ADP vs SAP vs NOW Stock Comparison

Automatic Data Processing, Sap Se and ServiceNow Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SAP Sap Se
$235.80 +11.9% 1M -13.4% 1Y
Market cap
$289.68B
P/E
28.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$45.76B
Div. yield
1.25%
ERP Software Technology
6 wins
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$154.83 +14.2% 1M -18.2% 1Y
Market cap
$160.09B
P/E
95.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Sap Se leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Sap Se 6, Automatic Data Processing 5, ServiceNow 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionADPSAPNOWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $116.60B $289.68B $160.09B SAP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.7x 28.8x 95.6x ADP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.8x 27.7x 40.2x ADP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.7% +13.5% +22.2% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.1% 20.8% 11.3% SAP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -46.5% 35.6% — SAP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.2x -0.4x 0.8x SAP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.32% 1.25% — ADP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.5% -13.4% -18.2% ADP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.6%/yr +9.8%/yr +2.4%/yr SAP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.5% 39.3% 58.7% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 63/100 52/100 SAP

Percentile Scorecard

ADPSAPNOW

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

AxisADPSAPNOW
Valuation 32 #69 of 101 52 #49 of 101 27 #74 of 101
Growth 27 #71 of 97 68 #32 of 97 58 #41 of 97
Profitability 54 #44 of 94 91 #9 of 94 82 #18 of 94
Financial Health 36 #70 of 108 77 #26 of 108 50 #55 of 108
Shareholder Returns 48 #34 of 64 29 #46 of 64 41 #38 of 64
Overall 39 63 52
  • ADP ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • SAP 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

PeriodADPSAPNOWSPY
1 month +11.2%+11.9%+14.2% -0.2%
3 months +11.0%+31.6%+40.0% +3.9%
6 months +47.2%+35.9%+71.1% +8.2%
Year to date +13.9%-2.9%+1.1% +12.9%
1 year +4.5%-13.4%-18.2% +12.3%
3 years +36.4%+79.5%+39.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +10.9%+21.5%+11.8% +23.3%
5 years +31.5%+59.9%+12.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.6%+9.8%+2.4% +10.9%
10 years +238.2%+169.0%+811.3% +261.1%
10 years, per year +13.0%+10.4%+24.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureADPSAPNOWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.5%39.3%58.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.2%40.5%61.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.090.630.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.16-0.34-0.31 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.2%-53.2%-64.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.8%-13.4%-18.2% -1.2%
52-week high $307.94$272.16$189.26 $779.14
52-week low $188.79$146.09$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.

MultipleADPSAPNOW
P/E now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 28.3x 28.8xmedian 28.3x 95.6xmedian 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.8x 6.3xmedian 2.8x 10.9xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -25.2xmedian 17.3x 11.9xmedian 17.3x 47.7xmedian 17.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.2xmedian 15.8x 27.9xmedian 15.8x 35.0xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 19.3xmedian 3.2x 5.5xmedian 3.2x 12.8xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.65median 0.85 1.80median 0.85 18.40median 0.85

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 monthsADPSAPNOW
Revenue $21.95B $45.76B $14.73B
Gross profit $10.19B $33.40B $11.02B
Operating income -$6.44B $22.06B $1.68B
Net income $4.41B $9.47B $1.67B
Free cash flow $5.24B $10.40B $4.58B
R&D $1.03B $8.26B $3.26B
EPS (diluted) $10.94 $8.11 $1.61
Cash & equivalents $4.23B $10.62B $2.50B
Total debt $4.96B $9.68B $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 403.30M 1.18B 1.03B
Enterprise value $98.73B $217.66B $138.55B

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
MetricADPSAPNOW
P/E 26.7x 28.8x 95.6x
P/FCF 22.2x 27.9x 35.0x
P/Operating cash flow 21.4x 25.2x 30.2x
P/S 5.3x 6.3x 10.9x
P/B 19.3x 5.5x 12.8x
P/Tangible book 26.6x 5.8x 18.3x
EV/EBITDA -25.2x 11.9x 47.7x
EV/EBIT -18.2x 12.7x 97.0x
EV/Revenue 5.3x 6.1x 11.1x
EV/FCF 22.4x 26.9x 35.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.6x 24.3x 30.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.65 1.80 18.40

