Caterpillar vs Wabtec
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The short version
- Caterpillar is the larger business, with $67.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $11.2B for Wabtec, about 6.1 times as much.
- Wabtec grew revenue faster (7.5%, against 4.3%).
- Caterpillar earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (18.5%, against 9.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Wabtec’s earnings: a P/E of 33.8x against 29.6x for Caterpillar.
| Latest fiscal year | CAT · FY25 | WAB · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $317.7B | $46.0B |
| Revenue | $67.6B | $11.2B |
| Free cash flow | $8.9B | $1.5B |
| Net income | $8.9B | $1.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.3% | 7.5% |
| 5-year growth | 10.1% | 8.1% |
| Share count change | −3.5% | −2.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 33.8% | 34.1% |
| Operating margin | 16.5% | 16.1% |
| Net margin | 13.1% | 10.5% |
| FCF margin | 13.2% | 13.4% |
| Return on capital | 18.5% | 9.1% |
| Return on equity | 43.5% | 11.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $26.2B | $4.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.0x | 2.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $7.9B | $396M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 29.6x | 33.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
CAT $38.5B
WAB $2.9B
FY17
CAT $45.5B
WAB $3.9B
FY18
CAT $54.7B
WAB $4.4B
FY19
CAT $53.8B
WAB $8.2B
FY20
CAT $41.7B
WAB $7.6B
FY21
CAT $51.0B
WAB $7.8B
FY22
CAT $59.4B
WAB $8.4B
FY23
CAT $67.1B
WAB $9.7B
FY24
CAT $64.8B
WAB $10.4B
FY25
CAT $67.6B
WAB $11.2B
CAT
WAB
Operating margin
FY16
CAT 3.0%
WAB 15.6%
FY17
CAT 9.8%
WAB 10.9%
FY18
CAT 15.2%
WAB 10.9%
FY19
CAT 15.4%
WAB 8.1%
FY20
CAT 10.9%
WAB 9.9%
FY21
CAT 13.5%
WAB 11.2%
FY22
CAT 13.3%
WAB 12.1%
FY23
CAT 19.3%
WAB 13.1%
FY24
CAT 20.2%
WAB 15.5%
FY25
CAT 16.5%
WAB 16.1%
CAT
WAB
Free cash flow
FY16
CAT $4.5B
WAB $400M
FY17
CAT $4.8B
WAB $99.3M
FY18
CAT $5.3B
WAB $221M
FY19
CAT $5.9B
WAB $830M
FY20
CAT $5.3B
WAB $648M
FY21
CAT $6.1B
WAB $943M
FY22
CAT $6.5B
WAB $889M
FY23
CAT $11.3B
WAB $1.0B
FY24
CAT $10.0B
WAB $1.6B
FY25
CAT $8.9B
WAB $1.5B
CAT
WAB
Return on capital
FY16
CAT 1.5%
WAB 10.4%
FY17
CAT 6.3%
WAB 7.0%
FY18
CAT 18.3%
WAB 7.1%
FY19
CAT 17.2%
WAB 4.9%
FY20
CAT 9.5%
WAB 4.0%
FY21
CAT 14.9%
WAB 4.9%
FY22
CAT 15.2%
WAB 5.5%
FY23
CAT 24.8%
WAB 6.9%
FY24
CAT 24.4%
WAB 8.9%
FY25
CAT 18.5%
WAB 9.1%
CAT
WAB
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.