WAB vs CAT vs TRN Stock Comparison

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, Caterpillar and Trinity Industries 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
$286.42B
P/E
24.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.77B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
3 wins
TRN Trinity Industries Inc
$28.37 +6.3% 1M +1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$2.31B
P/E
7.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.12B
Div. yield
0.04%
Rail Equipment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 3 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 3, Trinity Industries 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.

QuestionWABCATTRNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $47.18B $286.42B $2.31B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.5x 24.2x 7.1x TRN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.5x 25.1x 13.6x TRN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +13.2% +20.3% -2.4% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — 15.4% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 8.5% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 5.0x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.04% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +41.6% +10.5% +1.9% WAB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.8%/yr +26.0%/yr +0.2%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.2% 40.3% 36.8% WAB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 44/100 61/100 TRN

Percentile Scorecard

WABCATTRN

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

AxisWABCATTRN
Valuation 34 #134 of 203 29 #144 of 203 77 #47 of 203
Growth 88 #23 of 188 74 #49 of 188 73 #52 of 188
Profitability 57 #79 of 183 77 #43 of 183 64 #66 of 183
Financial Health 28 #155 of 216 8 #199 of 216 4 #208 of 216
Shareholder Returns 20 #122 of 152 31 #105 of 152 85 #24 of 152
Overall 46 44 61
  • WAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • TRN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodWABCATTRNSPY
1 month -2.0%-21.7%+6.3% +0.7%
3 months -2.4%-20.0%-17.3% +3.7%
6 months +5.8%-27.3%-13.0% +7.1%
Year to date +33.7%+13.0%+7.3% +12.8%
1 year +41.6%+10.5%+1.9% +11.9%
3 years +170.5%+167.3%+36.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year +39.4%+38.8%+10.9% +22.8%
5 years +214.6%+217.3%+1.1% +67.6%
5 years, per year +25.8%+26.0%+0.2% +10.9%
10 years +271.6%+671.6%+87.5% +262.0%
10 years, per year +14.0%+22.7%+6.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureWABCATTRNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.2%40.3%36.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.2%42.5%35.7% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.991.880.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.590.260.05 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -23.7%-39.2%-43.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.7%-39.2%-25.5% -1.2%
52-week high $305.87$1,064.90$38.09 $779.14
52-week low $196.14$546.13$24.82 $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.

MultipleWABCATTRN
P/E now vs peer median 35.3xmedian 25.8x 25.2xmedian 25.8x 6.9xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 4.0xmedian 1.9x 3.8xmedian 1.9x 1.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.6x —median 14.6x 7.1xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.7xmedian 22.2x 42.3xmedian 22.2x -8.5xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 2.2x 13.9xmedian 2.2x 2.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.47median 1.45 1.95median 1.45 0.11median 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 monthsWABCATTRN
Revenue $12.21B $77.77B $2.12B
Gross profit $4.35B – $521.30M
Operating income $2.10B $14.25B $731.90M
Net income – $11.83B $334.90M
Free cash flow – – -$259.60M
R&D $261.00M $2.31B –
EPS (diluted) $8.07 $25.58 $4.03
Cash & equivalents $489.00M $7.93B $158.30M
Total debt – – $5.33B
Shares (diluted) 169.60M 462.50M 81.00M
Enterprise value $47.18B $286.42B $1.66B

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
MetricWABCATTRN
P/E 35.3x 25.2x 6.9x
P/FCF 28.7x 42.3x -8.5x
P/Operating cash flow 23.1x 21.0x 5.3x
P/S 4.0x 3.8x 1.0x
P/B 4.2x 13.9x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 6.6x 14.1x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA – – 7.1x
EV/EBIT – – 10.1x
EV/Revenue 4.0x 3.8x 3.5x
EV/FCF – – -28.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.1x 21.0x 17.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.47 1.95 0.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWABCATTRN
Revenue growth (1Y) 13.2% 20.3% -2.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 5.3% -8.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.7% – -8.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 15.4% – 3.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 18.5% 24.9% 71.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 20.3% 7.4% 24.2%
Net income growth (1Y) – 27.6% 177.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 9.1% 52.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.0% 29.9% 246.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 24.0% 12.9% 65.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 40.1% 22.9% 7.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 31.2% 6.9% 15.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 33.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 19.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWABCATTRN
Gross margin – – 24.6%
EBITDA margin – – 48.8%
Operating margin – – 34.5%
Pretax margin – – 21.9%
Net margin – – 15.4%
FCF margin – – -12.2%
Operating cash flow margin 17.1% 18.2% 19.9%
Return on equity 12.2% 57.9% 29.4%
Return on assets 5.9% 11.3% 4.0%
Return on invested capital – – 8.5%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.7x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – – 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWABCATTRN
Debt / assets – – 63.8%
Debt / equity – – 4.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 5.0x
Debt / FCF – – -20.5x
Liabilities / assets 50.9% 79.9% 86.4%
Equity / assets 49.1% 20.1% 13.6%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.4x –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWABCATTRN
Dividend yield 0.4% 1.0% 4.4%
Net buyback yield – – 2.5%
Shareholder yield 0.4% 1.0% 6.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 29.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – -38.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 1.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 6.1%

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.

ConsensusWABCATTRN
Forward P/E 24.5xFY2026 25.1xFY2026 13.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.63FY2026 $25.79FY2026 $2.08FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +29.7%FY2026 +35.3%FY2026 -33.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.7% +31.4% -1.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.82BFY2026 $84.12BFY2026 $2.34BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +24.5%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.8% +1.5% +4.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWABCATTRN
Held by institutions 92.7% 72.3% 95.3%
Institutions holding 1,196 4,059 344
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.2% +0.5% +6.3%
Institutions buying 554 1,890 171
Institutions selling 409 1,595 96
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.18 1.78

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.

WABCATTRN
WAB 1.00 0.64 0.35
CAT 0.64 1.00 0.21
TRN 0.35 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WAB, CAT and TRN?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) $47.18B, Caterpillar (CAT) $286.42B, Trinity Industries (TRN) $2.31B.

Which stock is cheaper, WAB, CAT and TRN?

Trinity Industries (TRN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 34.5x, Caterpillar (CAT) 24.2x, Trinity Industries (TRN) 7.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Trinity Industries (TRN) is cheapest (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 24.5x, Caterpillar (CAT) 25.1x, Trinity Industries (TRN) 13.6x). 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: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +13.2%, Caterpillar (CAT) +20.3%, Trinity Industries (TRN) -2.4%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) returned the most: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +41.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) +10.5%, Trinity Industries (TRN) +1.9%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +25.8%/yr, Caterpillar (CAT) +26.0%/yr, Trinity Industries (TRN) +0.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 0.00%, Caterpillar (CAT) 0.00%, Trinity Industries (TRN) 0.04%. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) and Caterpillar (CAT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) has been the steadiest (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 26.2%, Caterpillar (CAT) 40.3%, Trinity Industries (TRN) 36.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 3. 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.