GOOGL vs MSFT vs QNST Stock Comparison

Alphabet, Microsoft and Quinstreet Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GOOGL Alphabet Inc.
$320.21 -5.2% 1M +26.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.85T
P/E
15.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$445.87B
Div. yield
–
Digital Advertising Technology
5 wins
MSFT Microsoft Corp
$524.51 +4.8% 1M +0.8% 1Y
Market cap
$3.96T
P/E
29.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$331.84B
Div. yield
0.01%
Cloud Platforms Technology
3 wins
QNST Quinstreet, Inc
$16.52 +15.7% 1M +11.2% 1Y
Market cap
$927.13M
P/E
11.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.29B
Div. yield
–
Digital Advertising Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionGOOGLMSFTQNSTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.85T $3.96T $927.13M MSFT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 15.8x 29.6x 11.4x QNST
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.2x 25.7x 9.7x QNST
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.1% +17.8% +18.3% GOOGL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 54.8% 40.3% 6.3% GOOGL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 18.6% 26.7% 9.2% MSFT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.8x -0.2x -1.0x QNST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +26.5% +0.8% +11.2% GOOGL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +18.4%/yr +11.2%/yr +2.2%/yr GOOGL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.6% 32.7% 57.6% GOOGL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 79/100 71/100 MSFT

Percentile Scorecard

GOOGLMSFTQNST

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

AxisGOOGLMSFTQNST
Valuation 37 #105 of 167 54 #18 of 38 80 #35 of 167
Growth 73 #42 of 153 77 #9 of 36 98 #4 of 153
Profitability 87 #21 of 153 97 #2 of 34 64 #56 of 153
Financial Health 79 #38 of 179 84 #7 of 38 61 #71 of 179
Shareholder Returns 28 #68 of 94 81 #5 of 22 53 #45 of 94
Overall 61 79 71
  • GOOGL ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • MSFT ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • QNST ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGOOGLMSFTQNSTSPY
1 month -5.2%+4.8%+15.7% -1.0%
3 months +0.1%+37.4%+9.0% +2.9%
6 months -7.0%+23.5%+26.8% +6.4%
Year to date +2.3%+8.5%+15.0% +11.4%
1 year +26.5%+0.8%+11.2% +13.1%
3 years +130.7%+58.7%+58.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +32.2%+16.7%+16.7% +21.5%
5 years +132.8%+69.7%+11.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +18.4%+11.2%+2.2% +10.9%
10 years +677.2%+779.2%+439.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +22.8%+24.3%+18.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureGOOGLMSFTQNSTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.6%32.7%57.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.9%30.9%51.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.381.000.71 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.840.020.19 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-37.6%-62.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.5%-3.5%-25.0% -2.5%
52-week high $402.62$543.45$22.02 $779.14
52-week low $253.08$352.83$10.56 $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.

MultipleGOOGLMSFTQNST
P/E now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 17.5x 29.1xmedian 29.1x 11.6xmedian 17.5x
P/S now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 1.4x 11.7xmedian 4.5x 0.7xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.7xmedian 14.9x 19.4xmedian 21.5x 14.4xmedian 14.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 73.0xmedian 11.2x 58.2xmedian 17.3x 7.3xmedian 11.2x
P/B now vs peer median 6.1xmedian 1.7x 8.8xmedian 3.9x 2.9xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.25median 0.42 1.28median 0.33 0.25median 0.42

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 monthsGOOGLMSFTQNST
Revenue $445.87B $331.84B $1.29B
Gross profit $271.52B $225.47B $145.81M
Operating income $147.63B $155.24B $35.43M
Net income $244.21B $133.75B $81.24M
Free cash flow $53.27B $66.99B $127.91M
R&D $68.97B $35.56B $37.30M
EPS (diluted) $19.83 $17.95 $1.40
Cash & equivalents $55.91B $20.94B $128.32M
Total debt $220.88B $164.03B $155.00M
Shares (diluted) 12.31B 7.45B 58.16M
Enterprise value $3.61T $3.88T $488.51M

