GOOGL vs IBM vs APP Stock Comparison

Alphabet, International Business Machines and AppLovin Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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GOOGL Alphabet Inc.
$324.89 -5.2% 1M +21.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.95T
P/E
16.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$471.10B
Div. yield
0.26%
Digital Advertising Technology
5 wins
APP AppLovin Corp
$259.97 -15.7% 1M -58.5% 1Y
Market cap
$87.17B
P/E
19.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.83B
Div. yield
–
Digital Advertising Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Alphabet leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Alphabet 5, AppLovin 3, International Business Machines 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGOOGLIBMAPPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.95T $238.61B $87.17B GOOGL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.8x 21.3x 19.8x GOOGL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.4x 19.3x 15.4x GOOGL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.2% +6.8% +60.6% APP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — 64.6% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 71.3% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 0.1x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.26% 2.66% — IBM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +21.5% -19.0% -58.5% GOOGL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.0%/yr +16.2%/yr +21.5%/yr APP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.3% 50.7% 73.7% GOOGL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 56/100 72/100 APP

Percentile Scorecard

GOOGLIBMAPP

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

AxisGOOGLIBMAPP
Valuation 30 #117 of 166 65 #14 of 38 41 #98 of 166
Growth 82 #29 of 152 29 #26 of 36 99 #2 of 152
Profitability 62 #58 of 152 91 #4 of 34 99 #2 of 152
Financial Health 79 #38 of 179 41 #23 of 38 69 #57 of 179
Shareholder Returns 19 #76 of 94 – 50 #48 of 94
Overall 54 56 72
  • GOOGL ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • IBM ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • APP ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGOOGLIBMAPPSPY
1 month -5.2%+14.8%-15.7% +0.9%
3 months -3.5%+11.8%-34.9% +5.9%
6 months -7.2%+11.5%-41.4% +8.5%
Year to date +3.8%-14.5%-61.4% +13.3%
1 year +21.5%-19.0%-58.5% +12.4%
3 years +165.9%+77.7%+617.8% +88.1%
3 years, per year +38.6%+21.1%+93.0% +23.5%
5 years +119.4%+111.8%+164.6% +68.2%
5 years, per year +17.0%+16.2%+21.5% +11.0%
10 years +692.8%+73.6%— +263.4%
10 years, per year +23.0%+5.7%— +13.8%

Risk

MeasureGOOGLIBMAPPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.3%50.7%73.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.9%59.7%81.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.350.832.25 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.69-0.37-0.79 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-37.4%-91.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.3%-23.1%-64.6% -0.9%
52-week high $402.62$329.23$733.60 $779.14
52-week low $267.47$205.96$259.97 $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.

MultipleGOOGLIBMAPP
P/E now vs peer median 16.8xmedian 16.8x 21.3xmedian 27.6x 19.8xmedian 16.8x
P/S now vs peer median 8.4xmedian 1.4x 3.4xmedian 4.8x 12.8xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.9x —median 24.1x 16.2xmedian 13.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 77.8xmedian 11.4x 15.0xmedian 15.0x 19.3xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 1.8x 6.6xmedian 4.4x 27.6xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.29median 0.36 1.33median 0.38 0.04median 0.36

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 monthsGOOGLIBMAPP
Revenue $471.10B $69.87B $6.83B
Gross profit – $40.50B $6.04B
Operating income $156.98B – $5.29B
Net income $235.69B $11.17B $4.41B
Free cash flow – – $4.53B
R&D $74.46B – $320.08M
EPS (diluted) $19.12 $11.72 $13.08
Cash & equivalents $56.33B $9.23B $3.05B
Total debt – – $14.05B
Shares (diluted) 12.31B 953.30M 337.03M
Enterprise value $3.63T $239.28B $77.20B

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
MetricGOOGLIBMAPP
P/E 16.8x 21.3x 19.8x
P/FCF 77.8x 15.0x 19.3x
P/Operating cash flow 22.0x 15.1x 19.3x
P/S 8.4x 3.4x 12.8x
P/B 5.8x 6.6x 27.6x
P/Tangible book 5.9x 10.6x 31.0x
EV/EBITDA – – 16.2x
EV/EBIT – – 16.6x
EV/Revenue 7.8x 3.4x 12.8x
EV/FCF – – 19.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.5x 15.1x 19.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.29 1.33 0.04

