MSFT vs ZM vs IBM Stock Comparison

Microsoft, Zoom Communications and International Business Machines Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MSFT Microsoft Corp
$507.12 -2.0% 1M -2.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.77T
P/E
26.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$346.45B
Div. yield
0.72%
Cloud Platforms Technology
5 wins
ZM Zoom Communications, Inc.
$91.98 -1.0% 1M +5.4% 1Y
Market cap
$26.89B
P/E
8.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.97B
Div. yield
–
Communications Platforms Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Microsoft leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Microsoft 5, Zoom Communications 5, International Business Machines 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMSFTZMIBMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.77T $26.89B $237.97B MSFT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.4x 8.5x 22.2x ZM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.9x 14.3x 19.2x ZM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.9% +4.6% +7.9% MSFT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 41.2% 64.1% 15.5% ZM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 26.5% — 11.3% MSFT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.1x — 3.3x MSFT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.72% — 2.67% IBM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.1% +5.4% -17.8% ZM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.7%/yr -20.3%/yr +15.8%/yr IBM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 32.7% 45.0% 50.8% MSFT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 79/100 81/100 68/100 ZM

Percentile Scorecard

MSFTZMIBM

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

AxisMSFTZMIBM
Valuation 61 #15 of 37 70 #9 of 28 78 #9 of 37
Growth 74 #10 of 36 72 #8 of 26 60 #15 of 36
Profitability 97 #2 of 34 83 #5 of 25 91 #4 of 34
Financial Health 84 #7 of 38 97 #2 of 31 38 #24 of 38
Shareholder Returns 81 #5 of 22 – 71 #7 of 22
Overall 79 81 68
  • MSFT ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • ZM ranked among 31 companies in Workplace Software
  • 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

PeriodMSFTZMIBMSPY
1 month -2.0%-1.0%+13.5% -2.3%
3 months +4.0%-6.4%+11.7% -0.7%
6 months +22.6%-13.7%+10.1% +4.8%
Year to date +4.9%+6.6%-14.7% +10.3%
1 year -2.1%+5.4%-17.8% +10.3%
3 years +43.7%+46.0%+70.8% +73.0%
3 years, per year +12.9%+13.5%+19.5% +20.1%
5 years +51.8%-67.8%+107.8% +61.9%
5 years, per year +8.7%-20.3%+15.8% +10.1%
10 years +753.3%—+73.9% +258.6%
10 years, per year +23.9%—+5.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMSFTZMIBMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 32.7%45.0%50.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.8%42.9%60.0% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.991.070.83 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.060.12-0.35 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -37.6%-80.6%-37.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.7%-17.8%-23.3% -3.5%
52-week high $543.45$111.88$329.23 $779.14
52-week low $352.83$72.72$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.

MultipleMSFTZMIBM
P/E now vs peer median 26.4xmedian 26.4x 8.5xmedian 33.0x 22.2xmedian 26.4x
P/S now vs peer median 10.9xmedian 3.8x 5.4xmedian 2.4x 3.4xmedian 3.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 21.2x 12.8xmedian 11.9x 17.9xmedian 21.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 62.8xmedian 17.3x —median 14.5x 17.3xmedian 17.3x
P/B now vs peer median 8.0xmedian 3.4x 2.4xmedian 2.9x 6.9xmedian 3.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.16median 0.34 0.05median 0.72 0.31median 0.34

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 monthsMSFTZMIBM
Revenue $346.45B $4.97B $69.10B
Gross profit $234.39B $3.84B $40.15B
Operating income $163.19B $1.20B $11.11B
Net income $142.63B $3.19B $10.73B
Free cash flow $59.96B – $13.79B
R&D $36.46B $881.96M $8.75B
EPS (diluted) $19.16 $10.64 $11.25
Cash & equivalents $20.28B $931.99M $7.17B
Total debt $35.48B – $61.99B
Shares (diluted) 7.45B 299.75M 953.30M
Enterprise value $3.70T -$3.90B $188.88B

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
MetricMSFTZMIBM
P/E 26.4x 8.5x 22.2x
P/FCF 62.8x – 17.3x
P/Operating cash flow 19.2x – 16.0x
P/S 10.9x 5.4x 3.4x
P/B 8.0x 2.4x 6.9x
P/Tangible book 8.3x 2.4x 11.6x
EV/EBITDA 18.2x 12.8x 17.9x
EV/EBIT 22.9x 16.4x 26.3x
EV/Revenue 10.8x 4.0x 4.2x
EV/FCF 62.3x – 21.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.1x – 19.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.16 0.05 0.31

