CSCO vs DDOG vs ESTC Stock Comparison

Cisco Systems, Datadog and Elastic Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc.
$110.24 +3.3% 1M +56.1% 1Y
Market cap
$440.38B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.33B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
6 wins
DDOG Datadog, Inc.
$280.24 +4.5% 1M +79.1% 1Y
Market cap
$100.03B
P/E
563.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.97B
Div. yield
–
IT Operations Software Technology
2 wins
ESTC Elastic N.V.
$106.26 +20.7% 1M +20.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.02B
P/E
29.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.80B
Div. yield
–
Data Infrastructure Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cisco Systems leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Cisco Systems 6, Elastic 3, Datadog 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCSCODDOGESTCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $440.38B $100.03B $11.02B CSCO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.2x 563.3x 29.3x ESTC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.3x 103.0x 30.3x CSCO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.8% +31.5% +16.2% DDOG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.0% 4.5% 20.8% CSCO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% — 0.0% CSCO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x — -10.8x ESTC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +56.1% +79.1% +20.5% DDOG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +14.4%/yr +12.3%/yr -8.8%/yr CSCO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.6% 69.2% 58.2% CSCO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 65/100 71/100 ESTC

Percentile Scorecard

CSCODDOGESTC

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

AxisCSCODDOGESTC
Valuation 31 #77 of 111 30 #87 of 124 70 #38 of 124
Growth 40 #65 of 108 89 #13 of 113 82 #21 of 113
Profitability 87 #14 of 104 75 #28 of 110 66 #38 of 110
Financial Health 28 #83 of 115 77 #30 of 129 53 #61 of 129
Shareholder Returns 78 #19 of 81 53 #32 of 67 85 #11 of 67
Overall 53 65 71
  • CSCO ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • DDOG ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • ESTC ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCSCODDOGESTCSPY
1 month +3.3%+4.5%+20.7% -0.8%
3 months -3.8%+11.3%+73.6% +3.5%
6 months +24.9%+111.2%+122.2% +7.0%
Year to date +43.1%+106.1%+40.9% +12.2%
1 year +56.1%+79.1%+20.5% +13.0%
3 years +113.8%+243.1%+40.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +28.8%+50.9%+12.1% +23.1%
5 years +96.2%+78.4%-37.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +14.4%+12.3%-8.8% +11.0%
10 years +260.9%—— +258.0%
10 years, per year +13.7%—— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCSCODDOGESTCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.6%69.2%58.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.3%59.7%59.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.111.281.14 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.581.140.35 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.6%-68.1%-76.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.2%-4.4%0.0% -1.8%
52-week high $130.00$293.26$106.26 $779.14
52-week low $71.04$102.61$43.30 $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.

MultipleCSCODDOGESTC
P/E now vs peer median 32.8xmedian 32.0x 562.2xmedian 38.1x 29.6xmedian 38.1x
P/S now vs peer median 6.9xmedian 2.8x 25.4xmedian 4.3x 6.2xmedian 4.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 25.1xmedian 19.4x 583.5xmedian 35.4x 124.2xmedian 35.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.1xmedian 29.0x 85.1xmedian 27.1x 32.0xmedian 27.1x
P/B now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 2.9x 23.0xmedian 3.4x 8.6xmedian 3.4x
PEG now vs peer median 12.20median 1.13 9.89median 1.27 0.55median 1.27

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 monthsCSCODDOGESTC
Revenue $63.33B $3.97B $1.80B
Gross profit $40.86B $3.15B $1.36B
Operating income $15.37B $16.33M -$47.61M
Net income $13.27B $177.58M $375.64M
Free cash flow $12.77B $1.18B $349.04M
R&D $9.56B $1.73B $455.30M
EPS (diluted) $3.33 $0.48 $3.59
Cash & equivalents $7.22B $434.96M $879.87M
Total debt $29.53B – $571.20M
Shares (diluted) 3.99B 371.02M 104.64M
Enterprise value $376.31B $81.67B $5.55B

