ADP vs BR vs NOW Stock Comparison

Automatic Data Processing, Broadridge Financial Solutions and ServiceNow Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (PAYX) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$149.85 +14.0% 1M -20.1% 1Y
Market cap
$155.54B
P/E
107.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Broadridge Financial Solutions leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Broadridge Financial Solutions 5, Automatic Data Processing 4, ServiceNow 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionADPBRNOWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $113.52B $20.18B $155.54B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.9x 18.3x 107.3x BR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.2x 17.2x 38.9x BR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +8.5% +21.8% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 15.0% 9.4% BR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 16.7% 5.2% BR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.8x 0.8x NOW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.38% 2.26% — ADP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.1% -23.0% -20.1% ADP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.9%/yr -0.2%/yr +1.4%/yr ADP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.6% 30.6% 58.8% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 43/100 57/100 51/100 BR

Percentile Scorecard

ADPBRNOW

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

AxisADPBRNOW
Valuation 38 #63 of 101 69 #32 of 101 33 #68 of 101
Growth 30 #68 of 97 40 #59 of 97 50 #49 of 97
Profitability 75 #24 of 94 82 #18 of 94 80 #20 of 94
Financial Health 20 #87 of 108 44 #61 of 108 53 #51 of 108
Shareholder Returns 52 #31 of 64 49 #33 of 64 38 #40 of 64
Overall 43 57 51
  • ADP ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • BR ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodADPBRNOWSPY
1 month +9.0%+8.6%+14.0% +0.9%
3 months +4.4%+11.1%+29.4% +5.9%
6 months +32.7%+10.1%+68.6% +8.5%
Year to date +10.9%-20.7%-2.2% +13.3%
1 year +2.1%-23.0%-20.1% +12.4%
3 years +32.8%+5.7%+35.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year +9.9%+1.9%+10.6% +23.5%
5 years +27.1%-0.8%+7.4% +68.2%
5 years, per year +4.9%-0.2%+1.4% +11.0%
10 years +227.4%+176.2%+770.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year +12.6%+10.7%+24.2% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureADPBRNOWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.6%30.6%58.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.5%32.8%61.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.090.030.60 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.07-0.75-0.34 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.2%-49.3%-64.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.3%-23.7%-20.1% -0.9%
52-week high $307.94$232.02$187.58 $779.14
52-week low $188.79$135.44$83.00 $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.

MultipleADPBRNOW
P/E now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 27.6x 18.3xmedian 27.6x 107.3xmedian 27.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.7x 2.7xmedian 2.7x 10.1xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.4x 14.3xmedian 17.4x 46.0xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 15.8x 15.8xmedian 15.8x 32.7xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 22.3xmedian 3.2x 7.1xmedian 3.2x 11.9xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.84 0.84median 0.84 -31.41median 0.84

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 monthsADPBRNOW
Revenue – $7.48B $15.43B
Gross profit – $2.38B $11.28B
Operating income – $1.30B $1.49B
Net income $4.53B $1.12B $1.45B
Free cash flow – $1.28B $4.75B
R&D $1.03B – $3.47B
EPS (diluted) – $9.60 $1.39
Cash & equivalents $3.28B $402.90M $2.39B
Total debt – $3.25B $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 403.30M 117.10M 1.04B
Enterprise value $113.52B $18.81B $134.81B

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
MetricADPBRNOW
P/E 23.9x 18.3x 107.3x
P/FCF 19.9x 15.8x 32.7x
P/Operating cash flow 20.8x 15.0x 29.2x
P/S 4.7x 2.7x 10.1x
P/B 22.3x 7.1x 11.9x
P/Tangible book 33.0x 12.3x 16.4x
EV/EBITDA – 14.3x 46.0x
EV/EBIT – 17.7x 106.1x
EV/Revenue – 3.1x 10.3x
EV/FCF – 18.0x 33.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.8x 17.1x 29.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.84 -31.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricADPBRNOW
Revenue growth (1Y) – 8.5% 21.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 7.2% 22.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 11.2% 14.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 10.0% 19.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 9.4% -14.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 11.6% 32.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.4% 33.9% -16.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 21.3% -3.1%
EPS growth (1Y) – 35.3% -16.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 21.9% -3.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.6% 14.9% 10.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 17.8% 21.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 13.4% 20.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 17.7% 25.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricADPBRNOW
Gross margin – 31.8% 73.1%
EBITDA margin – 21.5% 22.3%
Operating margin – 17.4% 9.7%
Pretax margin – 19.3% 13.1%
Net margin – 15.0% 9.4%
FCF margin – 17.1% 30.8%
Operating cash flow margin – 18.0% 34.6%
Return on equity 81.4% 39.7% 11.3%
Return on assets 7.1% 12.7% 4.6%
Return on invested capital – 16.7% 5.2%
Return on capital employed – 17.5% 7.5%
Asset turnover – 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 3.7x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.3% 10.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricADPBRNOW
Debt / assets – 36.4% 23.6%
Debt / equity – 1.1x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.8x 0.8x
Debt / FCF – 2.5x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 92.0% 68.2% 58.9%
Equity / assets 8.0% 31.8% 41.1%
Interest coverage – – 14.6x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.2x 0.7x
Quick ratio – 1.1x 0.6x
Cash ratio – 0.3x 0.4x
Altman Z-score – 4.06 5.77

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricADPBRNOW
Dividend yield 2.4% 2.3% –
Net buyback yield – 2.9% 1.7%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 5.1% 1.7%
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.

ConsensusADPBRNOW
Forward P/E 22.2xFY2027 17.2xFY2027 38.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.87FY2027 $10.32FY2027 $3.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.7%FY2027 +7.5%FY2027 +9.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.8% +5.0% +27.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.14BFY2027 $7.42BFY2027 $15.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2027 -0.9%FY2027 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.1% +3.8% +17.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersADPBRNOW
Held by institutions 88.1% 92.3% 81.6%
Institutions holding 2,291 1,014 2,224
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% -1.2% -2.1%
Institutions buying 1,085 487 1,285
Institutions selling 874 398 779
Buyers to sellers 1.24 1.22 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.

ADPBRNOW
ADP 1.00 0.67 0.57
BR 0.67 1.00 0.56
NOW 0.57 0.56 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ADP, BR and NOW?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $113.52B, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) $20.18B, ServiceNow (NOW) $155.54B.

Which stock is cheaper, ADP, BR and NOW?

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 23.9x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 18.3x, ServiceNow (NOW) 107.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is cheapest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 22.2x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 17.2x, ServiceNow (NOW) 38.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

ServiceNow (NOW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) +8.5%, ServiceNow (NOW) +21.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) has the highest net margin (Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 15.0%, ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%). On return on invested capital, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) leads (Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 16.7%, ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Automatic Data Processing (ADP) returned the most: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +2.1%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) -23.0%, ServiceNow (NOW) -20.1%. Over five years, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) compounded fastest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +4.9%/yr, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) -0.2%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) +1.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has the highest dividend yield: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 2.38%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 2.26%. ServiceNow (NOW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has been the steadiest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 28.6%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 30.6%, ServiceNow (NOW) 58.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ADP, BR and NOW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 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.