DSGX vs VERX vs WK Stock Comparison

Descartes Systems, Vertex and Workiva Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
VERX Vertex, Inc.
$14.81 +33.9% 1M -41.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.37B
P/E
663.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$787.44M
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
1 win
WK Workiva Inc
$83.92 +23.0% 1M -5.7% 1Y
Market cap
$4.54B
P/E
96.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$965.70M
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Descartes Systems leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Descartes Systems 6, Workiva 4, Vertex 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDSGXVERXWKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.81B $2.37B $4.54B DSGX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 41.6x 663.4x 96.4x DSGX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 42.0x 19.0x 23.4x VERX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +13.2% +10.8% +19.7% WK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 24.3% 0.5% 4.9% DSGX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 0.0% 173.8% WK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.1x -16.7x WK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.4% -41.0% -5.7% DSGX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.5%/yr -6.6%/yr -10.9%/yr DSGX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.4% 62.3% 45.6% DSGX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 49/100 67/100 WK

Percentile Scorecard

DSGXVERXWK

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

AxisDSGXVERXWK
Valuation 43 #51 of 89 40 #61 of 101 50 #51 of 101
Growth 65 #29 of 81 76 #24 of 97 97 #4 of 97
Profitability 97 #3 of 76 54 #44 of 94 68 #31 of 94
Financial Health 85 #15 of 94 35 #71 of 108 67 #36 of 108
Shareholder Returns 45 #29 of 52 41 #38 of 64 54 #30 of 64
Overall 67 49 67
  • DSGX ranked among 98 companies in Vertical Software
  • VERX ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • WK ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodDSGXVERXWKSPY
1 month +17.1%+33.9%+23.0% +0.9%
3 months +18.4%+11.2%+36.5% +5.9%
6 months +27.7%+20.7%+55.7% +8.5%
Year to date +5.4%-25.8%-2.7% +13.3%
1 year -4.4%-41.0%-5.7% +12.4%
3 years +32.3%-34.9%-10.3% +88.1%
3 years, per year +9.8%-13.4%-3.5% +23.5%
5 years +13.0%-28.9%-43.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year +2.5%-6.6%-10.9% +11.0%
10 years +341.9%—+419.6% +263.4%
10 years, per year +16.0%—+17.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureDSGXVERXWKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.4%62.3%45.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.5%63.6%44.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.330.450.04 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.11-0.66-0.12 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.7%-82.1%-72.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.4%-41.0%-10.1% -0.9%
52-week high $96.58$25.11$93.31 $779.14
52-week low $62.82$10.58$44.31 $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.

MultipleDSGXVERXWK
P/E now vs peer median 42.2xmedian 40.6x 668.4xmedian 27.6x 99.3xmedian 27.6x
P/S now vs peer median 10.2xmedian 2.4x 3.0xmedian 2.7x 4.7xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.1xmedian 18.3x 25.4xmedian 17.4x 85.3xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 20.5x 47.3xmedian 15.8x 22.6xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 1.8x 9.9xmedian 3.2x -46.8xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.40median 1.74 23.71median 0.84 2.91median 0.84

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 monthsDSGXVERXWK
Revenue $775.17M $787.44M $965.70M
Gross profit $601.59M $503.58M $774.58M
Operating income $243.60M -$13.34M $31.45M
Net income $188.01M $3.58M $47.04M
Free cash flow $297.47M $50.48M $200.52M
R&D $109.17M $91.60M $216.63M
EPS (diluted) $2.15 $0.02 $0.84
Cash & equivalents $401.06M $230.49M $252.48M
Total debt – $1.35B $71.21M
Shares (diluted) 87.58M 161.39M 56.06M
Enterprise value $6.40B $1.23B $1.11B

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
MetricDSGXVERXWK
P/E 42.2x 668.4x 99.3x
P/FCF 26.7x 47.3x 22.6x
P/Operating cash flow 26.0x 13.8x 22.5x
P/S 10.2x 3.0x 4.7x
P/B 4.8x 9.9x -46.8x
P/Tangible book 6.1x 10.0x -38.8x
EV/EBITDA 23.1x 25.4x 85.3x
EV/EBIT 31.0x -187.2x 120.7x
EV/Revenue 9.7x 3.2x 3.9x
EV/FCF 25.4x 49.5x 18.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.7x 14.4x 18.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.40 23.71 2.91

