NOW vs TRI vs CIEN Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Thomson Reuters and Ciena Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
1 win
TRI Thomson Reuters Corp /Can/
$123.17 +25.1% 1M -24.6% 1Y
Market cap
$54.80B
P/E
33.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.83B
Div. yield
-0.01%
Compliance Software Technology
5 wins
CIEN Ciena Corp
$320.30 -10.0% 1M +85.6% 1Y
Market cap
$47.78B
P/E
73.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionNOWTRICIENLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $162.99B $54.80B $47.78B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 97.6x 33.8x 73.0x TRI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 41.3x 27.4x 42.1x TRI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.2% +7.0% +32.6% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.3% 20.7% 10.9% TRI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 12.4% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 1.2x 0.7x CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% -0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.4% -24.6% +85.6% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.0%/yr -0.1%/yr +43.5%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.7% 51.6% 77.7% TRI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 56/100 55/100 TRI

Percentile Scorecard

NOWTRICIEN

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

AxisNOWTRICIEN
Valuation 27 #74 of 101 49 #52 of 101 22 #88 of 112
Growth 58 #41 of 97 28 #70 of 97 95 #6 of 109
Profitability 81 #19 of 94 99 #2 of 94 83 #19 of 105
Financial Health 51 #54 of 109 67 #37 of 109 44 #66 of 117
Shareholder Returns 35 #42 of 64 37 #41 of 64 32 #56 of 82
Overall 50 56 55
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • TRI ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • CIEN ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWTRICIENSPY
1 month +12.9%+25.1%-10.0% -1.0%
3 months +61.0%+36.6%-18.0% +2.9%
6 months +76.3%+37.2%-38.5% +6.4%
Year to date +3.8%-6.6%+37.0% +11.4%
1 year -15.4%-24.6%+85.6% +13.1%
3 years +43.4%+0.2%+670.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +12.8%+0.1%+97.6% +21.5%
5 years +15.8%-0.3%+508.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.0%-0.1%+43.5% +10.9%
10 years +893.1%+198.5%+1,507.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +25.8%+11.6%+32.0% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNOWTRICIENSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.7%51.6%77.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.5%51.9%82.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.620.182.76 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.26-0.481.10 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-64.3%-49.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.0%-24.6%-48.9% -2.5%
52-week high $189.26$163.45$627.00 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$76.55$172.58 $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.

MultipleNOWTRICIEN
P/E now vs peer median 98.2xmedian 29.9x 34.1xmedian 29.9x 69.5xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 11.2xmedian 2.8x 7.0xmedian 2.8x 7.5xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 48.9xmedian 17.4x 27.2xmedian 17.4x 51.3xmedian 19.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.9xmedian 16.9x 17.2xmedian 16.9x 55.8xmedian 28.3x
P/B now vs peer median 13.1xmedian 3.1x 4.9xmedian 3.1x 14.9xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 18.89median 0.86 3.29median 0.86 1.55median 1.15

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 monthsNOWTRICIEN
Revenue $14.73B $7.83B $6.02B
Gross profit $11.02B – $2.65B
Operating income $1.68B $2.33B $738.95M
Net income $1.67B $1.68B $654.41M
Free cash flow $4.58B $3.19B $814.36M
R&D $3.26B – $924.94M
EPS (diluted) $1.61 $3.61 $4.48
Cash & equivalents $2.50B $577.00M $2.45B
Total debt $7.52B $3.26B $3.23B
Shares (diluted) 1.03B 449.53M 145.97M
Enterprise value $141.45B $51.58B $41.34B

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
MetricNOWTRICIEN
P/E 98.2x 34.1x 69.5x
P/FCF 35.9x 17.2x 55.8x
P/Operating cash flow 31.0x 19.0x 43.1x
P/S 11.2x 7.0x 7.5x
P/B 13.1x 4.9x 14.9x
P/Tangible book 18.8x 6.8x 15.8x
EV/EBITDA 48.9x 27.2x 51.3x
EV/EBIT 99.6x 24.6x 62.3x
EV/Revenue 11.4x 7.3x 7.6x
EV/FCF 36.5x 18.0x 56.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.5x 19.9x 43.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 18.89 3.29 1.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWTRICIEN
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.2% 7.0% 32.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 5.2% 12.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.4% – 40.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.5% – 13.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 4.9% 9.1% 200.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 49.1% -0.5% 29.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 0.5% 4.7% 364.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.5% -6.8% 43.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.7% 8.4% 359.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 10.4% 44.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.0% 14.5% 34.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.2% 10.1% 201.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.0% 13.0% 34.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.7% 9.0% 95.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWTRICIEN
Gross margin 74.8% – 44.1%
EBITDA margin 23.2% 26.9% 14.9%
Operating margin 11.4% 29.7% 12.3%
Pretax margin 15.9% 46.5% 12.1%
Net margin 11.3% 20.7% 10.9%
FCF margin 31.1% 40.7% 13.5%
Operating cash flow margin 36.0% 36.9% 17.5%
Return on equity 13.8% – 22.0%
Return on assets 6.0% – 9.3%
Return on invested capital – – 12.4%
Return on capital employed 10.6% – 13.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x 1.7x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 12.3% – 3.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWTRICIEN
Debt / assets 23.7% 18.0% 40.4%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.3x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 1.2x 0.7x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 1.0x 4.0x
Liabilities / assets 60.5% 38.5% 61.8%
Equity / assets 39.5% 61.5% 38.2%
Interest coverage – 116.5x 10.6x
Current ratio 0.7x 0.5x 3.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x -2.5x 2.8x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x 1.9x
Altman Z-score 5.92 6.14 6.72

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWTRICIEN
Dividend yield – 3.3% –
Net buyback yield 1.9% -2.1% -1.1%
Shareholder yield 1.9% 1.1% -1.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 16.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -10.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -8.5% –

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.

ConsensusNOWTRICIEN
Forward P/E 41.3xFY2026 27.4xFY2026 42.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $4.50FY2026 $7.60FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +13.4%FY2026 +187.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.3% +7.6% +64.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.24BFY2026 $7.76BFY2026 $6.86BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +4.1%FY2026 +43.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% +15.1% +18.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWTRICIEN
Held by institutions 81.6% 90.1% 92.9%
Institutions holding 2,224 421 1,220
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% +0.6% -1.7%
Institutions buying 1,285 408 729
Institutions selling 779 9 379
Buyers to sellers 1.65 45.33 1.92

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.

NOWTRICIEN
NOW 1.00 0.59 -0.21
TRI 0.59 1.00 -0.38
CIEN -0.21 -0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, TRI and CIEN?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $162.99B, Thomson Reuters (TRI) $54.80B, Ciena (CIEN) $47.78B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, TRI and CIEN?

Thomson Reuters (TRI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 97.6x, Thomson Reuters (TRI) 33.8x, Ciena (CIEN) 73.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Thomson Reuters (TRI) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 41.3x, Thomson Reuters (TRI) 27.4x, Ciena (CIEN) 42.1x). 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%, Thomson Reuters (TRI) +7.0%, Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Thomson Reuters (TRI) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%, Thomson Reuters (TRI) 20.7%, Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -15.4%, Thomson Reuters (TRI) -24.6%, Ciena (CIEN) +85.6%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) +3.0%/yr, Thomson Reuters (TRI) -0.1%/yr, Ciena (CIEN) +43.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Thomson Reuters (TRI) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 58.7%, Thomson Reuters (TRI) 51.6%, Ciena (CIEN) 77.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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