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
MetricCSCODDOGESTC
P/E 32.8x 562.2x 29.6x
P/FCF 34.1x 85.1x 32.0x
P/Operating cash flow 30.7x 81.8x 31.5x
P/S 6.9x 25.4x 6.2x
P/B 8.7x 23.0x 8.6x
P/Tangible book 10.2x 23.2x 8.7x
EV/EBITDA 25.1x 583.5x 124.2x
EV/EBIT 29.2x 5,855x -215.9x
EV/Revenue 7.1x 24.1x 5.7x
EV/FCF 35.1x 80.9x 29.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.6x 77.8x 29.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 12.20 9.89 0.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCSCODDOGESTC
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.8% 31.5% 16.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 27.9% 17.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.1% 30.8% 16.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.6% 28.0% 18.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 30.7% 189.5% -56.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.7% 28.7% 37.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 30.3% 42.5% 549.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 1.7% 60.5% 55.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 30.7% 37.8% 555.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 56.8% 53.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.1% 27.3% 11.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.7% 36.3% 62.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -3.9% 27.7% 11.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.5% 37.6% 63.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCSCODDOGESTC
Gross margin 64.5% 79.5% 75.5%
EBITDA margin 28.3% 4.1% 4.6%
Operating margin 24.3% 0.4% -2.6%
Pretax margin 25.3% 5.0% -1.1%
Net margin 21.0% 4.5% 20.8%
FCF margin 20.2% 29.8% 19.4%
Operating cash flow margin 22.4% 31.0% 19.6%
Return on equity 26.8% 4.2% 29.2%
Return on assets 10.4% 2.4% 12.2%
Return on invested capital 15.9% – 0.0%
Return on capital employed 17.9% 0.3% -2.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 6.9x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 6.0% 20.7% 16.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCSCODDOGESTC
Debt / assets 22.8% – 19.0%
Debt / equity 0.6x – 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x – -10.8x
Debt / FCF 2.3x – 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 61.2% 42.1% 56.8%
Equity / assets 38.8% 57.9% 43.2%
Interest coverage 10.5x 1.4x -1.9x
Current ratio 0.9x 3.2x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x 3.2x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.4x 2.7x 1.4x
Altman Z-score 4.16 20.21 4.47

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCSCODDOGESTC
Dividend yield 1.5% – –
Net buyback yield 1.3% -0.1% 3.1%
Shareholder yield 2.8% -0.1% 3.1%
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.

ConsensusCSCODDOGESTC
Forward P/E 23.3xFY2027 103.0xFY2026 30.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.74FY2027 $2.72FY2026 $3.51FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.5%FY2027 +32.7%FY2026 +36.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.7% +1.8% +19.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $74.93BFY2027 $4.18BFY2026 $1.88BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +18.3%FY2027 +21.7%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.6% +24.9% +18.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCSCODDOGESTC
Held by institutions 80.1% 90.4% 86.4%
Institutions holding 4,044 1,265 371
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% +6.1% +1.7%
Institutions buying 1,846 738 199
Institutions selling 1,816 432 129
Buyers to sellers 1.02 1.71 1.54

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.

CSCODDOGESTC
CSCO 1.00 0.11 0.04
DDOG 0.11 1.00 0.50
ESTC 0.04 0.50 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CSCO, DDOG and ESTC?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cisco Systems (CSCO) $440.38B, Datadog (DDOG) $100.03B, Elastic (ESTC) $11.02B.

Which stock is cheaper, CSCO, DDOG and ESTC?

Elastic (ESTC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 33.2x, Datadog (DDOG) 563.3x, Elastic (ESTC) 29.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cisco Systems (CSCO) is cheapest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 23.3x, Datadog (DDOG) 103.0x, Elastic (ESTC) 30.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Datadog (DDOG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cisco Systems (CSCO) +11.8%, Datadog (DDOG) +31.5%, Elastic (ESTC) +16.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) has the highest net margin (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 21.0%, Datadog (DDOG) 4.5%, Elastic (ESTC) 20.8%). On return on invested capital, Cisco Systems (CSCO) leads (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 15.9%, Elastic (ESTC) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Datadog (DDOG) returned the most: Cisco Systems (CSCO) +56.1%, Datadog (DDOG) +79.1%, Elastic (ESTC) +20.5%. Over five years, Cisco Systems (CSCO) compounded fastest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) +14.4%/yr, Datadog (DDOG) +12.3%/yr, Elastic (ESTC) -8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cisco Systems (CSCO) has been the steadiest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 35.6%, Datadog (DDOG) 69.2%, Elastic (ESTC) 58.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CSCO, DDOG and ESTC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 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.