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDSGXVERXWK
Revenue growth (1Y) 13.2% 10.8% 19.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.8% 14.1% 18.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.5% 9.0% 25.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.4% 15.8% 21.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 30.1% -75.9% 138.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 8.2% 31.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 26.9% 107.1% 170.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.3% 28.3% 34.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 26.4% 107.0% 170.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 17.6% 28.2% 34.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 28.6% 21.1% 90.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.7% 47.3% 79.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 30.3% 4,078% 94.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.7% 78.9% 84.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDSGXVERXWK
Gross margin 77.6% 64.0% 80.2%
EBITDA margin 42.1% 12.5% 4.6%
Operating margin 31.4% -1.7% 3.3%
Pretax margin 32.7% -1.2% 5.4%
Net margin 24.3% 0.5% 4.9%
FCF margin 38.4% 6.4% 20.8%
Operating cash flow margin 39.4% 22.0% 20.9%
Return on equity 11.4% 1.5% –
Return on assets – 0.3% 3.4%
Return on invested capital – 0.0% 173.8%
Return on capital employed – -2.1% 4.6%
Asset turnover – 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 48.6x 4.3x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% 7.2% 12.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDSGXVERXWK
Debt / assets – 28.0% 5.2%
Debt / equity – 1.4x -0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.1x -16.7x
Debt / FCF – 6.7x 0.4x
Liabilities / assets 15.9% 80.1% 107.1%
Equity / assets 84.1% 19.9% -7.1%
Interest coverage 168.0x – 2.5x
Current ratio 2.0x 0.9x 1.5x
Quick ratio 1.9x 0.7x 1.3x
Cash ratio 1.5x 0.4x 1.1x
Altman Z-score 16.63 1.98 2.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDSGXVERXWK
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 0.2% 1.9% 3.9%
Shareholder yield 0.2% 1.9% 3.9%
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.

ConsensusDSGXVERXWK
Forward P/E 42.0xFY2026 19.0xFY2026 23.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.20FY2026 $0.78FY2026 $3.59FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.6%FY2026 +21.9%FY2026 +101.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.2% +38.5% +17.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $889.11MFY2026 $795.75MFY2026 $1.01BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +22.0%FY2026 +6.3%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.6% +17.3% +25.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDSGXVERXWK
Held by institutions 82.0% 93.3% 97.3%
Institutions holding 341 229 305
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.7% -7.0% +1.4%
Institutions buying 167 135 184
Institutions selling 139 69 86
Buyers to sellers 1.20 1.96 2.14

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.

DSGXVERXWK
DSGX 1.00 0.60 0.61
VERX 0.60 1.00 0.70
WK 0.61 0.70 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DSGX, VERX and WK?

Descartes Systems (DSGX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Descartes Systems (DSGX) $7.81B, Vertex (VERX) $2.37B, Workiva (WK) $4.54B.

Which stock is cheaper, DSGX, VERX and WK?

Descartes Systems (DSGX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Descartes Systems (DSGX) 41.6x, Vertex (VERX) 663.4x, Workiva (WK) 96.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Vertex (VERX) is cheapest (Descartes Systems (DSGX) 42.0x, Vertex (VERX) 19.0x, Workiva (WK) 23.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Workiva (WK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Descartes Systems (DSGX) +13.2%, Vertex (VERX) +10.8%, Workiva (WK) +19.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Descartes Systems (DSGX) has the highest net margin (Descartes Systems (DSGX) 24.3%, Vertex (VERX) 0.5%, Workiva (WK) 4.9%). On return on invested capital, Workiva (WK) leads (Vertex (VERX) 0.0%, Workiva (WK) 173.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Descartes Systems (DSGX) returned the most: Descartes Systems (DSGX) -4.4%, Vertex (VERX) -41.0%, Workiva (WK) -5.7%. Over five years, Descartes Systems (DSGX) compounded fastest (Descartes Systems (DSGX) +2.5%/yr, Vertex (VERX) -6.6%/yr, Workiva (WK) -10.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Descartes Systems (DSGX) has been the steadiest (Descartes Systems (DSGX) 41.4%, Vertex (VERX) 62.3%, Workiva (WK) 45.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DSGX, VERX and WK?

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