FFIV vs NET vs AXON Stock Comparison

F5, Cloudflare and Axon Enterprise Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FFIV F5, Inc.
$455.42 -0.1% 1M +50.9% 1Y
Market cap
$26.20B
P/E
36.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.31B
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
6 wins
NET Cloudflare, Inc.
$326.00 -7.4% 1M +50.1% 1Y
Market cap
$117.97B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.51B
Div. yield
–
Content Delivery Networks Technology
1 win
AXON Axon Enterprise, Inc.
$420.37 -6.7% 1M -41.3% 1Y
Market cap
$34.23B
P/E
171.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.22B
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

F5 leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (F5 6, Axon Enterprise 4, Cloudflare 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFFIVNETAXONLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $26.20B $117.97B $34.23B NET
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 36.1x -571.9x 171.8x FFIV
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.0x 250.8x 52.8x FFIV
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.4% +33.5% +34.6% AXON
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 22.0% -8.2% 6.2% FFIV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -12.4% 0.4% AXON
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 252.9x 7.9x AXON
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +50.9% +50.1% -41.3% FFIV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.0%/yr +12.5%/yr +18.2%/yr AXON
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.1% 67.0% 61.6% FFIV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 49/100 48/100 FFIV

Percentile Scorecard

FFIVNETAXON

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

AxisFFIVNETAXON
Valuation 74 #33 of 124 14 #33 of 38 40 #75 of 124
Growth 40 #68 of 113 66 #13 of 36 57 #49 of 113
Profitability 94 #8 of 110 46 #19 of 34 60 #45 of 110
Financial Health 52 #63 of 129 60 #16 of 38 34 #86 of 129
Shareholder Returns 60 #28 of 68 62 #9 of 22 –
Overall 64 49 48
  • FFIV ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • NET ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • AXON ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodFFIVNETAXONSPY
1 month -0.1%-7.4%-6.7% -1.0%
3 months +16.1%+24.3%-16.3% +2.9%
6 months +50.2%+57.4%+5.9% +6.4%
Year to date +78.4%+65.4%-26.0% +11.4%
1 year +50.9%+50.1%-41.3% +13.1%
3 years +207.2%+446.7%+97.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +45.4%+76.2%+25.4% +21.5%
5 years +118.7%+79.8%+130.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year +17.0%+12.5%+18.2% +10.9%
10 years +285.7%—+1,711.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +14.5%—+33.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureFFIVNETAXONSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.1%67.0%61.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.6%69.3%61.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.041.601.57 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.450.75-0.67 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.4%-82.6%-60.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.1%-9.7%-44.6% -2.5%
52-week high $479.83$360.95$759.44 $779.14
52-week low $223.99$160.19$345.94 $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.

MultipleFFIVNETAXON
P/E now vs peer median 35.6xmedian 37.4x -560.0xmedian 29.1x 169.9xmedian 37.4x
P/S now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 4.4x 41.8xmedian 4.5x 10.6xmedian 4.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 35.0x -9,003xmedian 21.5x 264.4xmedian 35.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 27.2x 301.5xmedian 17.3x 256.4xmedian 27.2x
P/B now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 3.4x 64.8xmedian 3.9x 9.3xmedian 3.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.12median 1.27 -128.93median 0.33 7.41median 1.27

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 monthsFFIVNETAXON
Revenue $3.31B $2.51B $3.22B
Gross profit $2.71B $1.82B $1.91B
Operating income $812.13M -$354.38M $23.77M
Net income $726.51M -$206.28M $199.30M
Free cash flow $969.60M $348.41M $133.19M
R&D $593.25M $573.30M $768.36M
EPS (diluted) $12.62 $-0.58 $2.41
Cash & equivalents $1.61B $1.66B $597.70M
Total debt – $5.17B $7.28B
Shares (diluted) 57.55M 354.33M 82.54M
Enterprise value $20.60B $101.50B $28.76B