Growth

14 metrics
MetricADPSAPNOW
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.7% 13.5% 22.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.8% 11.7% 22.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.6% 12.6% 16.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 12.1% 20.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -4.9% 30.9% 4.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -4.2% 52.1% 49.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.2% 18.5% 0.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 16.4% 5.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 9.6% 22.0% 1.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.1% 16.0% 5.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.2% 43.3% 13.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 19.0% 22.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 9.9% 43.7% 19.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.4% 20.9% 25.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricADPSAPNOW
Gross margin 46.4% 73.0% 74.8%
EBITDA margin -21.2% 51.5% 23.2%
Operating margin -29.3% 48.2% 11.4%
Pretax margin 26.1% 29.2% 15.9%
Net margin 20.1% 20.8% 11.3%
FCF margin 23.9% 22.7% 31.1%
Operating cash flow margin 24.8% 25.1% 36.0%
Return on equity 71.3% 18.5% 13.8%
Return on assets 6.9% 11.2% 6.0%
Return on invested capital -46.5% 35.6% –
Return on capital employed -46.6% 34.0% 10.6%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 3.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 3.9% 12.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricADPSAPNOW
Debt / assets 7.9% 11.2% 23.7%
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.2x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.2x -0.4x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 0.9x 0.9x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 90.5% 39.1% 60.5%
Equity / assets 9.5% 60.9% 39.5%
Interest coverage -14.0x 8.3x –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.2x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.9x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.9x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.88 7.48 5.78

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricADPSAPNOW
Dividend yield 2.3% 1.2% –
Net buyback yield 1.8% -0.1% 2.0%
Shareholder yield 4.1% 1.1% 2.0%
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.

ConsensusADPSAPNOW
Forward P/E 22.8xFY2027 27.7xFY2026 40.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.87FY2027 $8.52FY2026 $3.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.7%FY2027 +16.1%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.8% +4.9% +27.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.14BFY2027 $42.86BFY2026 $15.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2027 -2.4%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.1% +14.3% +17.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersADPSAPNOW
Held by institutions 88.1% 7.2% 81.6%
Institutions holding 2,290 820 2,224
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% -3.0% -2.1%
Institutions buying 1,084 459 1,285
Institutions selling 874 245 779
Buyers to sellers 1.24 1.87 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.

ADPSAPNOW
ADP 1.00 0.55 0.56
SAP 0.55 1.00 0.72
NOW 0.56 0.72 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ADP, SAP and NOW?

Sap Se (SAP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $116.60B, Sap Se (SAP) $289.68B, ServiceNow (NOW) $160.09B.

Which stock is cheaper, ADP, SAP and NOW?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 26.7x, Sap Se (SAP) 28.8x, ServiceNow (NOW) 95.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is cheapest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 22.8x, Sap Se (SAP) 27.7x, ServiceNow (NOW) 40.2x). 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: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +6.7%, Sap Se (SAP) +13.5%, ServiceNow (NOW) +22.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sap Se (SAP) has the highest net margin (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 20.1%, Sap Se (SAP) 20.8%, ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%). On return on invested capital, Sap Se (SAP) leads (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) -46.5%, Sap Se (SAP) 35.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Automatic Data Processing (ADP) returned the most: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +4.5%, Sap Se (SAP) -13.4%, ServiceNow (NOW) -18.2%. Over five years, Sap Se (SAP) compounded fastest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +5.6%/yr, Sap Se (SAP) +9.8%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) +2.4%/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) 2.32%, Sap Se (SAP) 1.25%. 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) 28.5%, Sap Se (SAP) 39.3%, ServiceNow (NOW) 58.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ADP, SAP 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, Sap Se (SAP) leads on 6. 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.