CTSH vs ESTC vs NOW Stock Comparison

Cognizant Technology Solutions, Elastic and ServiceNow Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
4 wins
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$158.19 +16.6% 1M -15.0% 1Y
Market cap
$159.67B
P/E
95.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
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, Elastic 4, ServiceNow 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCTSHESTCNOWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $30.89B $11.02B $159.67B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.9x 29.3x 95.6x CTSH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.4x 30.3x 41.1x CTSH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.6% +16.2% +22.2% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.3% 20.8% 11.3% ESTC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.7% 0.0% — CTSH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.1x -10.8x 0.8x ESTC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.2% +20.5% -15.0% ESTC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.3%/yr -8.8%/yr +3.5%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.0% 58.2% 58.8% CTSH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 71/100 52/100 ESTC

Percentile Scorecard

CTSHESTCNOW

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

AxisCTSHESTCNOW
Valuation 59 #21 of 50 70 #38 of 124 28 #74 of 102
Growth 48 #24 of 45 82 #21 of 113 58 #42 of 98
Profitability 90 #5 of 41 66 #38 of 110 82 #18 of 95
Financial Health 77 #15 of 62 53 #61 of 129 50 #55 of 109
Shareholder Returns 79 #7 of 30 85 #11 of 67 41 #38 of 64
Overall 71 71 52
  • CTSH ranked among 66 companies in Technology Services
  • ESTC ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • NOW ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCTSHESTCNOWSPY
1 month +20.9%+20.7%+16.6% -0.8%
3 months +47.4%+73.6%+49.9% +3.5%
6 months +26.9%+122.2%+74.9% +7.0%
Year to date -16.5%+40.9%+3.3% +12.2%
1 year +2.2%+20.5%-15.0% +13.0%
3 years +9.5%+40.7%+42.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year +3.1%+12.1%+12.6% +23.1%
5 years -10.8%-37.0%+19.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year -2.3%-8.8%+3.5% +11.0%
10 years +36.3%—+902.5% +258.0%
10 years, per year +3.1%—+25.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCTSHESTCNOWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.0%58.2%58.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.4%59.3%61.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.101.140.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.050.35-0.25 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.4%-76.8%-64.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.0%0.0%-16.4% -1.8%
52-week high $86.70$106.26$189.26 $779.14
52-week low $38.73$43.30$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.

MultipleCTSHESTCNOW
P/E now vs peer median 14.6xmedian 17.9x 29.6xmedian 38.1x 97.7xmedian 28.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 0.7x 6.2xmedian 4.3x 11.1xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.0xmedian 11.0x 124.2xmedian 35.4x 48.7xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.1xmedian 12.1x 32.0xmedian 27.1x 35.7xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.4x 8.6xmedian 3.4x 13.1xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 4.45median 1.49 0.55median 1.27 18.80median 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 monthsCTSHESTCNOW
Revenue $21.64B $1.80B $14.73B
Gross profit $7.24B $1.36B $11.02B
Operating income $3.44B -$47.61M $1.68B
Net income $2.22B $375.64M $1.67B
Free cash flow $2.60B $349.04M $4.58B
R&D – $455.30M $3.26B
EPS (diluted) $4.76 $3.59 $1.61
Cash & equivalents $1.04B $879.87M $2.50B
Total debt $1.56B $571.20M $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 466.00M 104.64M 1.03B
Enterprise value $24.06B $5.55B $138.13B

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
MetricCTSHESTCNOW
P/E 14.6x 29.6x 97.7x
P/FCF 12.1x 32.0x 35.7x
P/Operating cash flow 10.7x 31.5x 30.8x
P/S 1.4x 6.2x 11.1x
P/B 2.2x 8.6x 13.1x
P/Tangible book 2.5x 8.7x 18.7x
EV/EBITDA 8.0x 124.2x 48.7x
EV/EBIT 9.3x -215.9x 99.1x
EV/Revenue 1.5x 5.7x 11.3x
EV/FCF 12.3x 29.5x 36.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.9x 29.0x 31.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.45 0.55 18.80

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCTSHESTCNOW
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.6% 16.2% 22.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.7% 17.4% 22.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 3.4% 16.7% 16.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.2% 18.8% 20.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.8% -56.0% 4.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 37.5% 49.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -8.9% 549.9% 0.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.4% 55.3% 5.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -3.8% 555.6% 1.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 53.7% 5.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.7% 11.3% 13.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 62.1% 22.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 13.8% 11.2% 19.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.3% 63.2% 25.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCTSHESTCNOW
Gross margin 33.4% 75.5% 74.8%
EBITDA margin 18.5% 4.6% 23.2%
Operating margin 15.9% -2.6% 11.4%
Pretax margin 16.2% -1.1% 15.9%
Net margin 10.3% 20.8% 11.3%
FCF margin 12.0% 19.4% 31.1%
Operating cash flow margin 13.5% 19.6% 36.0%
Return on equity 15.0% 29.2% 13.8%
Return on assets 10.7% 12.2% 6.0%
Return on invested capital 13.7% 0.0% –
Return on capital employed 20.0% -2.3% 10.6%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 0.9x 3.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 16.8% 12.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCTSHESTCNOW
Debt / assets 7.5% 19.0% 23.7%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.4x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.1x -10.8x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 0.6x 1.6x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 30.6% 56.8% 60.5%
Equity / assets 69.4% 43.2% 39.5%
Interest coverage 95.4x -1.9x –
Current ratio 2.2x 1.8x 0.7x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.6x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.4x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 5.76 4.47 5.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCTSHESTCNOW
Dividend yield 1.9% – –
Net buyback yield 7.5% 3.1% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 9.4% 3.1% 1.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 27.8% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 23.8% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.8% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 2.3% – –

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.

ConsensusCTSHESTCNOW
Forward P/E 12.4xFY2026 30.3xFY2026 41.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.61FY2026 $3.51FY2026 $3.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.3%FY2026 +36.6%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +19.4% +27.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $20.77BFY2026 $1.88BFY2026 $15.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.6%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% +18.3% +17.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCTSHESTCNOW
Held by institutions 100.0% 86.4% 81.6%
Institutions holding 915 371 2,224
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.6% +1.7% -2.1%
Institutions buying 464 199 1,285
Institutions selling 352 129 779
Buyers to sellers 1.32 1.54 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.

CTSHESTCNOW
CTSH 1.00 0.36 0.55
ESTC 0.36 1.00 0.64
NOW 0.55 0.64 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CTSH, ESTC and NOW?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) $30.89B, Elastic (ESTC) $11.02B, ServiceNow (NOW) $159.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, CTSH, ESTC and NOW?

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 13.9x, Elastic (ESTC) 29.3x, ServiceNow (NOW) 95.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is cheapest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 12.4x, Elastic (ESTC) 30.3x, ServiceNow (NOW) 41.1x). 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) +5.6%, Elastic (ESTC) +16.2%, ServiceNow (NOW) +22.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Elastic (ESTC) has the highest net margin (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 10.3%, Elastic (ESTC) 20.8%, ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%). On return on invested capital, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) leads (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 13.7%, Elastic (ESTC) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Elastic (ESTC) returned the most: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) +2.2%, Elastic (ESTC) +20.5%, ServiceNow (NOW) -15.0%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) -2.3%/yr, Elastic (ESTC) -8.8%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) +3.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 0.02%, Elastic (ESTC) 0.00%, ServiceNow (NOW) 0.00%. Elastic (ESTC) and ServiceNow (NOW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) has been the steadiest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 43.0%, Elastic (ESTC) 58.2%, ServiceNow (NOW) 58.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CTSH, ESTC 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.