EXPO vs ULS vs IT Stock Comparison

Exponent, UL Solutions and Gartner Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EXPO Exponent Inc
$77.66 +21.0% 1M +12.0% 1Y
Market cap
$3.72B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$632.46M
Div. yield
–
Consulting Industrials
4 wins
ULS UL Solutions Inc.
$72.98 +10.5% 1M -8.8% 1Y
Market cap
$14.67B
P/E
29.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.15B
Div. yield
0.01%
Consulting Industrials
1 win
IT Gartner Inc
$231.21 +23.1% 1M -7.6% 1Y
Market cap
$14.83B
P/E
19.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.46B
Div. yield
–
Consulting Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionEXPOULSITLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.72B $14.67B $14.83B IT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.2x 29.0x 19.1x IT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 35.1x 33.8x 15.2x IT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.8% +6.6% +0.7% EXPO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.7% 16.1% 12.0% EXPO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 22.9% 28.6% IT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.2x 1.1x ULS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +12.0% -8.8% -7.6% EXPO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.0%/yr — -6.3%/yr IT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.0% 42.6% 57.5% EXPO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 64/100 65/100 IT

Percentile Scorecard

EXPOULSIT

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

AxisEXPOULSIT
Valuation 23 #87 of 112 32 #77 of 112 60 #45 of 112
Growth 46 #52 of 96 77 #23 of 96 30 #68 of 96
Profitability 88 #12 of 91 94 #6 of 91 93 #7 of 91
Financial Health 74 #33 of 125 82 #24 of 125 44 #71 of 125
Shareholder Returns 68 #22 of 67 36 #43 of 67 99 #2 of 67
Overall 60 64 65
  • EXPO ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • ULS ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • IT ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodEXPOULSITSPY
1 month +21.0%+10.5%+23.1% -0.8%
3 months +23.7%-18.9%+56.7% +3.5%
6 months +17.3%-17.6%+55.4% +7.0%
Year to date +11.8%-7.5%-8.4% +12.2%
1 year +12.0%-8.8%-7.6% +13.0%
3 years +6.8%—-29.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +2.2%—-10.8% +23.1%
5 years -30.5%—-27.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -7.0%—-6.3% +11.0%
10 years +174.9%—+170.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year +10.6%—+10.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureEXPOULSITSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.0%42.6%57.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.5%40.8%58.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.390.610.35 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.36-0.21-0.13 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -57.2%-38.9%-77.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.7%-30.4%-9.5% -1.8%
52-week high $79.79$104.89$255.58 $779.14
52-week low $53.67$64.05$125.73 $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.

MultipleEXPOULSIT
P/E now vs peer median 33.9xmedian 21.9x 29.2xmedian 21.9x 19.8xmedian 21.9x
P/S now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 0.9x 4.7xmedian 0.9x 2.3xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 26.3xmedian 12.2x 19.4xmedian 12.2x 12.3xmedian 12.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.0xmedian 14.3x 33.8xmedian 14.3x 11.3xmedian 14.3x
P/B now vs peer median 12.8xmedian 2.3x 9.1xmedian 2.3x -87.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 6.75median 1.02 —median 1.02 103.21median 1.02

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 monthsEXPOULSIT
Revenue $632.46M $3.15B $6.46B
Gross profit – $1.58B $4.50B
Operating income $127.58M $562.00M $1.12B
Net income $111.77M $528.00M $775.35M
Free cash flow $108.56M $436.00M $1.29B
EPS (diluted) $2.28 $2.48 $11.65
Cash & equivalents $66.63M $434.00M $1.49B
Total debt – $301.00M $2.98B
Shares (diluted) 48.99M 204.00M 66.58M
Enterprise value $3.10B $13.43B $8.52B

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
MetricEXPOULSIT
P/E 33.9x 29.2x 19.8x
P/FCF 34.0x 33.8x 11.3x
P/Operating cash flow 31.3x 21.7x 10.6x
P/S 5.8x 4.7x 2.3x
P/B 12.8x 9.1x -87.2x
P/Tangible book 12.8x 9.3x -31.6x
EV/EBITDA 26.3x 19.4x 12.3x
EV/EBIT 28.4x 26.0x 14.4x
EV/Revenue 5.7x 4.6x 2.5x
EV/FCF 33.4x 33.5x 12.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 30.7x 21.5x 11.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 6.75 – 103.21