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
MetricFFIVNETAXON
P/E 35.6x -560.0x 169.9x
P/FCF 26.7x 301.5x 256.4x
P/Operating cash flow 24.7x 165.8x 128.5x
P/S 7.8x 41.8x 10.6x
P/B 6.7x 64.8x 9.3x
P/Tangible book 6.7x 67.2x 10.1x
EV/EBITDA 26.7x -9,003x 264.4x
EV/EBIT 29.9x -288.3x 1,481x
EV/Revenue 7.3x 40.7x 10.9x
EV/FCF 25.0x 293.2x 264.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.1x 161.3x 132.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.12 -128.93 7.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFFIVNETAXON
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.4% 33.5% 34.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 30.6% 33.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.5% 27.3% 32.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.1% 28.9% 32.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.1% -90.5% 1,682%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.8% -21.0% -40.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.9% -76.2% -38.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 29.8% 2.3% 26.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.7% -72.8% -39.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.9% 4.3% 22.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.2% 32.6% -3.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.3% 41.9% 18.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 1.5% 67.1% -24.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.3% 61.1% 6.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFFIVNETAXON
Gross margin 81.9% 72.6% 59.4%
EBITDA margin 27.5% -0.5% 4.1%
Operating margin 24.5% -14.1% 0.7%
Pretax margin 25.8% -7.9% 5.7%
Net margin 22.0% -8.2% 6.2%
FCF margin 29.3% 13.9% 4.1%
Operating cash flow margin 31.7% 25.2% 8.3%
Return on equity 19.4% -13.1% 5.5%
Return on assets 10.9% -3.3% 2.7%
Return on invested capital – -12.4% 0.4%
Return on capital employed 16.6% -9.6% 0.4%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x -3.1x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 7.6% 20.2% 19.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFFIVNETAXON
Debt / assets – 20.0% 23.1%
Debt / equity – 0.8x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 252.9x 7.9x
Debt / FCF – 3.7x 13.0x
Liabilities / assets 43.5% 75.0% 50.9%
Equity / assets 56.5% 25.0% 49.1%
Interest coverage – -30.9x 0.2x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.8x 2.1x
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.8x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.9x 1.6x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 7.09 13.29 6.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFFIVNETAXON
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 0.6% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 0.6% -0.1% –
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.

ConsensusFFIVNETAXON
Forward P/E 28.0xFY2026 250.8xFY2026 52.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $16.24FY2026 $1.30FY2026 $7.96FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.7%FY2026 +39.8%FY2026 +16.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.0% +21.5% +29.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.52BFY2026 $3.02BFY2026 $3.57BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.8%FY2026 +39.0%FY2026 +28.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.4% +16.4% +41.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFFIVNETAXON
Held by institutions 96.6% 88.2% 88.7%
Institutions holding 831 1,219 1,117
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.6% +2.8% +8.0%
Institutions buying 483 704 666
Institutions selling 240 378 324
Buyers to sellers 2.01 1.86 2.06

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.

FFIVNETAXON
FFIV 1.00 0.31 0.13
NET 0.31 1.00 0.39
AXON 0.13 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FFIV, NET and AXON?

Cloudflare (NET) is the largest by market capitalisation: F5 (FFIV) $26.20B, Cloudflare (NET) $117.97B, Axon Enterprise (AXON) $34.23B.

Which stock is cheaper, FFIV, NET and AXON?

F5 (FFIV) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (F5 (FFIV) 36.1x, Cloudflare (NET) -571.9x, Axon Enterprise (AXON) 171.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, F5 (FFIV) is cheapest (F5 (FFIV) 28.0x, Cloudflare (NET) 250.8x, Axon Enterprise (AXON) 52.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Axon Enterprise (AXON) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: F5 (FFIV) +9.4%, Cloudflare (NET) +33.5%, Axon Enterprise (AXON) +34.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

F5 (FFIV) has the highest net margin (F5 (FFIV) 22.0%, Cloudflare (NET) -8.2%, Axon Enterprise (AXON) 6.2%). On return on invested capital, Axon Enterprise (AXON) leads (Cloudflare (NET) -12.4%, Axon Enterprise (AXON) 0.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year F5 (FFIV) returned the most: F5 (FFIV) +50.9%, Cloudflare (NET) +50.1%, Axon Enterprise (AXON) -41.3%. Over five years, Axon Enterprise (AXON) compounded fastest (F5 (FFIV) +17.0%/yr, Cloudflare (NET) +12.5%/yr, Axon Enterprise (AXON) +18.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, F5 (FFIV) has been the steadiest (F5 (FFIV) 35.1%, Cloudflare (NET) 67.0%, Axon Enterprise (AXON) 61.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FFIV, NET and AXON?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, F5 (FFIV) 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.