NOW vs ADP vs MCO Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Automatic Data Processing and Moodys Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$106.02 -21.1% 1M -42.3% 1Y
Market cap
$112.84B
P/E
78.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
1 win
MCO Moodys Corp /De/
$505.87 +14.6% 1M +5.3% 1Y
Market cap
$91.29B
P/E
31.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.18B
Div. yield
0.01%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Automatic Data Processing leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Automatic Data Processing 7, Moodys 3, ServiceNow 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWADPMCOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $112.84B $122.58B $91.29B ADP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 78.1x 27.1x 31.7x ADP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.3x 23.0x 28.1x ADP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.8% +6.5% +9.0% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.4% 20.3% 35.3% MCO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.2% -47.2% 27.9% MCO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x -0.4x 1.3x ADP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -42.3% +14.8% +5.3% ADP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.1%/yr +5.8%/yr +5.5%/yr ADP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 66.8% 27.9% 28.4% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 38/100 59/100 MCO

Percentile Scorecard

NOWADPMCO

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

AxisNOWADPMCO
Valuation 40 #60 of 100 28 #72 of 100 17 #779 of 939
Growth 47 #52 of 97 26 #72 of 97 72 #231 of 814
Profitability 77 #22 of 94 53 #45 of 94 97 #29 of 828
Financial Health 54 #52 of 111 34 #74 of 111 52 #431 of 898
Shareholder Returns 40 #39 of 64 51 #32 of 64 57 #313 of 725
Overall 52 38 59
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • ADP ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • MCO ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWADPMCOSPY
1 month -21.1%+16.0%+14.6% -2.3%
3 months -7.2%+10.7%+4.7% -0.7%
6 months +15.3%+41.4%+12.5% +4.8%
Year to date -30.8%+16.2%-1.0% +10.3%
1 year -42.3%+14.8%+5.3% +10.3%
3 years -12.6%+36.2%+52.6% +73.0%
3 years, per year -4.4%+10.9%+15.1% +20.1%
5 years -22.9%+32.3%+30.9% +61.9%
5 years, per year -5.1%+5.8%+5.5% +10.1%
10 years +526.6%+232.1%+416.4% +258.6%
10 years, per year +20.1%+12.8%+17.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureNOWADPMCOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 66.8%27.9%28.4% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 76.4%25.9%29.9% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.74-0.130.46 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.630.530.19 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-42.2%-41.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -42.0%-3.0%-6.3% -3.5%
52-week high $182.77$307.94$539.61 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$188.79$412.23 $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.

MultipleNOWADPMCO
P/E now vs peer median 75.9xmedian 28.5x 26.6xmedian 28.5x 30.3xmedian 13.6x
P/S now vs peer median 7.1xmedian 2.8x 5.3xmedian 2.8x 10.7xmedian 3.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 32.8xmedian 16.8x -25.9xmedian 16.8x 22.3xmedian 6.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.2xmedian 16.2x 22.7xmedian 16.2x 29.3xmedian 11.0x
P/B now vs peer median 8.4xmedian 2.9x 23.3xmedian 2.9x 25.6xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -22.22median 0.90 2.67median 0.90 1.15median 0.92

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 monthsNOWADPMCO
Revenue $15.43B $22.26B $8.18B
Gross profit $11.28B $10.37B $6.10B
Operating income $1.49B -$6.45B $3.64B
Net income $1.45B $4.53B $2.89B
Free cash flow $4.75B $5.25B $2.98B
R&D $3.47B $1.03B –
EPS (diluted) $1.39 $11.22 $16.64
Cash & equivalents $2.39B $3.28B $1.51B
Total debt $7.52B $4.97B $6.91B
Shares (diluted) 1.04B 403.30M 173.30M
Enterprise value $92.10B $109.37B $84.22B