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEXPOULSIT
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.8% 6.6% 0.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.7% – 4.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 10.8% 3.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 4.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.2% 14.0% -4.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.7% – -4.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.7% 52.2% -38.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 3.2% – -5.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 14.3% 53.7% -28.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.0% – 0.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -8.6% 16.7% -14.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.4% – 7.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.2% 19.8% -14.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.8% – 8.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEXPOULSIT
Gross margin – 50.3% 69.6%
EBITDA margin 21.8% 23.9% 20.3%
Operating margin 20.2% 17.9% 17.3%
Pretax margin 24.6% 22.8% 15.9%
Net margin 17.7% 16.1% 12.0%
FCF margin 17.2% 13.9% 19.9%
Operating cash flow margin 18.7% 21.6% 21.4%
Return on equity 35.7% 35.7% –
Return on assets 16.7% 17.4% 10.4%
Return on invested capital – 22.9% 28.6%
Return on capital employed 24.9% 25.9% 29.7%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.0x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.3x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 4.1% 1.9% 2.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEXPOULSIT
Debt / assets – 9.7% 41.4%
Debt / equity – 0.2x -17.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.2x 1.1x
Debt / FCF – 0.7x 2.3x
Liabilities / assets 55.8% 48.1% 102.3%
Equity / assets 44.2% 51.9% -2.3%
Interest coverage – 17.6x 7.8x
Current ratio 2.0x 1.4x 0.9x
Quick ratio 1.8x 1.3x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.5x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 9.48 7.98 3.93

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEXPOULSIT
Dividend yield 1.6% 0.8% –
Net buyback yield 5.6% – 17.9%
Shareholder yield 7.2% 0.8% 17.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 20.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 25.2% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 7.8% –
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.

ConsensusEXPOULSIT
Forward P/E 35.1xFY2026 33.8xFY2026 15.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.21FY2026 $2.16FY2026 $15.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026 +15.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.1% +17.1% +11.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $600.53MFY2026 $3.29BFY2026 $6.72BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.9%FY2026 +8.0%FY2026 +3.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.4% +1.0% +3.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEXPOULSIT
Held by institutions 92.3% 43.6% 100.0%
Institutions holding 336 389 650
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +1.8% -0.6%
Institutions buying 155 231 281
Institutions selling 146 105 291
Buyers to sellers 1.06 2.20 0.97

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.

EXPOULSIT
EXPO 1.00 0.17 0.48
ULS 0.17 1.00 -0.07
IT 0.48 -0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EXPO, ULS and IT?

Gartner (IT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Exponent (EXPO) $3.72B, UL Solutions (ULS) $14.67B, Gartner (IT) $14.83B.

Which stock is cheaper, EXPO, ULS and IT?

Gartner (IT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Exponent (EXPO) 33.2x, UL Solutions (ULS) 29.0x, Gartner (IT) 19.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Gartner (IT) is cheapest (Exponent (EXPO) 35.1x, UL Solutions (ULS) 33.8x, Gartner (IT) 15.2x). 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%, UL Solutions (ULS) +6.6%, Gartner (IT) +0.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Exponent (EXPO) has the highest net margin (Exponent (EXPO) 17.7%, UL Solutions (ULS) 16.1%, Gartner (IT) 12.0%). On return on invested capital, Gartner (IT) leads (UL Solutions (ULS) 22.9%, Gartner (IT) 28.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Exponent (EXPO) returned the most: Exponent (EXPO) +12.0%, UL Solutions (ULS) -8.8%, Gartner (IT) -7.6%. Over five years, Gartner (IT) compounded fastest (Exponent (EXPO) -7.0%/yr, Gartner (IT) -6.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Exponent (EXPO) 0.00%, UL Solutions (ULS) 0.01%, Gartner (IT) 0.00%. Exponent (EXPO) and Gartner (IT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Exponent (EXPO) has been the steadiest (Exponent (EXPO) 33.0%, UL Solutions (ULS) 42.6%, Gartner (IT) 57.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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