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
MetricGOOGLMSFTQNST
P/E 15.9x 29.1x 11.6x
P/FCF 73.0x 58.2x 7.3x
P/Operating cash flow 21.0x 21.3x 7.1x
P/S 8.7x 11.7x 0.7x
P/B 6.1x 8.8x 2.9x
P/Tangible book 6.2x 9.2x 3.6x
EV/EBITDA 21.7x 19.4x 14.4x
EV/EBIT 25.4x 24.9x 24.7x
EV/Revenue 8.4x 11.6x 0.7x
EV/FCF 70.3x 57.6x 6.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.2x 21.1x 6.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.25 1.28 0.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGOOGLMSFTQNST
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.1% 17.8% 18.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 15.5% 16.1% 30.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 24.0% 16.3% 31.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 19.2% 15.6% 44.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 21.6% 20.8% 472.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.6% 20.6% 54.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 111.3% 31.3% 1,626%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 58.8% 22.7% 47.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 109.3% 31.6% 1,630%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 64.3% 22.8% 45.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 38.9% 34.4% 54.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.3% 27.8% 123.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -20.2% -6.5% 54.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.2% 4.0% 144.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGOOGLMSFTQNST
Gross margin 60.9% 67.9% 11.3%
EBITDA margin 38.8% 59.9% 4.7%
Operating margin 33.1% 46.8% 2.7%
Pretax margin 67.1% 50.0% 2.4%
Net margin 54.8% 40.3% 6.3%
FCF margin 11.9% 20.2% 9.9%
Operating cash flow margin 41.6% 55.1% 10.1%
Return on equity 43.6% 31.2% 25.6%
Return on assets 30.0% 18.4% 11.4%
Return on invested capital 18.6% 26.7% 9.2%
Return on capital employed 21.5% 27.8% 7.8%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x 1.4x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 6.3% 3.7% 2.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGOOGLMSFTQNST
Debt / assets 10.6% 5.3% 9.7%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.1x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.8x -0.2x -1.0x
Debt / FCF 1.8x 0.6x 0.5x
Liabilities / assets 30.5% 41.7% 55.2%
Equity / assets 69.5% 58.3% 44.8%
Interest coverage – 50.9x 8.1x
Current ratio 2.7x 1.2x 1.2x
Quick ratio 2.5x 0.9x 1.2x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.5x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 10.34 9.18 3.37

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGOOGLMSFTQNST
Dividend yield 0.3% 0.7% –
Net buyback yield 0.4% 0.5% 3.4%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 1.2% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 19.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 39.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 9.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 10.1% –

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.

ConsensusGOOGLMSFTQNST
Forward P/E 15.2xFY2026 25.7xFY2027 9.7xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $21.09FY2026 $20.38FY2027 $1.70FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +95.1%FY2026 +17.9%FY2027 +33.9%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after -31.7% +11.5% +3.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $527.69BFY2026 $402.02BFY2027 $1.46BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +31.0%FY2026 +21.1%FY2027 +13.4%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +21.2% +12.7% +14.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGOOGLMSFTQNST
Held by institutions 80.1% 73.9% 92.6%
Institutions holding 5,738 6,227 214
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.6% +3.3% +0.0%
Institutions buying 2,654 3,432 113
Institutions selling 2,573 2,425 69
Buyers to sellers 1.03 1.42 1.64

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.

GOOGLMSFTQNST
GOOGL 1.00 0.16 0.14
MSFT 0.16 1.00 0.17
QNST 0.14 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GOOGL, MSFT and QNST?

Microsoft (MSFT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alphabet (GOOGL) $3.85T, Microsoft (MSFT) $3.96T, Quinstreet (QNST) $927.13M.

Which stock is cheaper, GOOGL, MSFT and QNST?

Quinstreet (QNST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alphabet (GOOGL) 15.8x, Microsoft (MSFT) 29.6x, Quinstreet (QNST) 11.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Quinstreet (QNST) is cheapest (Alphabet (GOOGL) 15.2x, Microsoft (MSFT) 25.7x, Quinstreet (QNST) 9.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Alphabet (GOOGL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alphabet (GOOGL) +20.1%, Microsoft (MSFT) +17.8%, Quinstreet (QNST) +18.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alphabet (GOOGL) has the highest net margin (Alphabet (GOOGL) 54.8%, Microsoft (MSFT) 40.3%, Quinstreet (QNST) 6.3%). On return on invested capital, Microsoft (MSFT) leads (Alphabet (GOOGL) 18.6%, Microsoft (MSFT) 26.7%, Quinstreet (QNST) 9.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Alphabet (GOOGL) returned the most: Alphabet (GOOGL) +26.5%, Microsoft (MSFT) +0.8%, Quinstreet (QNST) +11.2%. Over five years, Alphabet (GOOGL) compounded fastest (Alphabet (GOOGL) +18.4%/yr, Microsoft (MSFT) +11.2%/yr, Quinstreet (QNST) +2.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Alphabet (GOOGL) 0.00%, Microsoft (MSFT) 0.01%, Quinstreet (QNST) 0.00%. Alphabet (GOOGL) and Quinstreet (QNST) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alphabet (GOOGL) has been the steadiest (Alphabet (GOOGL) 31.6%, Microsoft (MSFT) 32.7%, Quinstreet (QNST) 57.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GOOGL, MSFT and QNST?

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.