CTSH vs EPAM vs NOW Stock Comparison

Cognizant Technology Solutions, EPAM Systems and ServiceNow Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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EPAM EPAM Systems, Inc.
$134.67 +25.8% 1M -17.3% 1Y
Market cap
$7.29B
P/E
18.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.62B
Div. yield
–
IT Services Technology
4 wins
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$109.65 -15.6% 1M -39.9% 1Y
Market cap
$108.68B
P/E
75.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cognizant Technology Solutions leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Cognizant Technology Solutions 4, EPAM Systems 4, ServiceNow 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCTSHEPAMNOWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $30.57B $7.29B $108.68B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 11.9x 18.2x 75.2x CTSH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 11.1x 9.8x 28.5x EPAM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.0% +10.8% +21.8% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 7.2% 9.4% NOW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 11.5% 5.2% EPAM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -1.1x 0.8x EPAM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.8% -17.3% -39.9% CTSH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.4%/yr -27.5%/yr -4.7%/yr CTSH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.2% 53.6% 66.6% CTSH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 70/100 52/100 EPAM

Percentile Scorecard

CTSHEPAMNOW

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

AxisCTSHEPAMNOW
Valuation 57 #22 of 50 59 #21 of 50 36 #65 of 101
Growth 64 #17 of 45 32 #31 of 45 49 #50 of 97
Profitability 69 #13 of 40 85 #7 of 40 79 #20 of 93
Financial Health 70 #19 of 60 90 #7 of 60 53 #51 of 108
Shareholder Returns 59 #12 of 28 85 #5 of 28 42 #37 of 63
Overall 64 70 52
  • CTSH ranked among 65 companies in Technology Services
  • EPAM ranked among 65 companies in Technology Services
  • 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

PeriodCTSHEPAMNOWSPY
1 month +10.0%+25.8%-15.6% +0.7%
3 months +16.0%+29.9%-0.4% +3.7%
6 months +18.2%+18.4%+24.2% +7.1%
Year to date -24.7%-34.3%-28.4% +12.8%
1 year -12.8%-17.3%-39.9% +11.9%
3 years -1.9%-36.7%-3.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year -0.6%-14.1%-1.2% +22.8%
5 years -19.9%-80.0%-21.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year -4.4%-27.5%-4.7% +10.9%
10 years +21.2%+107.5%+536.8% +262.0%
10 years, per year +1.9%+7.6%+20.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCTSHEPAMNOWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.2%53.6%66.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.6%60.8%75.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.100.420.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.30-0.32-0.60 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.4%-89.4%-64.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -27.9%-39.2%-41.3% -1.2%
52-week high $86.70$221.40$186.94 $779.14
52-week low $38.73$76.04$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.

MultipleCTSHEPAMNOW
P/E now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 17.5x 17.5xmedian 17.5x 78.5xmedian 28.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 0.7x 1.2xmedian 0.7x 7.4xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 10.4x 9.0xmedian 10.4x 33.9xmedian 16.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.9xmedian 13.3x 14.4xmedian 13.3x 24.0xmedian 15.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 1.5x 2.0xmedian 1.5x 8.7xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.12median 1.28 -3.38median 1.28 -22.98median 0.89

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 monthsCTSHEPAMNOW
Revenue $21.89B $5.62B $15.43B
Gross profit – $1.65B $11.28B
Operating income $3.44B $563.19M $1.49B
Net income $2.57B $401.67M $1.45B
Free cash flow – $482.64M $4.75B
R&D – – $3.47B
EPS (diluted) $5.52 $7.68 $1.39
Cash & equivalents $1.52B $789.40M $2.39B
Total debt – $25.00M $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 466.00M 52.27M 1.04B
Enterprise value $30.57B $2.93B $87.94B

