KC vs MSFT vs IBM Stock Comparison

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings, Microsoft and International Business Machines Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MSFT Microsoft Corp
$531.33 +2.9% 1M 0.0% 1Y
Market cap
$3.92T
P/E
29.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$331.84B
Div. yield
0.01%
Cloud Platforms Technology
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Microsoft leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Microsoft 6, International Business Machines 3, Kingsoft Cloud Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKCMSFTIBMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.33B $3.92T $236.77B MSFT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -18.3x 29.3x 21.2x IBM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 26.1x 19.0x IBM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +35.2% +17.8% +6.8% KC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -8.0% 40.3% — MSFT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -2.2% 26.7% — MSFT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.2x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -36.2% 0.0% -20.1% MSFT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.1%/yr +10.4%/yr +15.8%/yr IBM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 71.0% 32.7% 50.7% MSFT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 74/100 79/100 55/100 MSFT

Percentile Scorecard

KCMSFTIBM

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

AxisKCMSFTIBM
Valuation 92 #4 of 38 57 #17 of 38 65 #14 of 38
Growth 100 #1 of 36 77 #9 of 36 29 #26 of 36
Profitability 58 #15 of 34 97 #2 of 34 88 #5 of 34
Financial Health 46 #21 of 38 84 #7 of 38 41 #23 of 38
Shareholder Returns – 80 #5 of 21 –
Overall 74 79 55
  • KC ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • MSFT ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • IBM ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodKCMSFTIBMSPY
1 month -11.6%+2.9%+11.0% -0.2%
3 months -15.5%+35.1%+10.0% +3.9%
6 months -44.6%+23.8%+7.4% +8.2%
Year to date -17.4%+9.9%-15.5% +12.9%
1 year -36.2%0.0%-20.1% +12.3%
3 years +88.5%+61.1%+75.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +23.6%+17.2%+20.7% +23.3%
5 years -65.3%+63.8%+108.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year -19.1%+10.4%+15.8% +10.9%
10 years —+784.1%+70.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+24.4%+5.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureKCMSFTIBMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 71.0%32.7%50.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.9%30.8%59.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.171.000.83 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.510.00-0.40 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -92.3%-37.6%-37.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -53.1%-2.2%-24.0% -1.2%
52-week high $18.21$543.45$329.23 $779.14
52-week low $8.11$352.83$205.96 $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.

MultipleKCMSFTIBM
P/E now vs peer median -18.4xmedian 29.5x 29.5xmedian 29.5x 21.1xmedian 29.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 4.5x 11.9xmedian 4.5x 3.4xmedian 4.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 23.9x 19.7xmedian 23.9x —median 23.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 15.0x 58.9xmedian 15.0x 15.0xmedian 15.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 4.3x 8.9xmedian 4.3x 6.5xmedian 4.3x
PEG now vs peer median -0.59median 0.38 1.29median 0.38 1.31median 0.38

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 monthsKCMSFTIBM
Revenue $1.59B $331.84B $69.87B
Gross profit $238.88M $225.47B $40.50B
Operating income -$50.60M $155.24B –
Net income -$87.93M $133.75B $11.17B
Free cash flow $887.81M $66.99B –
R&D $111.26M $35.56B –
EPS (diluted) $-0.47 $17.95 $11.72
Cash & equivalents $688.91M $20.94B $9.23B
Total debt $3.76B $40.29B –
Shares (diluted) 273.80M 7.45B 953.30M
Enterprise value -$485.43M $3.85T $236.77B

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
MetricKCMSFTIBM
P/E -18.4x 29.5x 21.1x
P/FCF 2.9x 58.9x 15.0x
P/Operating cash flow 2.9x 21.6x 14.9x
P/S 1.6x 11.9x 3.4x
P/B 1.9x 8.9x 6.5x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 9.3x 10.4x
EV/EBITDA – 19.7x –
EV/EBIT -56.3x 25.2x –
EV/Revenue 1.8x 11.8x 3.4x
EV/FCF 3.2x 58.4x –
EV/Operating cash flow 3.2x 21.4x 14.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.59 1.29 1.31

