GOOGL vs IBM vs PLTR Stock Comparison

Alphabet, International Business Machines and Palantir Technologies Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (IBTA) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
GOOGL Alphabet Inc.
$278.99 -18.8% 1M -0.8% 1Y
Market cap
$3.39T
P/E
14.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$471.10B
Div. yield
0.31%
Digital Advertising Technology
8 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Alphabet leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Alphabet 8, Palantir Technologies 3, International Business Machines 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGOOGLIBMPLTRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.39T $237.97B $428.53B GOOGL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.4x 22.2x 141.9x GOOGL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.2x 19.2x 107.4x GOOGL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.2% +7.9% +78.9% PLTR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 49.9% 15.5% 49.0% GOOGL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.7% 11.3% — GOOGL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.8x 3.3x — GOOGL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.31% 2.67% — IBM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.8% -17.8% -11.0% GOOGL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.7%/yr +15.8%/yr +46.9%/yr PLTR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 34.1% 50.8% 59.6% GOOGL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 68/100 68/100 PLTR

Percentile Scorecard

GOOGLIBMPLTR

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

AxisGOOGLIBMPLTR
Valuation 38 #102 of 165 78 #9 of 37 22 #78 of 100
Growth 67 #51 of 153 60 #15 of 36 100 #1 of 97
Profitability 83 #27 of 153 91 #4 of 34 96 #5 of 94
Financial Health 74 #47 of 179 38 #24 of 38 98 #3 of 111
Shareholder Returns 20 #75 of 94 71 #7 of 22 25 #48 of 64
Overall 57 68 68
  • GOOGL ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • IBM ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • PLTR ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGOOGLIBMPLTRSPY
1 month -18.8%+13.5%-5.5% -2.3%
3 months -25.3%+11.7%+41.9% -0.7%
6 months -27.2%+10.1%+22.1% +4.8%
Year to date -10.9%-14.7%+0.3% +10.3%
1 year -0.8%-17.8%-11.0% +10.3%
3 years +116.1%+70.8%+844.1% +73.0%
3 years, per year +29.3%+19.5%+111.5% +20.1%
5 years +90.3%+107.8%+582.8% +61.9%
5 years, per year +13.7%+15.8%+46.9% +10.1%
10 years +607.7%+73.9%— +258.6%
10 years, per year +21.6%+5.7%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGOOGLIBMPLTRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 34.1%50.8%59.6% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.5%60.0%56.1% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.400.832.00 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.02-0.35-0.19 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-37.4%-77.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -30.7%-23.3%-14.7% -3.5%
52-week high $402.62$329.23$209.05 $779.14
52-week low $273.50$205.96$107.27 $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.

MultipleGOOGLIBMPLTR
P/E now vs peer median 14.4xmedian 17.3x 22.2xmedian 26.4x 141.9xmedian 28.5x
P/S now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 1.4x 3.4xmedian 3.8x 69.6xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.6xmedian 14.5x 17.9xmedian 21.2x 157.4xmedian 16.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 171.7xmedian 10.8x 17.3xmedian 17.3x 127.6xmedian 16.2x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 1.7x 6.9xmedian 3.4x 43.4xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.25median 0.40 0.31median 0.34 0.50median 0.90

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 monthsGOOGLIBMPLTR
Revenue $471.10B $69.10B $6.16B
Gross profit $286.70B $40.15B $5.22B
Operating income $156.98B $11.11B $2.63B
Net income $235.69B $10.73B $3.03B
Free cash flow $19.75B $13.79B $3.36B
R&D $74.46B $8.75B $641.24M
EPS (diluted) $19.12 $11.25 $1.17
Cash & equivalents $56.33B $7.17B $2.03B
Total debt $125.10B $61.99B –
Shares (diluted) 12.31B 953.30M 2.57B
Enterprise value $3.12T $188.88B $397.59B