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
MetricCTSHEPAMNOW
P/E 11.3x 17.5x 78.5x
P/FCF 9.9x 14.4x 24.0x
P/Operating cash flow 10.5x 12.9x 21.3x
P/S 1.3x 1.2x 7.4x
P/B 1.9x 2.0x 8.7x
P/Tangible book 2.2x 2.2x 12.0x
EV/EBITDA – 9.0x 33.9x
EV/EBIT – 11.0x 78.2x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 1.1x 7.6x
EV/FCF – 12.8x 24.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.5x 11.5x 21.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.12 -3.38 -22.98

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCTSHEPAMNOW
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.0% 10.8% 21.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.0% 5.1% 22.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 8.5% 14.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 2.9% 19.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 4.7% 4.4% -14.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% -2.9% 32.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 20.9% 0.1% -16.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.2% -9.0% -3.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 26.4% 8.3% -16.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.1% -5.2% -3.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -8.5% 19.8% 10.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% -4.3% 21.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 17.8% 20.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -4.8% 25.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCTSHEPAMNOW
Gross margin – 29.4% 73.1%
EBITDA margin – 12.3% 22.3%
Operating margin – 10.0% 9.7%
Pretax margin – 9.8% 13.1%
Net margin – 7.2% 9.4%
FCF margin – 8.6% 30.8%
Operating cash flow margin 12.3% 9.6% 34.6%
Return on equity 17.6% 11.6% 11.3%
Return on assets 12.2% 8.7% 4.6%
Return on invested capital – 11.5% 5.2%
Return on capital employed – 14.7% 7.5%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.2x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.3x 3.7x
Stock comp / revenue – 3.3% 10.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCTSHEPAMNOW
Debt / assets – 0.5% 23.6%
Debt / equity – 0.0x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – -1.1x 0.8x
Debt / FCF – 0.1x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 30.9% 23.1% 58.9%
Equity / assets 69.1% 76.9% 41.1%
Interest coverage – – 14.6x
Current ratio 2.2x 2.8x 0.7x
Quick ratio – 2.6x 0.6x
Cash ratio – 1.0x 0.4x
Altman Z-score – 6.58 4.44

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCTSHEPAMNOW
Dividend yield 2.1% – –
Net buyback yield – 9.8% 2.3%
Shareholder yield 2.1% 9.8% 2.3%
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.

ConsensusCTSHEPAMNOW
Forward P/E 11.1xFY2026 9.8xFY2026 28.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.61FY2026 $13.81FY2026 $3.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.3%FY2026 +20.1%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +8.5% +27.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $20.77BFY2026 $6.04BFY2026 $15.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.6%FY2026 +10.6%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% +0.9% +17.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCTSHEPAMNOW
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 81.6%
Institutions holding 916 439 2,225
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.6% +0.7% -2.1%
Institutions buying 464 232 1,286
Institutions selling 353 161 779
Buyers to sellers 1.31 1.44 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.

CTSHEPAMNOW
CTSH 1.00 0.72 0.55
EPAM 0.72 1.00 0.44
NOW 0.55 0.44 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CTSH, EPAM and NOW?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) $30.57B, EPAM Systems (EPAM) $7.29B, ServiceNow (NOW) $108.68B.

Which stock is cheaper, CTSH, EPAM and NOW?

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 11.9x, EPAM Systems (EPAM) 18.2x, ServiceNow (NOW) 75.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, EPAM Systems (EPAM) is cheapest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 11.1x, EPAM Systems (EPAM) 9.8x, ServiceNow (NOW) 28.5x). 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: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) +5.0%, EPAM Systems (EPAM) +10.8%, ServiceNow (NOW) +21.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

ServiceNow (NOW) has the highest net margin (EPAM Systems (EPAM) 7.2%, ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%). On return on invested capital, EPAM Systems (EPAM) leads (EPAM Systems (EPAM) 11.5%, ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) returned the most: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) -12.8%, EPAM Systems (EPAM) -17.3%, ServiceNow (NOW) -39.9%. Over five years, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) compounded fastest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) -4.4%/yr, EPAM Systems (EPAM) -27.5%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) -4.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) has been the steadiest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 43.2%, EPAM Systems (EPAM) 53.6%, ServiceNow (NOW) 66.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CTSH, EPAM 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, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) leads on 4. 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.