NOW vs ADP vs APPN Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Automatic Data Processing and Appian Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$109.65 -15.6% 1M -39.9% 1Y
Market cap
$113.82B
P/E
78.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
5 wins
APPN Appian Corp
$50.47 +42.9% 1M +69.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.62B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$795.31M
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

ServiceNow leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (ServiceNow 5, Automatic Data Processing 4, Appian 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWADPAPPNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $113.82B $113.80B $3.62B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 78.5x 23.9x -346.4x ADP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.5x 22.2x 45.1x ADP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.8% — +20.9% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.4% — -1.3% NOW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.2% — 6.5% APPN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x — 3.4x NOW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 2.38% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -39.9% +9.5% +69.1% APPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.7%/yr +5.0%/yr -12.7%/yr ADP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 66.6% 27.7% 68.3% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 42/100 51/100 NOW

Percentile Scorecard

NOWADPAPPN

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

AxisNOWADPAPPN
Valuation 36 #65 of 101 37 #64 of 101 38 #63 of 101
Growth 49 #50 of 97 28 #70 of 97 91 #10 of 97
Profitability 79 #20 of 93 75 #24 of 93 54 #43 of 93
Financial Health 53 #51 of 108 20 #87 of 108 32 #74 of 108
Shareholder Returns 42 #37 of 63 52 #31 of 63 40 #38 of 63
Overall 52 42 51
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • ADP ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • APPN ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWADPAPPNSPY
1 month -15.6%+9.3%+42.9% +0.7%
3 months -0.4%+8.4%+90.6% +3.7%
6 months +24.2%+35.0%+142.8% +7.1%
Year to date -28.4%+11.2%+42.5% +12.8%
1 year -39.9%+9.5%+69.1% +11.9%
3 years -3.6%+32.4%+28.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year -1.2%+9.8%+8.8% +22.8%
5 years -21.4%+27.4%-49.2% +67.6%
5 years, per year -4.7%+5.0%-12.7% +10.9%
10 years +536.8%+228.2%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +20.3%+12.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureNOWADPAPPNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 66.6%27.7%68.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 75.9%25.8%59.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.69-0.090.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.600.341.01 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-42.2%-81.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.3%-7.1%-3.6% -1.2%
52-week high $186.94$307.94$52.35 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$188.79$18.72 $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.

MultipleNOWADPAPPN
P/E now vs peer median 78.5xmedian 28.0x 23.9xmedian 28.0x -346.4xmedian 28.0x
P/S now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 2.8x 4.7xmedian 2.8x 4.6xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 33.9xmedian 16.9x —median 16.9x 182.2xmedian 16.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 15.9x 19.9xmedian 15.9x 47.2xmedian 15.9x
P/B now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 3.2x 22.3xmedian 3.2x -34.5xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median -22.98median 0.89 —median 0.89 -5.84median 0.89

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 monthsNOWADPAPPN
Revenue $15.43B – $795.31M
Gross profit $11.28B – $565.62M
Operating income $1.49B – $10.14M
Net income $1.45B $4.53B -$10.62M
Free cash flow $4.75B – $76.75M
R&D $3.47B $1.03B $185.95M
EPS (diluted) $1.39 – $-0.15
Cash & equivalents $2.39B $3.28B $121.11M
Total debt $7.52B – $236.03M
Shares (diluted) 1.04B 403.30M 72.90M
Enterprise value $93.08B $113.80B $2.87B

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
MetricNOWADPAPPN
P/E 78.5x 23.9x -346.4x
P/FCF 24.0x 19.9x 47.2x
P/Operating cash flow 21.3x 20.9x 44.9x
P/S 7.4x 4.7x 4.6x
P/B 8.7x 22.3x -34.5x
P/Tangible book 12.0x 33.1x -34.3x
EV/EBITDA 33.9x – 182.2x
EV/EBIT 78.2x – 364.0x
EV/Revenue 7.6x – 4.6x
EV/FCF 24.6x – 48.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.9x 20.9x 45.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -22.98 – -5.84

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWADPAPPN
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.8% – 20.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.1% – 16.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.1% – 19.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 19.2% – 15.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -14.9% – 172.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.1% – 27.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -16.5% 9.4% 38.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.1% 9.0% 59.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -16.2% – 37.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.4% – 59.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.2% 14.6% 66.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% 12.6% 42.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% – 66.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% – 39.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWADPAPPN
Gross margin 73.1% – 71.1%
EBITDA margin 22.3% – 2.5%
Operating margin 9.7% – 1.3%
Pretax margin 13.1% – -0.7%
Net margin 9.4% – -1.3%
FCF margin 30.8% – 9.6%
Operating cash flow margin 34.6% – 10.2%
Return on equity 11.3% 81.4% –
Return on assets 4.6% 7.1% -1.8%
Return on invested capital 5.2% – 6.5%
Return on capital employed 7.5% – 5.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.7x 1.2x -7.6x
Stock comp / revenue 10.4% – 5.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWADPAPPN
Debt / assets 23.6% – 40.3%
Debt / equity 0.6x – -2.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x – 3.4x
Debt / FCF 1.6x – 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 58.9% 92.0% 118.0%
Equity / assets 41.1% 8.0% -18.0%
Interest coverage 14.6x – 0.6x
Current ratio 0.7x 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.4x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 4.44 – 3.07

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWADPAPPN
Dividend yield – 2.4% –
Net buyback yield 2.3% – 2.0%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 2.4% 2.0%
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.

ConsensusNOWADPAPPN
Forward P/E 28.5xFY2026 22.2xFY2027 45.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $12.87FY2027 $1.12FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +15.7%FY2027 +83.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.0% +6.8% +20.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.25BFY2026 $22.14BFY2027 $897.68MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +0.9%FY2027 +23.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% +18.1% +12.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWADPAPPN
Held by institutions 81.6% 88.1% 52.8%
Institutions holding 2,225 2,292 212
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% +4.4% -1.3%
Institutions buying 1,286 1,086 120
Institutions selling 779 874 52
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.24 2.31

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.

NOWADPAPPN
NOW 1.00 0.50 0.54
ADP 0.50 1.00 0.45
APPN 0.54 0.45 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, ADP and APPN?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $113.82B, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $113.80B, Appian (APPN) $3.62B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, ADP and APPN?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 78.5x, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 23.9x, Appian (APPN) -346.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 28.5x, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 22.2x, Appian (APPN) 45.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

ServiceNow (NOW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: ServiceNow (NOW) +21.8%, Appian (APPN) +20.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

ServiceNow (NOW) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%, Appian (APPN) -1.3%). On return on invested capital, Appian (APPN) leads (ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%, Appian (APPN) 6.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Appian (APPN) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -39.9%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +9.5%, Appian (APPN) +69.1%. Over five years, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) -4.7%/yr, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +5.0%/yr, Appian (APPN) -12.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 2.38%. ServiceNow (NOW) and Appian (APPN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 66.6%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 27.7%, Appian (APPN) 68.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NOW, ADP and APPN?

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