EXPO vs IT vs LOPE Stock Comparison

Exponent, Gartner and Grand Canyon Education Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EXPO Exponent Inc
$76.45 +19.1% 1M +12.8% 1Y
Market cap
$3.76B
P/E
33.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$632.46M
Div. yield
–
Consulting Industrials
2 wins
IT Gartner Inc
$220.90 +17.6% 1M -13.6% 1Y
Market cap
$14.64B
P/E
18.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.46B
Div. yield
–
Consulting Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Grand Canyon Education leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Grand Canyon Education 5, Gartner 2, Exponent 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionEXPOITLOPELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.76B $14.64B $4.01B IT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.6x 18.9x 17.9x LOPE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.6x 14.5x 16.5x IT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.8% +0.7% +7.0% EXPO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.7% 12.0% 19.6% LOPE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 28.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +12.8% -13.6% -28.0% EXPO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.9%/yr -7.5%/yr +12.3%/yr LOPE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.0% 57.6% 32.2% LOPE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 66/100 74/100 LOPE

Percentile Scorecard

EXPOITLOPE

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

AxisEXPOITLOPE
Valuation 23 #87 of 112 64 #41 of 112 49 #58 of 112
Growth 46 #52 of 96 30 #68 of 96 42 #56 of 96
Profitability 88 #12 of 91 93 #7 of 91 99 #2 of 91
Financial Health 74 #33 of 125 44 #71 of 125 90 #13 of 125
Shareholder Returns 68 #22 of 67 99 #2 of 67 91 #7 of 67
Overall 60 66 74
  • EXPO ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • IT ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • LOPE ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodEXPOITLOPESPY
1 month +19.1%+17.6%+6.8% -0.2%
3 months +17.6%+41.8%+4.6% +3.9%
6 months +14.2%+47.1%-6.3% +8.2%
Year to date +10.1%-12.4%-5.4% +12.9%
1 year +12.8%-13.6%-28.0% +12.3%
3 years +5.1%-32.2%+34.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year +1.7%-12.2%+10.3% +23.3%
5 years -33.7%-32.4%+78.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year -7.9%-7.5%+12.3% +10.9%
10 years +171.4%+159.4%+266.9% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.5%+10.0%+13.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureEXPOITLOPESPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.0%57.6%32.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.5%58.7%36.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.390.33-0.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.39-0.24-0.87 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -57.2%-77.2%-38.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.2%-13.6%-28.0% -1.2%
52-week high $79.79$255.58$218.48 $779.14
52-week low $53.67$125.73$136.72 $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.

MultipleEXPOITLOPE
P/E now vs peer median 33.3xmedian 21.2x 18.9xmedian 21.2x 18.4xmedian 21.2x
P/S now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 0.9x 2.2xmedian 0.9x 3.6xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 25.9xmedian 11.9x 11.8xmedian 11.9x 12.0xmedian 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 33.5xmedian 13.7x 10.8xmedian 13.7x 17.0xmedian 13.7x
P/B now vs peer median 12.6xmedian 2.4x -83.4xmedian 2.4x 6.2xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 6.65median 1.00 98.61median 1.00 1.68median 1.00

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 monthsEXPOITLOPE
Revenue $632.46M $6.46B $1.14B
Gross profit – $4.50B –
Operating income $127.58M $1.12B $279.71M
Net income $111.77M $775.35M $224.21M
Free cash flow $108.56M $1.29B $242.56M
EPS (diluted) $2.28 $11.65 $8.55
Cash & equivalents $66.63M $1.49B $171.06M
Total debt – $2.98B –
Shares (diluted) 48.99M 66.58M 26.22M
Enterprise value $3.14B $8.33B $2.91B

