CTSH vs EXLS vs FORTY Stock Comparison

Cognizant Technology Solutions, ExlService Holdings and Formula Systems (1985) Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cognizant Technology Solutions leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Cognizant Technology Solutions 4, Formula Systems (1985) 4, ExlService Holdings 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCTSHEXLSFORTYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $29.75B $6.18B $1.95B CTSH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.4x 23.7x 3.1x FORTY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 11.8x 18.9x — CTSH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.6% +15.6% +24.8% FORTY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.3% 11.1% 21.6% FORTY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.7% 19.9% 10.1% EXLS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.1x 0.4x — CTSH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.2% -1.8% -14.3% EXLS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.2%/yr +10.7%/yr +2.5%/yr EXLS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.2% 43.4% 55.3% CTSH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 64/100 86/100 FORTY

Percentile Scorecard

CTSHEXLSFORTY

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

AxisCTSHEXLSFORTY
Valuation 58 #21 of 49 17 #41 of 49 98 #2 of 49
Growth 46 #25 of 45 75 #12 of 45 93 #4 of 45
Profitability 90 #5 of 39 95 #3 of 39 82 #8 of 39
Financial Health 76 #15 of 60 61 #24 of 60 59 #25 of 60
Shareholder Returns 82 #6 of 29 75 #8 of 29 100 #1 of 29
Overall 70 64 86
  • CTSH ranked among 65 companies in Technology Services
  • EXLS ranked among 65 companies in Technology Services
  • FORTY ranked among 65 companies in Technology Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCTSHEXLSFORTYSPY
1 month +16.9%+17.7%+12.0% +0.9%
3 months +18.6%+13.1%+13.2% +5.9%
6 months +21.3%+30.6%-7.6% +8.5%
Year to date -20.0%-4.1%-26.7% +13.3%
1 year -2.2%-1.8%-14.3% +12.4%
3 years +4.8%+58.8%+118.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year +1.6%+16.7%+29.8% +23.5%
5 years -15.0%+66.0%+12.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year -3.2%+10.7%+2.5% +11.0%
10 years +28.7%+358.0%+217.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year +2.6%+16.4%+12.2% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureCTSHEXLSFORTYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.2%43.4%55.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.9%45.3%85.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.08-0.070.63 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.05-0.04-0.26 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.4%-51.3%-55.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -23.5%-6.1%-35.8% -0.9%
52-week high $86.70$43.38$190.56 $779.14
52-week low $38.73$25.22$102.01 $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.

MultipleCTSHEXLSFORTY
P/E now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 17.7x 23.7xmedian 17.7x 3.0xmedian 17.7x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 0.7x 2.6xmedian 0.7x 0.6xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 10.7x 15.5xmedian 10.7x —median 10.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.5xmedian 11.0x 22.7xmedian 11.0x —median 11.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 1.5x 6.6xmedian 1.5x 1.1xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median 4.26median 1.35 1.35median 1.35 0.03median 1.35

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 monthsCTSHEXLSFORTY
Revenue $21.64B $2.34B $2.93B
Gross profit $7.24B $898.82M $580.29M
Operating income $3.44B $346.00M $249.80M
Net income $2.22B $260.61M $697.91M
Free cash flow $2.60B $271.19M –
R&D – – $21.15M
EPS (diluted) $4.76 $1.71 $39.97
Cash & equivalents $1.04B $154.07M $863.79M
Total debt $1.56B $511.05M $642.43M
Shares (diluted) 466.00M 152.57M 15.79M
Enterprise value $22.92B $4.98B -$1.40B

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
MetricCTSHEXLSFORTY
P/E 13.9x 23.7x 3.0x
P/FCF 11.5x 22.7x –
P/Operating cash flow 10.3x 18.9x –
P/S 1.4x 2.6x 0.6x
P/B 2.1x 6.6x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 7.4x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 7.6x 15.5x –
EV/EBIT 8.9x 18.3x 4.7x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 2.7x 0.4x
EV/FCF 11.7x 23.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow 10.5x 19.4x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.26 1.35 0.03

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCTSHEXLSFORTY
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.6% 15.6% 24.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.7% 13.7% 3.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 3.4% 16.0% 22.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.2% 14.9% -3.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.8% 12.7% 26.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 13.7% 1.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -8.9% 7.9% 255.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.4% 14.0% 61.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -3.8% 14.4% 700.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 17.6% 112.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.7% -3.7% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 18.3% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 13.8% -5.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.3% 23.7% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCTSHEXLSFORTY
Gross margin 33.4% 38.4% 19.8%
EBITDA margin 18.5% 17.5% –
Operating margin 15.9% 14.8% 8.5%
Pretax margin 16.2% 14.4% 7.1%
Net margin 10.3% 11.1% 21.6%
FCF margin 12.0% 11.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 13.5% 13.9% –
Return on equity 15.0% 29.0% 40.1%
Return on assets 10.7% 13.6% 19.5%
Return on invested capital 13.7% 19.9% 10.1%
Return on capital employed 20.0% 23.6% 11.2%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.2x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 4.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCTSHEXLSFORTY
Debt / assets 7.5% 24.6% 4.8%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.6x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.1x 0.4x –
Debt / FCF 0.6x 1.9x –
Liabilities / assets 30.6% 55.2% 52.8%
Equity / assets 69.4% 44.8% 47.2%
Interest coverage 95.4x 17.6x –
Current ratio 2.2x 2.2x 1.5x
Quick ratio 1.7x 2.2x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.7x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 5.63 6.37 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCTSHEXLSFORTY
Dividend yield 2.0% – 12.4%
Net buyback yield 7.8% 5.1% –
Shareholder yield 9.8% 5.1% 12.4%
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.

ConsensusCTSHEXLSFORTY
Forward P/E 11.8xFY2026 18.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $5.61FY2026 $2.16FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +6.3%FY2026 +10.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +26.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $20.77BFY2026 $2.53BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY -1.6%FY2026 +21.3%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% +3.5% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCTSHEXLSFORTY
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% –
Institutions holding 915 442 –
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.6% +1.7% –
Institutions buying 464 211 –
Institutions selling 352 188 –
Buyers to sellers 1.32 1.12 –

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.

CTSHEXLSFORTY
CTSH 1.00 0.78 0.10
EXLS 0.78 1.00 0.05
FORTY 0.10 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CTSH, EXLS and FORTY?

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) $29.75B, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) $6.18B, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) $1.95B.

Which stock is cheaper, CTSH, EXLS and FORTY?

Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 13.4x, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) 23.7x, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 3.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is cheapest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 11.8x, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) 18.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) +5.6%, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) +15.6%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) +24.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) has the highest net margin (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 10.3%, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) 11.1%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 21.6%). On return on invested capital, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) leads (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 13.7%, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) 19.9%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 10.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year ExlService Holdings (EXLS) returned the most: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) -2.2%, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) -1.8%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) -14.3%. Over five years, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) compounded fastest (Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) -3.2%/yr, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) +10.7%/yr, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) +2.5%/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%, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) 0.00%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 0.00%. ExlService Holdings (EXLS) and Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 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) 43.2%, ExlService Holdings (EXLS) 43.4%, Formula Systems (1985) (FORTY) 55.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CTSH, EXLS and FORTY?

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.