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMSFTZMIBM
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.9% 4.6% 7.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.6% 3.7% 4.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.0% 5.7% 8.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 15.6% 4.5% 6.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 20.0% 23.2% 19.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 20.2% 112.9% 13.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 36.0% 168.3% 83.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 22.8% 182.3% 74.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 36.3% 175.9% 82.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 22.8% 184.2% 72.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 33.2% – 12.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.3% – 6.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -23.1% – 12.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.8% – 8.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMSFTZMIBM
Gross margin 67.7% 77.2% 58.1%
EBITDA margin 59.3% 30.9% 23.6%
Operating margin 47.1% 24.1% 16.1%
Pretax margin 51.3% 82.5% 15.1%
Net margin 41.2% 64.1% 15.5%
FCF margin 17.3% – 20.0%
Operating cash flow margin 56.5% – 21.5%
Return on equity 31.2% 30.2% 31.7%
Return on assets 18.6% 25.0% 7.0%
Return on invested capital 26.5% – 11.3%
Return on capital employed 26.5% 11.2% 9.4%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x – 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 3.6% – 2.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMSFTZMIBM
Debt / assets 4.6% – 40.8%
Debt / equity 0.1x – 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.1x – 3.3x
Debt / FCF 0.6x – 4.5x
Liabilities / assets 39.6% 16.8% 77.3%
Equity / assets 60.4% 83.2% 22.7%
Interest coverage 50.6x – 5.8x
Current ratio 1.2x 3.8x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 3.7x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.4x 3.4x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 9.14 9.05 3.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMSFTZMIBM
Dividend yield 0.7% – 2.7%
Net buyback yield 0.5% – -0.3%
Shareholder yield 1.2% – 2.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 19.0% – 58.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) 45.1% – 45.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.5% – 1.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 10.1% – 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.

ConsensusMSFTZMIBM
Forward P/E 24.9xFY2027 14.3xFY2026 19.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.39FY2027 $6.45FY2026 $13.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +18.0%FY2027 +9.0%FY2026 +13.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.6% +2.8% -1.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $402.39BFY2027 $4.76BFY2026 $66.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +21.3%FY2027 -2.4%FY2026 -1.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.9% +8.0% +15.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMSFTZMIBM
Held by institutions 73.9% 75.7% 65.1%
Institutions holding 6,232 864 3,637
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.3% +2.9% +3.5%
Institutions buying 3,435 479 1,976
Institutions selling 2,427 279 1,228
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.72 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.

MSFTZMIBM
MSFT 1.00 0.40 0.27
ZM 0.40 1.00 0.30
IBM 0.27 0.30 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MSFT, ZM and IBM?

Microsoft (MSFT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Microsoft (MSFT) $3.77T, Zoom Communications (ZM) $26.89B, International Business Machines (IBM) $237.97B.

Which stock is cheaper, MSFT, ZM and IBM?

Zoom Communications (ZM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Microsoft (MSFT) 26.4x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 8.5x, International Business Machines (IBM) 22.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Zoom Communications (ZM) is cheapest (Microsoft (MSFT) 24.9x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 14.3x, International Business Machines (IBM) 19.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Microsoft (MSFT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Microsoft (MSFT) +17.9%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +4.6%, International Business Machines (IBM) +7.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Zoom Communications (ZM) has the highest net margin (Microsoft (MSFT) 41.2%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 64.1%, International Business Machines (IBM) 15.5%). On return on invested capital, Microsoft (MSFT) leads (Microsoft (MSFT) 26.5%, International Business Machines (IBM) 11.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Zoom Communications (ZM) returned the most: Microsoft (MSFT) -2.1%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +5.4%, International Business Machines (IBM) -17.8%. Over five years, International Business Machines (IBM) compounded fastest (Microsoft (MSFT) +8.7%/yr, Zoom Communications (ZM) -20.3%/yr, International Business Machines (IBM) +15.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

International Business Machines (IBM) has the highest dividend yield: Microsoft (MSFT) 0.72%, International Business Machines (IBM) 2.67%. Zoom Communications (ZM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Microsoft (MSFT) has been the steadiest (Microsoft (MSFT) 32.7%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 45.0%, International Business Machines (IBM) 50.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MSFT, ZM 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 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.