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
MetricEXPOITLOPE
P/E 33.3x 18.9x 18.4x
P/FCF 33.5x 10.8x 17.0x
P/Operating cash flow 30.8x 10.1x 14.8x
P/S 5.7x 2.2x 3.6x
P/B 12.6x -83.4x 6.2x
P/Tangible book 12.6x -30.2x 7.9x
EV/EBITDA 25.9x 11.8x 12.0x
EV/EBIT 28.0x 13.8x 13.8x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 2.4x 3.4x
EV/FCF 32.9x 12.0x 15.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 30.2x 11.2x 13.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 6.65 98.61 1.68

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEXPOITLOPE
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.8% 0.7% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 4.0% 7.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 3.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 4.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.2% -4.6% -2.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.7% -4.4% 5.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.7% -38.7% -5.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 3.2% -5.7% 5.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 14.3% -28.8% 1.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 0.2% 11.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -8.6% -14.8% -6.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 7.3% 6.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.2% -14.7% -7.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 8.8% 7.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEXPOITLOPE
Gross margin – 69.6% –
EBITDA margin 21.8% 20.3% 28.1%
Operating margin 20.2% 17.3% 24.5%
Pretax margin 24.6% 15.9% 25.6%
Net margin 17.7% 12.0% 19.6%
FCF margin 17.2% 19.9% 21.2%
Operating cash flow margin 18.7% 21.4% 24.4%
Return on equity 35.7% – 32.8%
Return on assets 16.7% 10.4% 23.8%
Return on invested capital – 28.6% –
Return on capital employed 24.9% 29.7% 33.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.9x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.8x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 4.1% 2.3% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEXPOITLOPE
Debt / assets – 41.4% –
Debt / equity – -17.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.1x –
Debt / FCF – 2.3x –
Liabilities / assets 55.8% 102.3% 27.2%
Equity / assets 44.2% -2.3% 72.8%
Interest coverage – 7.8x –
Current ratio 2.0x 0.9x 2.8x
Quick ratio 1.8x 0.7x 2.7x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.4x 2.3x
Altman Z-score 9.38 3.88 16.72

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEXPOITLOPE
Dividend yield 1.6% – –
Net buyback yield 5.7% 18.7% 8.3%
Shareholder yield 7.3% 18.7% 8.3%
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.

ConsensusEXPOITLOPE
Forward P/E 34.6xFY2026 14.5xFY2026 16.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.21FY2026 $15.20FY2026 $9.55FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 +15.4%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.1% +11.6% +25.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $600.53MFY2026 $6.72BFY2026 $1.10BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.9%FY2026 +3.4%FY2026 -0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.4% +3.5% +14.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEXPOITLOPE
Held by institutions 92.3% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 336 650 447
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% -0.6% +1.8%
Institutions buying 155 281 208
Institutions selling 146 291 182
Buyers to sellers 1.06 0.97 1.14

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.

EXPOITLOPE
EXPO 1.00 0.48 0.34
IT 0.48 1.00 0.39
LOPE 0.34 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EXPO, IT and LOPE?

Gartner (IT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Exponent (EXPO) $3.76B, Gartner (IT) $14.64B, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) $4.01B.

Which stock is cheaper, EXPO, IT and LOPE?

Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Exponent (EXPO) 33.6x, Gartner (IT) 18.9x, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 17.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Gartner (IT) is cheapest (Exponent (EXPO) 34.6x, Gartner (IT) 14.5x, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 16.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Exponent (EXPO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Exponent (EXPO) +12.8%, Gartner (IT) +0.7%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) has the highest net margin (Exponent (EXPO) 17.7%, Gartner (IT) 12.0%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 19.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Exponent (EXPO) returned the most: Exponent (EXPO) +12.8%, Gartner (IT) -13.6%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) -28.0%. Over five years, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) compounded fastest (Exponent (EXPO) -7.9%/yr, Gartner (IT) -7.5%/yr, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) +12.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) has been the steadiest (Exponent (EXPO) 33.0%, Gartner (IT) 57.6%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 32.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, EXPO, IT and LOPE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) leads on 5. 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.