CAT vs WAB vs OSK Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies and Oshkosh Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CAT Caterpillar Inc
$647.25 -21.7% 1M +10.5% 1Y
Market cap
$297.54B
P/E
25.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.77B
Div. yield
0.97%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
3 wins
OSK Oshkosh Corp
$135.10 +2.7% 1M +8.2% 1Y
Market cap
$8.28B
P/E
16.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.76B
Div. yield
1.64%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Oshkosh leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Oshkosh 4, Caterpillar 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.

QuestionCATWABOSKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $297.54B $48.27B $8.28B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.2x 35.3x 16.8x OSK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.1x 24.5x 13.5x OSK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.3% +13.2% +4.2% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — 4.6% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 10.2% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 0.6x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.97% 0.41% 1.64% OSK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +10.5% +41.6% +8.2% WAB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.0%/yr +25.8%/yr +4.8%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.3% 26.2% 39.3% WAB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 46/100 67/100 OSK

Percentile Scorecard

CATWABOSK

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

AxisCATWABOSK
Valuation 29 #144 of 203 34 #134 of 203 91 #20 of 203
Growth 74 #49 of 188 88 #23 of 188 40 #113 of 188
Profitability 77 #43 of 183 57 #79 of 183 61 #72 of 183
Financial Health 8 #199 of 216 28 #155 of 216 52 #105 of 216
Shareholder Returns 31 #105 of 152 20 #122 of 152 92 #13 of 152
Overall 44 46 67
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • OSK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATWABOSKSPY
1 month -21.7%-2.0%+2.7% +0.7%
3 months -20.0%-2.4%-5.4% +3.7%
6 months -27.3%+5.8%-13.6% +7.1%
Year to date +13.0%+33.7%+7.5% +12.8%
1 year +10.5%+41.6%+8.2% +11.9%
3 years +167.3%+170.5%+53.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +38.8%+39.4%+15.4% +22.8%
5 years +217.3%+214.6%+26.3% +67.6%
5 years, per year +26.0%+25.8%+4.8% +10.9%
10 years +671.6%+271.6%+154.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year +22.7%+14.0%+9.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCATWABOSKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.3%26.2%39.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.5%24.2%38.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.880.991.41 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.261.590.21 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.2%-23.7%-43.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -39.2%-6.7%-24.1% -1.2%
52-week high $1,064.90$305.87$177.94 $779.14
52-week low $546.13$196.14$118.59 $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.

MultipleCATWABOSK
P/E now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 25.8x 35.3xmedian 25.8x 16.8xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 1.9x 4.0xmedian 1.9x 0.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.6x —median 14.6x 9.0xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 42.3xmedian 22.2x 28.7xmedian 22.2x 8.8xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 2.2x 4.2xmedian 2.2x 1.8xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.95median 1.45 1.47median 1.45 45.16median 1.45

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 monthsCATWABOSK
Revenue $77.77B $12.21B $10.76B
Gross profit – $4.35B $1.66B
Operating income $14.25B $2.10B $734.30M
Net income $11.83B – $498.50M
Free cash flow – – $942.10M
R&D $2.31B $261.00M –
EPS (diluted) $25.58 $8.07 $8.01
Cash & equivalents $7.93B $489.00M $558.00M
Total debt – – $1.10B
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 169.60M 62.24M
Enterprise value $297.54B $48.30B $6.59B

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
MetricCATWABOSK
P/E 25.2x 35.3x 16.8x
P/FCF 42.3x 28.7x 8.8x
P/Operating cash flow 21.0x 23.1x 7.3x
P/S 3.8x 4.0x 0.8x
P/B 13.9x 4.2x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 14.1x 6.6x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA – – 9.0x
EV/EBIT – – 12.0x
EV/Revenue 3.8x 4.0x 0.8x
EV/FCF – – 9.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.0x 23.1x 7.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.95 1.47 45.16

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATWABOSK
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.3% 13.2% 4.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 8.9% 4.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 19.7% -10.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 15.4% 2.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 24.9% 18.5% -22.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 20.3% -1.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 27.6% – -25.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% – -1.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.9% 17.0% -22.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 24.0% 0.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.9% 40.1% 16.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.9% 31.2% 36.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 26.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 69.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATWABOSK
Gross margin – – 15.4%
EBITDA margin – – 9.1%
Operating margin – – 6.8%
Pretax margin – – 5.9%
Net margin – – 4.6%
FCF margin – – 8.8%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 17.1% 10.5%
Return on equity 57.9% 12.2% 11.0%
Return on assets 11.3% 5.9% 4.9%
Return on invested capital – – 10.2%
Return on capital employed – – 10.5%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.5x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x – 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATWABOSK
Debt / assets – – 10.7%
Debt / equity – – 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 0.6x
Debt / FCF – – 1.2x
Liabilities / assets 79.9% 50.9% 55.6%
Equity / assets 20.1% 49.1% 44.4%
Interest coverage – – 6.1x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.1x 1.7x
Quick ratio – – 0.7x
Cash ratio – – 0.2x
Altman Z-score – – 3.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATWABOSK
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.4% 1.6%
Net buyback yield – – 4.1%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 0.4% 5.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCATWABOSK
Forward P/E 25.1xFY2026 24.5xFY2026 13.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $11.63FY2026 $10.00FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +29.7%FY2026 -7.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +5.7% +46.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $12.82BFY2026 $10.70BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% -2.8% +5.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATWABOSK
Held by institutions 72.3% 92.7% 100.0%
Institutions holding 4,059 1,196 599
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +0.2% +5.1%
Institutions buying 1,890 554 310
Institutions selling 1,595 409 188
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.35 1.65

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.

CATWABOSK
CAT 1.00 0.63 0.63
WAB 0.63 1.00 0.60
OSK 0.63 0.60 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, WAB and OSK?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $297.54B, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) $48.27B, Oshkosh (OSK) $8.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, WAB and OSK?

Oshkosh (OSK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 25.2x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 35.3x, Oshkosh (OSK) 16.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Oshkosh (OSK) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 25.1x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 24.5x, Oshkosh (OSK) 13.5x). 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%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +13.2%, Oshkosh (OSK) +4.2%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +10.5%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +41.6%, Oshkosh (OSK) +8.2%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +26.0%/yr, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +25.8%/yr, Oshkosh (OSK) +4.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Oshkosh (OSK) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.97%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 0.41%, Oshkosh (OSK) 1.64%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.3%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 26.2%, Oshkosh (OSK) 39.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Oshkosh (OSK) leads on 4. 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.