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMAPP
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.2% 6.8% 60.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.6% 4.5% 33.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.1% 64.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.4% 52.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 26.5% – 78.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.8% – 188.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 89.7% 41.3% 81.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 52.3% 17.3% 503.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 87.8% 40.6% 84.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 57.2% 16.1% 524.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.6% 17.4% 58.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.0% 5.6% 74.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 58.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 74.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMAPP
Gross margin – – 88.5%
EBITDA margin – – 79.4%
Operating margin – – 77.4%
Pretax margin – – 76.3%
Net margin – – 64.6%
FCF margin – – 66.3%
Operating cash flow margin 38.1% 22.7% 66.3%
Return on equity 35.8% 31.6% 159.6%
Return on assets 24.5% 7.3% 55.2%
Return on invested capital – – 71.3%
Return on capital employed – – 78.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x 1.4x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 6.5% 2.8% 4.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMAPP
Debt / assets – – 42.5%
Debt / equity – – 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 0.1x
Debt / FCF – – 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 32.5% 76.6% 61.7%
Equity / assets 67.5% 23.4% 38.3%
Interest coverage – – 25.8x
Current ratio 2.8x 0.9x 4.3x
Quick ratio 2.0x – 4.2x
Cash ratio 2.0x – 2.4x
Altman Z-score – – 14.23

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMAPP
Dividend yield 0.3% 2.7% –
Net buyback yield – – 2.8%
Shareholder yield 0.3% 2.7% 2.8%
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.

ConsensusGOOGLIBMAPP
Forward P/E 15.4xFY2026 19.3xFY2026 15.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $21.10FY2026 $13.14FY2026 $16.83FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +95.2%FY2026 +13.4%FY2026 +72.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -31.6% -1.8% +25.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $528.22BFY2026 $66.37BFY2026 $8.60BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +31.1%FY2026 -1.7%FY2026 +56.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +21.6% +15.8% +13.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGOOGLIBMAPP
Held by institutions 80.1% 65.1% 74.3%
Institutions holding 5,741 3,635 1,457
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.6% +3.5% +6.5%
Institutions buying 2,657 1,975 835
Institutions selling 2,573 1,227 478
Buyers to sellers 1.03 1.61 1.75

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.

GOOGLIBMAPP
GOOGL 1.00 0.04 0.25
IBM 0.04 1.00 0.26
APP 0.25 0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GOOGL, IBM and APP?

Alphabet (GOOGL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alphabet (GOOGL) $3.95T, International Business Machines (IBM) $238.61B, AppLovin (APP) $87.17B.

Which stock is cheaper, GOOGL, IBM and APP?

Alphabet (GOOGL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alphabet (GOOGL) 16.8x, International Business Machines (IBM) 21.3x, AppLovin (APP) 19.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alphabet (GOOGL) is cheapest (Alphabet (GOOGL) 15.4x, International Business Machines (IBM) 19.3x, AppLovin (APP) 15.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

AppLovin (APP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alphabet (GOOGL) +22.2%, International Business Machines (IBM) +6.8%, AppLovin (APP) +60.6%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Alphabet (GOOGL) returned the most: Alphabet (GOOGL) +21.5%, International Business Machines (IBM) -19.0%, AppLovin (APP) -58.5%. Over five years, AppLovin (APP) compounded fastest (Alphabet (GOOGL) +17.0%/yr, International Business Machines (IBM) +16.2%/yr, AppLovin (APP) +21.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

International Business Machines (IBM) has the highest dividend yield: Alphabet (GOOGL) 0.26%, International Business Machines (IBM) 2.66%. AppLovin (APP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alphabet (GOOGL) has been the steadiest (Alphabet (GOOGL) 31.3%, International Business Machines (IBM) 50.7%, AppLovin (APP) 73.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GOOGL, IBM and APP?

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