CAT vs WNC vs CMI Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Wabash National and Cummins Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CAT Caterpillar Inc
$623.86 -26.2% 1M +9.3% 1Y
Market cap
$271.70B
P/E
25.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins
WNC WABASH NATIONAL Corp
$11.41 -18.8% 1M +44.1% 1Y
Market cap
$474.27M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.52B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
2 wins
CMI Cummins Inc
$500.55 -5.3% 1M +14.4% 1Y
Market cap
$65.25B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.71B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 5, Cummins 4, Wabash National 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATWNCCMILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $271.70B $474.27M $65.25B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.1x -3.4x 24.0x CMI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.2x — 15.9x CMI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% -7.3% +2.9% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% -9.1% 7.8% CAT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% -14.8% 13.6% CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x -4.7x 0.7x WNC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.3% +44.1% +14.4% WNC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.1%/yr -7.3%/yr +16.3%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.6% 58.7% 36.8% CMI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 25/100 62/100 CMI

Percentile Scorecard

CATWNCCMI

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

AxisCATWNCCMI
Valuation 32 #140 of 204 22 #159 of 204 58 #86 of 204
Growth 70 #58 of 191 2 #188 of 191 54 #89 of 191
Profitability 93 #14 of 189 15 #161 of 189 71 #55 of 189
Financial Health 17 #183 of 221 8 #203 of 221 53 #105 of 221
Shareholder Returns 61 #63 of 158 76 #39 of 158 75 #41 of 158
Overall 54 25 62
  • CAT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • WNC ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • CMI ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATWNCCMISPY
1 month -26.2%-18.8%-5.3% -2.0%
3 months -28.8%-8.2%-21.3% -2.2%
6 months -31.0%+50.5%-25.8% +4.2%
Year to date +8.9%+31.9%-1.9% +10.6%
1 year +9.3%+44.1%+14.4% +10.4%
3 years +159.1%-47.4%+121.6% +73.6%
3 years, per year +37.4%-19.3%+30.4% +20.2%
5 years +206.4%-31.4%+112.9% +61.6%
5 years, per year +25.1%-7.3%+16.3% +10.1%
10 years +667.6%+5.8%+311.1% +261.3%
10 years, per year +22.6%+0.6%+15.2% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCATWNCCMISPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.6%58.7%36.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.1%54.3%38.6% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.911.631.66 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.230.750.39 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.4%-77.4%-31.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.4%-20.3%-31.2% -3.2%
52-week high $1,064.90$14.32$727.59 $779.14
52-week low $546.13$6.77$428.74 $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.

MultipleCATWNCCMI
P/E now vs peer median 26.5xmedian 25.4x -3.4xmedian 25.4x 25.4xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 1.9x 0.3xmedian 1.9x 2.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.0xmedian 14.5x -9.3xmedian 14.5x 14.4xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.9xmedian 23.6x -3.2xmedian 23.6x 20.5xmedian 23.6x
P/B now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 2.2x 1.7xmedian 2.2x 5.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.03median 1.21 0.08median 1.21 7.93median 1.21

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 monthsCATWNCCMI
Revenue $74.73B $1.52B $34.71B
Gross profit $25.66B $13.43M $8.79B
Operating income $13.09B -$157.62M $3.89B
Net income $10.84B -$138.69M $2.83B
Free cash flow $8.99B -$144.30M $3.37B
R&D $2.27B – $1.44B
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $-3.38 $19.60
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $69.29M $3.18B
Total debt $45.15B $540.26M $7.35B
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 40.99M 138.50M
Enterprise value $243.40B $258.13M $61.33B

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
MetricCATWNCCMI
P/E 26.5x -3.4x 25.4x
P/FCF 31.9x -3.2x 20.5x
P/Operating cash flow 21.1x -3.8x 14.8x
P/S 3.8x 0.3x 2.0x
P/B 14.8x 1.7x 5.0x
P/Tangible book 15.1x 2.2x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA 21.0x -9.3x 14.4x
EV/EBIT 24.8x -5.9x 18.6x
EV/Revenue 4.4x 0.6x 2.1x
EV/FCF 36.2x -6.5x 21.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.0x -7.6x 15.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.03 0.08 7.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATWNCCMI
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% -7.3% 2.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% -16.4% 2.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% -88.7% 1.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% -69.7% 4.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% -142.5% -6.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% -35.9% 4.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% -153.3% -7.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% -37.9% 2.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% -153.5% -7.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% -39.7% 3.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% -182.2% 63.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% -35.4% 28.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% -330.0% 103.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% -43.3% 45.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATWNCCMI
Gross margin 34.3% 0.9% 25.3%
EBITDA margin 20.7% -6.6% 14.4%
Operating margin 17.5% -10.4% 11.2%
Pretax margin 18.6% -12.0% 11.1%
Net margin 14.5% -9.1% 7.8%
FCF margin 12.0% -9.5% 9.7%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% -8.1% 13.4%
Return on equity 57.0% -49.0% 20.7%
Return on assets 10.9% -11.2% 8.1%
Return on invested capital 15.9% -14.8% 13.6%
Return on capital employed 22.1% -18.1% 16.0%
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.2x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 0.9x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.7% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATWNCCMI
Debt / assets 44.0% 43.8% 20.6%
Debt / equity 2.3x 2.0x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x -4.7x 0.7x
Debt / FCF 5.0x -3.7x 2.2x
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 78.0% 61.0%
Equity / assets 18.9% 22.0% 39.0%
Interest coverage 6.8x -6.2x 12.1x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.4x 1.7x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.7x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 4.35 1.46 4.43

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATWNCCMI
Dividend yield 1.0% 2.8% 1.6%
Net buyback yield 2.5% 0.1% 0.7%
Shareholder yield 3.6% 2.9% 2.3%
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.

ConsensusCATWNCCMI
Forward P/E 24.2xFY2026 – 15.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $-2.47FY2026 $31.39FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 – +31.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% – +14.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $1.68BFY2026 $35.38BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +9.3%FY2026 +5.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +13.4% +11.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATWNCCMI
Held by institutions 72.3% 91.8% 85.4%
Institutions holding 4,062 165 2,108
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% -3.6% +1.0%
Institutions buying 1,891 84 1,050
Institutions selling 1,597 61 729
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.38 1.44

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.

CATWNCCMI
CAT 1.00 0.43 0.77
WNC 0.43 1.00 0.39
CMI 0.77 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, WNC and CMI?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $271.70B, Wabash National (WNC) $474.27M, Cummins (CMI) $65.25B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, WNC and CMI?

Cummins (CMI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 25.1x, Wabash National (WNC) -3.4x, Cummins (CMI) 24.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cummins (CMI) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 24.2x, Cummins (CMI) 15.9x). 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%, Wabash National (WNC) -7.3%, Cummins (CMI) +2.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Wabash National (WNC) -9.1%, Cummins (CMI) 7.8%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Wabash National (WNC) -14.8%, Cummins (CMI) 13.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Wabash National (WNC) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +9.3%, Wabash National (WNC) +44.1%, Cummins (CMI) +14.4%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +25.1%/yr, Wabash National (WNC) -7.3%/yr, Cummins (CMI) +16.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%, Wabash National (WNC) 0.00%, Cummins (CMI) 0.00%. Wabash National (WNC) and Cummins (CMI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cummins (CMI) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.6%, Wabash National (WNC) 58.7%, Cummins (CMI) 36.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, WNC and CMI?

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.