B
P/E
29.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins
TSLA Tesla, Inc.
$372.22 -2.1% 1M -17.1% 1Y
Market cap
$1.27T
P/E
333.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$103.62B
Div. yield
–
Auto Manufacturers Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
FSS Federal Signal Corp /De/
$113.24 0.0% 1M -9.5% 1Y
Market cap
$6.95B
P/E
24.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.45B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionCATTSLAFSSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $318.29B $1.27T $6.95B TSLA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 333.1x 24.4x FSS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x 231.2x 23.0x FSS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +11.8% +24.0% FSS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 3.7% 11.7% CAT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 3.4% 15.3% CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x -3.2x 0.8x TSLA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% CAT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.0% -17.1% -9.5% CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +27.9%/yr +4.2%/yr +21.9%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.4% 45.6% 34.9% FSS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 51/100 75/100 FSS

Percentile Scorecard

CATTSLAFSS

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

AxisCATTSLAFSS
Valuation 22 #159 of 203 16 #42 of 50 52 #99 of 203
Growth 68 #61 of 188 48 #26 of 49 94 #13 of 188
Profitability 91 #17 of 187 77 #12 of 48 88 #23 of 187
Financial Health 16 #186 of 222 94 #4 of 54 75 #56 of 222
Shareholder Returns 53 #72 of 153 20 #25 of 31 66 #53 of 153
Overall 50 51 75
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • TSLA ranked among 56 companies in Automobiles and Components
  • FSS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATTSLAFSSSPY
1 month -15.5%-2.1%0.0% -1.0%
3 months -22.7%+18.9%-4.8% +2.9%
6 months -17.3%-1.1%-2.4% +6.4%
Year to date +19.9%-17.2%+4.3% +11.4%
1 year +32.0%-17.1%-9.5% +13.1%
3 years +175.2%+71.9%+96.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +40.2%+19.8%+25.2% +21.5%
5 years +242.3%+22.8%+168.9% +67.7%
5 years, per year +27.9%+4.2%+21.9% +10.9%
10 years +695.6%+2,690.3%+794.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +23.0%+39.5%+24.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCATTSLAFSSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.4%45.6%34.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%48.0%35.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.832.231.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.79-0.37-0.27 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-73.6%-33.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -35.5%-24.0%-15.3% -2.5%
52-week high $1,064.90$489.88$133.73 $779.14
52-week low $520.50$298.32$104.77 $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.

MultipleCATTSLAFSS
P/E now vs peer median 29.2xmedian 25.9x 316.7xmedian 18.9x 24.2xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.9x 11.6xmedian 0.5x 2.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.9xmedian 13.7x 107.9xmedian 8.5x 15.0xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.1xmedian 21.1x 209.1xmedian 8.8x 20.4xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 16.3xmedian 2.3x 13.8xmedian 0.9x 4.6xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.24median 1.19 -9.72median 1.35 0.85median 1.19

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 monthsCATTSLAFSS
Revenue $74.73B $103.62B $2.45B
Gross profit $25.66B $19.53B $714.00M
Operating income $13.09B $4.37B $395.40M
Net income $10.84B $3.86B $285.40M
Free cash flow $8.99B $5.76B $339.20M
R&D $2.27B $7.73B –
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $1.07 $4.64
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $15.22B $62.80M
Total debt $173.08B $9.34B $453.60M
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 3.54B 61.50M
Enterprise value $289.99B $1.09T $6.70B

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
MetricCATTSLAFSS
P/E 29.2x 316.7x 24.2x
P/FCF 35.1x 209.1x 20.4x
P/Operating cash flow 23.3x 64.5x 18.6x
P/S 4.2x 11.6x 2.8x
P/B 16.3x 13.8x 4.6x
P/Tangible book 16.6x 13.9x 6.2x
EV/EBITDA 22.9x 107.9x 15.0x
EV/EBIT 27.1x 267.8x 18.5x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 11.3x 3.0x
EV/FCF 39.4x 203.2x 21.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.1x 62.7x 19.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.24 -9.72 0.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATTSLAFSS
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 11.8% 24.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 3.3% 16.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 20.5% 24.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% -1.1% 22.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% -22.2% 27.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% -29.8% 28.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% -35.0% 28.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% -32.0% 28.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% -35.7% 28.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% -32.6% 28.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% 18.5% 45.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 10.2% 59.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% 3.2% 49.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% -2.2% 73.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATTSLAFSS
Gross margin 34.3% 18.9% 29.2%
EBITDA margin 20.7% 10.5% 19.8%
Operating margin 17.5% 4.2% 16.2%
Pretax margin 18.6% 5.0% 15.2%
Net margin 14.5% 3.7% 11.7%
FCF margin 12.0% 5.6% 13.9%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 18.0% 15.2%
Return on equity 57.0% 4.5% 19.4%
Return on assets 10.9% 2.6% 11.7%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 3.4% 15.3%
Return on capital employed 22.1% 3.9% 18.5%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.7x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 4.8x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 3.7% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATTSLAFSS
Debt / assets 44.0% 6.3% 18.6%
Debt / equity 2.3x 0.1x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x -3.2x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 5.0x 1.6x 1.3x
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 41.1% 38.2%
Equity / assets 18.9% 58.9% 61.8%
Interest coverage 6.8x 13.1x 19.3x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.9x 2.7x
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.3x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 1.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.55 13.29 7.09

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATTSLAFSS
Dividend yield 0.7% – 0.5%
Net buyback yield 2.3% -0.1% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 3.0% -0.1% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.9% – 12.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% – 10.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.2% – 13.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.1% – 17.0%

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.

ConsensusCATTSLAFSS
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 231.2xFY2026 23.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $1.61FY2026 $4.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 -3.0%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +46.6% +10.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $112.51BFY2026 $2.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +18.6%FY2026 +28.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +14.5% -5.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATTSLAFSS
Held by institutions 72.3% 42.6% 100.0%
Institutions holding 4,055 4,260 474
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +7.4% +3.9%
Institutions buying 1,886 2,372 249
Institutions selling 1,595 1,356 152
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.75 1.64

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.

CATTSLAFSS
CAT 1.00 0.35 0.50
TSLA 0.35 1.00 0.24
FSS 0.50 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, TSLA and FSS?

Tesla (TSLA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $318.29B, Tesla (TSLA) $1.27T, Federal Signal (FSS) $6.95B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, TSLA and FSS?

Federal Signal (FSS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 29.4x, Tesla (TSLA) 333.1x, Federal Signal (FSS) 24.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Federal Signal (FSS) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 26.6x, Tesla (TSLA) 231.2x, Federal Signal (FSS) 23.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Federal Signal (FSS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Tesla (TSLA) +11.8%, Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Tesla (TSLA) 3.7%, Federal Signal (FSS) 11.7%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Tesla (TSLA) 3.4%, Federal Signal (FSS) 15.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +32.0%, Tesla (TSLA) -17.1%, Federal Signal (FSS) -9.5%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +27.9%/yr, Tesla (TSLA) +4.2%/yr, Federal Signal (FSS) +21.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Federal Signal (FSS) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.4%, Tesla (TSLA) 45.6%, Federal Signal (FSS) 34.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.