NOW vs CIEN vs BR Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Ciena and Broadridge Financial Solutions Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$158.19 +16.6% 1M -15.0% 1Y
Market cap
$159.15B
P/E
95.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
1 win
CIEN Ciena Corp
$336.09 -5.8% 1M +87.7% 1Y
Market cap
$49.78B
P/E
76.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Broadridge Financial Solutions leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Broadridge Financial Solutions 6, Ciena 4, ServiceNow 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWCIENBRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $159.15B $49.78B $20.68B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 95.3x 76.1x 18.4x BR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 41.1x 44.2x 17.5x BR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.2% +32.6% +8.5% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.3% 10.9% 15.0% BR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 12.4% 16.7% BR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.7x 1.8x CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.0% +87.7% -22.0% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.5%/yr +44.4%/yr 0.0%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.8% 77.9% 30.6% BR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 55/100 56/100 BR

Percentile Scorecard

NOWCIENBR

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

AxisNOWCIENBR
Valuation 28 #74 of 102 19 #90 of 111 62 #39 of 102
Growth 58 #42 of 98 95 #6 of 108 40 #59 of 98
Profitability 82 #18 of 95 83 #19 of 104 81 #19 of 95
Financial Health 50 #55 of 109 43 #66 of 115 44 #61 of 109
Shareholder Returns 41 #38 of 64 34 #54 of 81 51 #32 of 64
Overall 52 55 56
  • NOW ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • BR ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWCIENBRSPY
1 month +16.6%-5.8%+10.6% -0.8%
3 months +49.9%-10.9%+18.6% +3.5%
6 months +74.9%-33.6%+15.8% +7.0%
Year to date +3.3%+43.7%-18.9% +12.2%
1 year -15.0%+87.7%-22.0% +13.0%
3 years +42.8%+719.3%+8.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +12.6%+101.7%+2.7% +23.1%
5 years +19.0%+526.3%-0.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +3.5%+44.4%0.0% +11.0%
10 years +902.5%+1,548.3%+180.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year +25.9%+32.3%+10.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureNOWCIENBRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.8%77.9%30.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.5%82.8%32.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.622.780.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.251.13-0.72 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-49.7%-49.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.4%-46.4%-22.0% -1.8%
52-week high $189.26$627.00$232.02 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$176.45$135.44 $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.

MultipleNOWCIENBR
P/E now vs peer median 97.7xmedian 28.8x 73.0xmedian 32.0x 18.7xmedian 28.8x
P/S now vs peer median 11.1xmedian 2.8x 7.9xmedian 2.8x 2.8xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 48.7xmedian 17.7x 53.8xmedian 19.4x 14.6xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.7xmedian 15.8x 58.6xmedian 29.0x 16.1xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 13.1xmedian 3.2x 15.6xmedian 2.9x 7.3xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 18.80median 0.85 1.63median 1.13 0.85median 0.85

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 monthsNOWCIENBR
Revenue $14.73B $6.02B $7.48B
Gross profit $11.02B $2.65B $2.38B
Operating income $1.68B $738.95M $1.30B
Net income $1.67B $654.41M $1.12B
Free cash flow $4.58B $814.36M $1.28B
R&D $3.26B $924.94M –
EPS (diluted) $1.61 $4.48 $9.60
Cash & equivalents $2.50B $2.45B $402.90M
Total debt $7.52B $3.23B $3.25B
Shares (diluted) 1.03B 145.97M 117.10M
Enterprise value $137.61B $43.34B $19.32B

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
MetricNOWCIENBR
P/E 97.7x 73.0x 18.7x
P/FCF 35.7x 58.6x 16.1x
P/Operating cash flow 30.8x 45.2x 15.3x
P/S 11.1x 7.9x 2.8x
P/B 13.1x 15.6x 7.3x
P/Tangible book 18.7x 16.6x 12.6x
EV/EBITDA 48.7x 53.8x 14.6x
EV/EBIT 99.1x 65.3x 18.1x
EV/Revenue 11.3x 8.0x 3.1x
EV/FCF 36.3x 59.3x 18.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.4x 45.8x 17.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 18.80 1.63 0.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWCIENBR
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.2% 32.6% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 12.5% 7.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.4% 40.6% 11.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.5% 13.3% 10.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 4.9% 200.1% 9.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 49.1% 29.1% 11.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 0.5% 364.5% 33.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 43.5% 21.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.7% 359.9% 35.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 44.8% 21.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.0% 34.5% 14.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.2% 201.2% 17.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.0% 34.5% 13.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.7% 95.4% 17.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWCIENBR
Gross margin 74.8% 44.1% 31.8%
EBITDA margin 23.2% 14.9% 21.5%
Operating margin 11.4% 12.3% 17.4%
Pretax margin 15.9% 12.1% 19.3%
Net margin 11.3% 10.9% 15.0%
FCF margin 31.1% 13.5% 17.1%
Operating cash flow margin 36.0% 17.5% 18.0%
Return on equity 13.8% 22.0% 39.7%
Return on assets 6.0% 9.3% 12.7%
Return on invested capital – 12.4% 16.7%
Return on capital employed 10.6% 13.1% 17.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.9x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x 1.6x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 12.3% 3.5% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWCIENBR
Debt / assets 23.7% 40.4% 36.4%
Debt / equity 0.6x 1.1x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.7x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 4.0x 2.5x
Liabilities / assets 60.5% 61.8% 68.2%
Equity / assets 39.5% 38.2% 31.8%
Interest coverage – 10.6x –
Current ratio 0.7x 3.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.6x 2.8x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.4x 1.9x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 5.89 6.99 4.10

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWCIENBR
Dividend yield – – 2.2%
Net buyback yield 1.9% -1.0% 2.8%
Shareholder yield 1.9% -1.0% 5.0%
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.

ConsensusNOWCIENBR
Forward P/E 41.1xFY2026 44.2xFY2026 17.5xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $7.60FY2026 $10.32FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +187.9%FY2026 +7.5%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +27.0% +64.7% +5.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.25BFY2026 $6.86BFY2026 $7.42BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +43.8%FY2026 -0.9%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% +18.0% +3.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWCIENBR
Held by institutions 81.6% 92.9% 92.3%
Institutions holding 2,224 1,220 1,014
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% -1.7% -1.2%
Institutions buying 1,285 729 487
Institutions selling 779 379 398
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.92 1.22

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.

NOWCIENBR
NOW 1.00 -0.21 0.56
CIEN -0.21 1.00 -0.38
BR 0.56 -0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, CIEN and BR?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $159.15B, Ciena (CIEN) $49.78B, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) $20.68B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, CIEN and BR?

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 95.3x, Ciena (CIEN) 76.1x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 18.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 41.1x, Ciena (CIEN) 44.2x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 17.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ciena (CIEN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: ServiceNow (NOW) +22.2%, Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%, Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 15.0%). On return on invested capital, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 16.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -15.0%, Ciena (CIEN) +87.7%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) -22.0%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) +3.5%/yr, Ciena (CIEN) +44.4%/yr, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 0.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 58.8%, Ciena (CIEN) 77.9%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 30.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NOW, CIEN and BR?

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