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
MetricNOWADPMCO
P/E 75.9x 26.6x 30.3x
P/FCF 23.2x 22.7x 29.3x
P/Operating cash flow 20.6x 21.8x 26.2x
P/S 7.1x 5.3x 10.7x
P/B 8.4x 23.3x 25.6x
P/Tangible book 11.6x 34.6x 50.8x
EV/EBITDA 32.8x -25.9x 22.3x
EV/EBIT 75.7x -18.7x 25.4x
EV/Revenue 7.3x 5.4x 11.3x
EV/FCF 23.8x 23.0x 31.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.2x 22.1x 27.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -22.22 2.67 1.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWADPMCO
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.8% 6.5% 9.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 6.7% 12.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.1% 8.0% 10.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 19.2% 8.0% 14.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -14.9% -2.7% 16.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.1% -3.8% 23.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -16.5% 9.4% 28.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.1% 9.0% 24.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -16.2% 10.3% 33.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.4% 9.9% 26.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.2% 14.6% 22.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% 12.6% 17.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% 14.0% 24.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 13.2% 18.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWADPMCO
Gross margin 73.1% 46.6% 74.6%
EBITDA margin 22.3% -20.9% 50.6%
Operating margin 9.7% -29.0% 44.6%
Pretax margin 13.1% 26.4% 45.2%
Net margin 9.4% 20.3% 35.3%
FCF margin 30.8% 23.6% 36.4%
Operating cash flow margin 34.6% 24.5% 40.7%
Return on equity 11.3% 81.4% 87.8%
Return on assets 4.6% 7.1% 19.6%
Return on invested capital 5.2% -47.2% 27.9%
Return on capital employed 7.5% -54.0% 31.8%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.7x 1.2x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 10.4% 1.1% 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWADPMCO
Debt / assets 23.6% 7.8% 46.6%
Debt / equity 0.6x 1.0x 2.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x -0.4x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 0.9x 2.3x
Liabilities / assets 58.9% 92.0% 77.0%
Equity / assets 41.1% 8.0% 23.0%
Interest coverage 14.6x -13.7x –
Current ratio 0.7x 1.0x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.1x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 4.32 1.87 7.87

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWADPMCO
Dividend yield – 2.3% 0.8%
Net buyback yield 2.4% 2.1% 3.4%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 4.4% 4.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 24.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 23.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 3.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 8.8%

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.

ConsensusNOWADPMCO
Forward P/E 28.3xFY2026 23.0xFY2027 28.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $12.87FY2027 $17.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +15.7%FY2027 +20.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.0% +6.8% -1.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.25BFY2026 $22.14BFY2027 $8.69BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +0.9%FY2027 +12.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% +18.1% -2.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWADPMCO
Held by institutions 81.6% 88.1% 90.8%
Institutions holding 2,226 2,293 1,406
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% +4.4% -1.6%
Institutions buying 1,286 1,087 645
Institutions selling 780 874 523
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.24 1.23

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.

NOWADPMCO
NOW 1.00 0.49 0.34
ADP 0.49 1.00 0.56
MCO 0.34 0.56 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, ADP and MCO?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $112.84B, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $122.58B, Moodys (MCO) $91.29B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, ADP and MCO?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 78.1x, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 27.1x, Moodys (MCO) 31.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 28.3x, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 23.0x, Moodys (MCO) 28.1x). 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%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +6.5%, Moodys (MCO) +9.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Moodys (MCO) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 20.3%, Moodys (MCO) 35.3%). On return on invested capital, Moodys (MCO) leads (ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) -47.2%, Moodys (MCO) 27.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Automatic Data Processing (ADP) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -42.3%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +14.8%, Moodys (MCO) +5.3%. Over five years, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) -5.1%/yr, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +5.8%/yr, Moodys (MCO) +5.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: ServiceNow (NOW) 0.00%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 0.00%, Moodys (MCO) 0.01%. ServiceNow (NOW) and Automatic Data Processing (ADP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 66.8%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 27.9%, Moodys (MCO) 28.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) leads on 7. 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.