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKCMSFTIBM
Revenue growth (1Y) 35.2% 17.8% 6.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 16.1% 4.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 23.9% 16.3% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 35.2% 15.6% 6.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 79.5% 20.8% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 44.8% 20.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) 69.3% 31.3% 41.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 36.8% 22.7% 17.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 62.3% 31.6% 40.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.2% 22.8% 16.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 245.7% 34.4% 17.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 191.7% 27.8% 5.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 245.7% -6.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 287.5% 4.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKCMSFTIBM
Gross margin 15.0% 67.9% –
EBITDA margin – 59.9% –
Operating margin -3.2% 46.8% –
Pretax margin -5.5% 50.0% –
Net margin -8.0% 40.3% –
FCF margin 55.9% 20.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 55.9% 55.1% 22.7%
Return on equity -6.7% 31.2% 31.6%
Return on assets -2.0% 18.4% 7.3%
Return on invested capital -2.2% 26.7% –
Return on capital employed -1.9% 27.8% –
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -10.1x 1.4x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 3.7% 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKCMSFTIBM
Debt / assets 21.8% 5.3% –
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.2x –
Debt / FCF 1.1x 0.6x –
Liabilities / assets 71.0% 41.7% 76.6%
Equity / assets 29.0% 58.3% 23.4%
Interest coverage -0.6x 50.9x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.2x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.9x –
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.5x –
Altman Z-score 0.08 9.27 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKCMSFTIBM
Dividend yield – 0.7% 2.7%
Net buyback yield – 0.5% –
Shareholder yield – 1.2% 2.7%
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.

ConsensusKCMSFTIBM
Forward P/E – 26.1xFY2027 19.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.25FY2026 $20.39FY2027 $13.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +18.0%FY2027 +13.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +11.6% -1.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.01BFY2026 $402.39BFY2027 $66.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +46.6%FY2026 +21.3%FY2027 -1.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +21.2% +12.9% +15.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKCMSFTIBM
Held by institutions 4.8% 73.9% 65.1%
Institutions holding 86 6,229 3,634
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.9% +3.3% +3.5%
Institutions buying 54 3,433 1,974
Institutions selling 24 2,426 1,227
Buyers to sellers 2.25 1.42 1.61

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.

KCMSFTIBM
KC 1.00 0.17 0.17
MSFT 0.17 1.00 0.26
IBM 0.17 0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KC, MSFT and IBM?

Microsoft (MSFT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) $2.33B, Microsoft (MSFT) $3.92T, International Business Machines (IBM) $236.77B.

Which stock is cheaper, KC, MSFT and IBM?

International Business Machines (IBM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) -18.3x, Microsoft (MSFT) 29.3x, International Business Machines (IBM) 21.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, International Business Machines (IBM) is cheapest (Microsoft (MSFT) 26.1x, International Business Machines (IBM) 19.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) +35.2%, Microsoft (MSFT) +17.8%, International Business Machines (IBM) +6.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Microsoft (MSFT) has the highest net margin (Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) -8.0%, Microsoft (MSFT) 40.3%). On return on invested capital, Microsoft (MSFT) leads (Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) -2.2%, Microsoft (MSFT) 26.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Microsoft (MSFT) returned the most: Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) -36.2%, Microsoft (MSFT) 0.0%, International Business Machines (IBM) -20.1%. Over five years, International Business Machines (IBM) compounded fastest (Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) -19.1%/yr, Microsoft (MSFT) +10.4%/yr, International Business Machines (IBM) +15.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) 0.00%, Microsoft (MSFT) 0.01%, International Business Machines (IBM) 0.00%. Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) and International Business Machines (IBM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Microsoft (MSFT) has been the steadiest (Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC) 71.0%, Microsoft (MSFT) 32.7%, International Business Machines (IBM) 50.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KC, MSFT and IBM?

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