CAT vs FSS Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Caterpillar's global construction and mining machinery scale against Federal Signal's smaller, niche municipal safety and industrial equipment business.
Use this Caterpillar vs Federal Signal comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
CAT holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CAT has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+37.75% vs -4.25%), though FSS has the better forward P/E setup (20.04x vs 24.75x for CAT). CAT leads on both revenue growth (24.00%) and operating margin (22.18%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for FSS (+25.74%) than for CAT (+21.91%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | CAT | FSS |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 65.3 | 55.8 |
| AI ranki | #52 | #231 |
| Latest closei | $735.64 | $113.47 |
| 1M returni | -6.11% | +0.34% |
| 3M returni | -16.13% | -4.93% |
| 6M returni | -4.79% | +3.03% |
| 1Y returni | +37.75% | -4.25% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CAT | FSS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.6K (+36.0%) started 2025-10-16 | $9.63K (-3.7%) started 2025-10-15 |
| 5Y ago | $43.1K (+331.0%) started 2021-10-18 | $29.33K (+193.3%) started 2021-10-15 |
| 10Y ago | $130.21K (+1202.1%) started 2016-10-17 | $106.25K (+962.5%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CAT | FSS |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $367.85B | $7.07B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 34.48 | 24.96 |
| Forward P/Ei | 24.75 | 20.04 |
| Price/Salesi | 2.63 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 5.45 | 3.01 |
| Analyst targeti | $975.61 | $145.63 |
| Target upsidei | +21.91% | +25.74% |
| Metric | CAT | FSS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 24.00% | 18.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 68.20% | 20.70% |
| EPS growthi | +68.20% | +20.70% |
| FCF margini | +6.76% | +7.95% |
| Operating margini | 22.18% | 17.65% |
| Profit margini | 14.51% | 11.66% |
| ROIC proxyi | 56.97% | 20.61% |
| Return on equityi | 56.97% | 20.61% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.80% | 0.53% |
| Payout ratioi | 26.00% | 12.50% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | 3 yrs |
| Betai | 1.60 | 1.24 |
| Debt/equityi | 232.78 | 32.22 |
| Current ratioi | 1.37 | 2.74 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.78 | 1.12 |
Over the past year, CAT and FSS have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.49), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | CAT | FSS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +35.99% | -4.25% |
| CAGRi | +36.06% | -4.25% | |
| Volatilityi | 40.19% | 34.78% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.86 | -0.08 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.30 | -0.11 | |
| Max drawdowni | 30.92% | 19.04% | |
| Current drawdowni | 30.92% | 15.13% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 8.79% | 11.57% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.57% | 12.43% | |
| Max daily dropi | 6.91% | 10.78% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.99% | 12.86% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +299.46% | +183.57% |
| CAGRi | +31.95% | +23.18% | |
| Volatilityi | 31.90% | 31.64% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.89 | 0.68 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.34 | 1.03 | |
| Max drawdowni | 34.05% | 32.96% | |
| Current drawdowni | 30.92% | 15.13% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.02% | 9.79% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 11.99% | 12.73% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.64% | 11.87% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.13% | 19.40% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +936.32% | +860.25% |
| CAGRi | +26.35% | +25.40% | |
| Volatilityi | 31.55% | 32.10% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.76 | 0.73 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.11 | 1.11 | |
| Max drawdowni | 43.36% | 32.96% | |
| Current drawdowni | 30.92% | 15.13% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.82% | 8.92% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.06% | 11.65% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.28% | 11.87% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.36% | 19.40% |
| Category | CAT | FSS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | CAT | FSS |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery | Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery |
| Core business | Caterpillar Inc. provides construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in the United States and internationally. | Federal Signal Corporation designs, manufactures, and supplies a suite of products and integrated solutions for municipal, governmental, industrial, and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and int… |
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