NOW vs APPN vs PATH Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Appian and UiPath Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$158.99 +12.9% 1M -15.4% 1Y
Market cap
$162.99B
P/E
97.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
5 wins
APPN Appian Corp
$52.35 +37.9% 1M +68.6% 1Y
Market cap
$3.76B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$795.31M
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
1 win
PATH UiPath, Inc.
$14.14 +8.4% 1M -8.4% 1Y
Market cap
$7.45B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.72B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

ServiceNow leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (ServiceNow 5, UiPath 4, Appian 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWAPPNPATHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $162.99B $3.76B $7.45B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 97.6x -353.8x 20.6x PATH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 41.3x 46.7x 18.6x PATH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.2% +20.9% +15.0% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.3% -1.3% 21.0% PATH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 6.5% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 3.4x — NOW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.4% +68.6% -8.4% APPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.0%/yr -11.2%/yr -22.6%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.7% 68.2% 65.0% NOW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 51/100 76/100 PATH

Percentile Scorecard

NOWAPPNPATH

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

AxisNOWAPPNPATH
Valuation 27 #74 of 101 41 #60 of 101 77 #24 of 101
Growth 58 #41 of 97 91 #10 of 97 87 #14 of 97
Profitability 81 #19 of 94 55 #43 of 94 72 #27 of 94
Financial Health 51 #54 of 109 32 #75 of 109 88 #14 of 109
Shareholder Returns 35 #42 of 64 38 #40 of 64 54 #30 of 64
Overall 50 51 76
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • APPN ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • PATH ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWAPPNPATHSPY
1 month +12.9%+37.9%+8.4% -1.0%
3 months +61.0%+120.4%+30.4% +2.9%
6 months +76.3%+136.3%+36.4% +6.4%
Year to date +3.8%+47.8%-13.7% +11.4%
1 year -15.4%+68.6%-8.4% +13.1%
3 years +43.4%+25.8%-11.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +12.8%+8.0%-4.0% +21.5%
5 years +15.8%-44.9%-72.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.0%-11.2%-22.6% +10.9%
10 years +893.1%—— +255.2%
10 years, per year +25.8%—— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNOWAPPNPATHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.7%68.2%65.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.5%59.7%66.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.620.511.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.261.01-0.13 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-81.9%-83.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.0%0.0%-26.7% -2.5%
52-week high $189.26$52.35$19.29 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$18.72$9.38 $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.

MultipleNOWAPPNPATH
P/E now vs peer median 98.2xmedian 29.9x -359.3xmedian 29.9x 20.3xmedian 29.9x
P/S now vs peer median 11.2xmedian 2.8x 4.7xmedian 2.8x 3.7xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 48.9xmedian 17.4x 188.9xmedian 17.4x 17.4xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.9xmedian 16.9x 49.0xmedian 16.9x 17.8xmedian 16.9x
P/B now vs peer median 13.1xmedian 3.1x -35.7xmedian 3.1x 3.3xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 18.89median 0.86 -6.06median 0.86 0.33median 0.86

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 monthsNOWAPPNPATH
Revenue $14.73B $795.31M $1.72B
Gross profit $11.02B $565.62M $1.42B
Operating income $1.68B $10.14M $152.95M
Net income $1.67B -$10.62M $361.92M
Free cash flow $4.58B $76.75M $362.96M
R&D $3.26B $185.95M $368.32M
EPS (diluted) $1.61 $-0.15 $0.69
Cash & equivalents $2.50B $121.11M $607.41M
Total debt $7.52B $236.03M –
Shares (diluted) 1.03B 72.90M 523.01M
Enterprise value $141.45B $3.01B $1.98B

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
MetricNOWAPPNPATH
P/E 98.2x -359.3x 20.3x
P/FCF 35.9x 49.0x 17.8x
P/Operating cash flow 31.0x 46.5x 17.3x
P/S 11.2x 4.7x 3.7x
P/B 13.1x -35.7x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 18.8x -35.5x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 48.9x 188.9x 17.4x
EV/EBIT 99.6x 377.3x 33.8x
EV/Revenue 11.4x 4.8x 3.0x
EV/FCF 36.5x 49.9x 14.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.5x 47.4x 13.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 18.89 -6.06 0.33

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWAPPNPATH
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.2% 20.9% 15.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 16.2% 14.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.4% 19.3% 14.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.5% 15.8% 13.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 4.9% 172.8% 430.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 49.1% 27.4% 38.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 0.5% 38.4% 1,695%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 59.3% 59.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.7% 37.3% 1,763%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 59.3% 61.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.0% 66.0% 11.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.2% 42.0% 27.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.0% 66.9% 17.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.7% 39.7% 29.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWAPPNPATH
Gross margin 74.8% 71.1% 82.6%
EBITDA margin 23.2% 2.5% 17.2%
Operating margin 11.4% 1.3% 8.9%
Pretax margin 15.9% -0.7% 12.3%
Net margin 11.3% -1.3% 21.0%
FCF margin 31.1% 9.6% 21.1%
Operating cash flow margin 36.0% 10.2% 21.7%
Return on equity 13.8% – 18.8%
Return on assets 6.0% -1.8% 12.5%
Return on invested capital – 6.5% –
Return on capital employed 10.6% 5.3% 7.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 1.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x -7.6x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 12.3% 5.4% 13.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWAPPNPATH
Debt / assets 23.7% 40.3% –
Debt / equity 0.6x -2.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 3.4x –
Debt / FCF 1.6x 3.1x –
Liabilities / assets 60.5% 118.0% 33.0%
Equity / assets 39.5% -18.0% 67.0%
Interest coverage – 0.6x –
Current ratio 0.7x 1.0x 2.4x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.8x 2.1x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.4x 1.6x
Altman Z-score 5.92 3.18 4.47

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWAPPNPATH
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 1.9% 2.0% 3.9%
Shareholder yield 1.9% 2.0% 3.9%
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.

ConsensusNOWAPPNPATH
Forward P/E 41.3xFY2026 46.7xFY2026 18.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $1.12FY2026 $0.76FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +83.6%FY2026 +5.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.3% +20.5% +14.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.24BFY2026 $897.68MFY2026 $1.87BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +23.5%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% +12.0% -3.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWAPPNPATH
Held by institutions 81.6% 94.9% 79.0%
Institutions holding 2,224 212 525
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% -1.3% +14.3%
Institutions buying 1,285 120 276
Institutions selling 779 52 169
Buyers to sellers 1.65 2.31 1.63

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.

NOWAPPNPATH
NOW 1.00 0.59 0.64
APPN 0.59 1.00 0.56
PATH 0.64 0.56 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, APPN and PATH?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $162.99B, Appian (APPN) $3.76B, UiPath (PATH) $7.45B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, APPN and PATH?

UiPath (PATH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 97.6x, Appian (APPN) -353.8x, UiPath (PATH) 20.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, UiPath (PATH) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 41.3x, Appian (APPN) 46.7x, UiPath (PATH) 18.6x). 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) +22.2%, Appian (APPN) +20.9%, UiPath (PATH) +15.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

UiPath (PATH) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%, Appian (APPN) -1.3%, UiPath (PATH) 21.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Appian (APPN) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -15.4%, Appian (APPN) +68.6%, UiPath (PATH) -8.4%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) +3.0%/yr, Appian (APPN) -11.2%/yr, UiPath (PATH) -22.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, ServiceNow (NOW) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 58.7%, Appian (APPN) 68.2%, UiPath (PATH) 65.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.