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
MetricGOOGLIBMPLTR
P/E 14.4x 22.2x 141.9x
P/FCF 171.7x 17.3x 127.6x
P/Operating cash flow 18.9x 16.0x 126.0x
P/S 7.2x 3.4x 69.6x
P/B 5.0x 6.9x 43.4x
P/Tangible book 5.1x 11.6x 43.4x
EV/EBITDA 17.6x 17.9x 157.4x
EV/EBIT 20.7x 26.3x 159.1x
EV/Revenue 6.9x 4.2x 68.1x
EV/FCF 164.6x 21.2x 124.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.1x 19.6x 123.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.25 0.31 0.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMPLTR
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.2% 7.9% 78.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.6% 4.5% 44.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 25.7% 8.9% 89.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.0% 6.7% 47.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 26.5% 19.6% 362.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.8% 13.5% 247.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 89.7% 83.9% 292.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 52.3% 74.3% 308.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 87.8% 82.8% 294.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 57.2% 72.3% 286.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.6% 12.1% 96.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.0% 6.6% 103.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -73.2% 12.7% 96.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -36.6% 8.2% 107.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMPLTR
Gross margin 60.9% 58.1% 84.8%
EBITDA margin 39.3% 23.6% 43.3%
Operating margin 33.3% 16.1% 42.8%
Pretax margin 61.1% 15.1% 49.9%
Net margin 49.9% 15.5% 49.0%
FCF margin 4.2% 20.0% 54.6%
Operating cash flow margin 38.1% 21.5% 55.2%
Return on equity 35.8% 31.7% 32.9%
Return on assets 24.5% 7.0% 27.7%
Return on invested capital 16.7% 11.3% –
Return on capital employed 19.0% 9.4% 28.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x 1.4x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 6.5% 2.7% 13.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMPLTR
Debt / assets 12.5% 40.8% –
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.8x 3.3x –
Debt / FCF 6.3x 4.5x –
Liabilities / assets 32.5% 77.3% 15.4%
Equity / assets 67.5% 22.7% 84.6%
Interest coverage – 5.8x –
Current ratio 2.8x 0.8x 7.2x
Quick ratio 2.5x 0.4x 7.1x
Cash ratio 2.0x 0.2x 6.1x
Altman Z-score 8.24 3.29 145.41

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGOOGLIBMPLTR
Dividend yield 0.3% 2.7% –
Net buyback yield -0.2% -0.3% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 0.1% 2.4% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 58.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 45.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 1.7% –

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.

ConsensusGOOGLIBMPLTR
Forward P/E 13.2xFY2026 19.2xFY2026 107.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $21.10FY2026 $13.14FY2026 $1.66FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +95.2%FY2026 +13.4%FY2026 +121.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -31.6% -1.8% +47.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $528.22BFY2026 $66.37BFY2026 $8.41BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +31.1%FY2026 -1.7%FY2026 +87.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +21.6% +15.8% +37.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGOOGLIBMPLTR
Held by institutions 70.1% 65.1% 60.3%
Institutions holding 5,743 3,637 2,839
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.6% +3.5% +10.9%
Institutions buying 2,657 1,976 1,481
Institutions selling 2,575 1,228 1,095
Buyers to sellers 1.03 1.61 1.35

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.

GOOGLIBMPLTR
GOOGL 1.00 0.02 0.22
IBM 0.02 1.00 0.27
PLTR 0.22 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GOOGL, IBM and PLTR?

Alphabet (GOOGL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alphabet (GOOGL) $3.39T, International Business Machines (IBM) $237.97B, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) $428.53B.

Which stock is cheaper, GOOGL, IBM and PLTR?

Alphabet (GOOGL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alphabet (GOOGL) 14.4x, International Business Machines (IBM) 22.2x, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 141.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alphabet (GOOGL) is cheapest (Alphabet (GOOGL) 13.2x, International Business Machines (IBM) 19.2x, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 107.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alphabet (GOOGL) +22.2%, International Business Machines (IBM) +7.9%, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) +78.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alphabet (GOOGL) has the highest net margin (Alphabet (GOOGL) 49.9%, International Business Machines (IBM) 15.5%, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 49.0%). On return on invested capital, Alphabet (GOOGL) leads (Alphabet (GOOGL) 16.7%, International Business Machines (IBM) 11.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Alphabet (GOOGL) returned the most: Alphabet (GOOGL) -0.8%, International Business Machines (IBM) -17.8%, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) -11.0%. Over five years, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) compounded fastest (Alphabet (GOOGL) +13.7%/yr, International Business Machines (IBM) +15.8%/yr, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) +46.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

International Business Machines (IBM) has the highest dividend yield: Alphabet (GOOGL) 0.31%, International Business Machines (IBM) 2.67%. Palantir Technologies (PLTR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alphabet (GOOGL) has been the steadiest (Alphabet (GOOGL) 34.1%, International Business Machines (IBM) 50.8%, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 59.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 8. 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.