NOW vs CTSH vs MTLS Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Materialise Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (BR) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$149.85 +14.0% 1M -20.1% 1Y
Market cap
$155.54B
P/E
107.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
3 wins
MTLS Materialise Nv
$6.78 -21.0% 1M +18.9% 1Y
Market cap
$400.48M
P/E
27.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$318.57M
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cognizant Technology Solutions leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Cognizant Technology Solutions 6, ServiceNow 3, Materialise 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWCTSHMTLSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $155.54B $29.99B $400.48M NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 107.3x 13.9x 27.0x CTSH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.9x 11.8x 33.9x CTSH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.8% +5.6% +9.5% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.4% 10.3% 4.6% CTSH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.2% 13.7% 3.0% CTSH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.1x -2.9x MTLS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.96% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -20.1% -2.2% +18.9% MTLS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.4%/yr -3.2%/yr -22.4%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.8% 43.2% 48.4% CTSH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 70/100 63/100 CTSH

Percentile Scorecard

NOWCTSHMTLS

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

AxisNOWCTSHMTLS
Valuation 33 #68 of 101 58 #21 of 49 91 #10 of 101
Growth 50 #49 of 97 46 #25 of 45 82 #18 of 97
Profitability 80 #20 of 94 90 #5 of 39 58 #40 of 94
Financial Health 53 #51 of 108 76 #15 of 60 76 #27 of 108
Shareholder Returns 38 #40 of 64 82 #6 of 29 8 #59 of 64
Overall 51 70 63
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • CTSH ranked among 65 companies in Technology Services
  • MTLS ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWCTSHMTLSSPY
1 month +14.0%+16.9%-21.0% +0.9%
3 months +29.4%+18.6%+7.3% +5.9%
6 months +68.6%+21.3%+29.6% +8.5%
Year to date -2.2%-20.0%+22.2% +13.3%
1 year -20.1%-2.2%+18.9% +12.4%
3 years +35.2%+4.8%+27.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year +10.6%+1.6%+8.4% +23.5%
5 years +7.4%-15.0%-71.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year +1.4%-3.2%-22.4% +11.0%
10 years +770.2%+28.7%-3.0% +263.4%
10 years, per year +24.2%+2.6%-0.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureNOWCTSHMTLSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.8%43.2%48.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.5%43.9%51.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.600.081.06 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.34-0.050.39 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-58.4%-84.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.1%-23.5%-22.5% -0.9%
52-week high $187.58$86.70$8.75 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$38.73$4.80 $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.

MultipleNOWCTSHMTLS
P/E now vs peer median 107.3xmedian 27.6x 13.9xmedian 17.7x 27.0xmedian 27.6x
P/S now vs peer median 10.1xmedian 2.7x 1.4xmedian 0.7x 1.3xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 46.0xmedian 17.4x 7.6xmedian 10.7x 7.8xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.7xmedian 15.8x 11.5xmedian 11.0x 35.1xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 3.2x 2.1xmedian 1.5x 1.4xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median -31.41median 0.84 4.26median 1.35 0.40median 0.84

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 monthsNOWCTSHMTLS
Revenue $15.43B $21.64B $318.57M
Gross profit $11.28B $7.24B $182.99M
Operating income $1.49B $3.44B $10.85M
Net income $1.45B $2.22B $14.82M
Free cash flow $4.75B $2.60B $11.39M
R&D $3.47B – $57.06M
EPS (diluted) $1.39 $4.76 $0.25
Cash & equivalents $2.39B $1.04B $174.11M
Total debt $7.52B $1.56B $67.15M
Shares (diluted) 1.04B 466.00M 59.07M
Enterprise value $134.81B $23.16B -$236.16M

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
MetricNOWCTSHMTLS
P/E 107.3x 13.9x 27.0x
P/FCF 32.7x 11.5x 35.1x
P/Operating cash flow 29.2x 10.3x 11.5x
P/S 10.1x 1.4x 1.3x
P/B 11.9x 2.1x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 16.4x 2.3x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 46.0x 7.6x 7.8x
EV/EBIT 106.1x 8.9x 27.1x
EV/Revenue 10.3x 1.4x 0.9x
EV/FCF 33.4x 11.7x 25.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 29.7x 10.5x 8.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -31.41 4.26 0.40

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWCTSHMTLS
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.8% 5.6% 9.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 3.7% 5.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.1% 3.4% 11.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 19.2% 2.2% 6.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -14.9% 8.8% 105.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.1% 7.5% 24.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -16.5% -8.9% 198.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.1% 0.4% 67.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -16.2% -3.8% 199.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.4% 3.3% 67.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.2% 13.7% 20.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% 5.3% 19.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% 13.8% 378.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 6.3% 45.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWCTSHMTLS
Gross margin 73.1% 33.4% 57.4%
EBITDA margin 22.3% 18.5% 11.8%
Operating margin 9.7% 15.9% 3.4%
Pretax margin 13.1% 16.2% 4.6%
Net margin 9.4% 10.3% 4.6%
FCF margin 30.8% 12.0% 3.6%
Operating cash flow margin 34.6% 13.5% 10.9%
Return on equity 11.3% 15.0% 5.1%
Return on assets 4.6% 10.7% 3.1%
Return on invested capital 5.2% 13.7% 3.0%
Return on capital employed 7.5% 20.0% 2.9%
Asset turnover 0.5x 1.0x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.7x 1.3x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 10.4% 0.9% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWCTSHMTLS
Debt / assets 23.6% 7.5% 13.8%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.1x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.1x -2.9x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 0.6x 5.9x
Liabilities / assets 58.9% 30.6% 40.4%
Equity / assets 41.1% 69.4% 59.6%
Interest coverage 14.6x 95.4x 10.2x
Current ratio 0.7x 2.2x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.7x 2.2x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.3x 1.7x
Altman Z-score 5.77 5.63 2.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWCTSHMTLS
Dividend yield – 2.0% –
Net buyback yield 1.7% 7.8% -25.2%
Shareholder yield 1.7% 9.8% -25.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 27.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 23.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 2.3% –

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.

ConsensusNOWCTSHMTLS
Forward P/E 38.9xFY2026 11.8xFY2026 33.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $5.61FY2026 $0.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +6.3%FY2026 +33.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.0% +10.0% +45.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.25BFY2026 $20.77BFY2026 $302.24MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 -1.6%FY2026 -3.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% +7.8% +17.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWCTSHMTLS
Held by institutions 81.6% 100.0% 13.7%
Institutions holding 2,224 915 59
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% +6.6% +9.4%
Institutions buying 1,285 464 23
Institutions selling 779 352 22
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.32 1.05

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.

NOWCTSHMTLS
NOW 1.00 0.56 0.22
CTSH 0.56 1.00 0.05
MTLS 0.22 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, CTSH and MTLS?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $155.54B, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) $29.99B, Materialise (MTLS) $400.48M.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, CTSH and MTLS?

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 107.3x, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 13.9x, Materialise (MTLS) 27.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 38.9x, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 11.8x, Materialise (MTLS) 33.9x). 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%, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) +5.6%, Materialise (MTLS) +9.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 10.3%, Materialise (MTLS) 4.6%). On return on invested capital, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) leads (ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 13.7%, Materialise (MTLS) 3.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Materialise (MTLS) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -20.1%, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) -2.2%, Materialise (MTLS) +18.9%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) +1.4%/yr, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) -3.2%/yr, Materialise (MTLS) -22.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 1.96%. ServiceNow (NOW) and Materialise (MTLS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 58.8%, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) 43.2%, Materialise (MTLS) 48.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NOW, CTSH and MTLS?

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