PLTR vs CSCO Stock Comparison

Palantir Technologies and Cisco Systems Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc.
$106.50 +0.1% 1M +51.6% 1Y
Market cap
$436.07B
P/E
32.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.33B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionPLTRCSCOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $477.64B $436.07B PLTR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 158.3x 32.9x CSCO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 118.5x 22.5x CSCO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +78.9% +11.8% PLTR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 49.0% 21.0% PLTR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 15.9% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.8x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.0% +51.6% CSCO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +51.8%/yr +14.1%/yr PLTR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.5% 35.4% CSCO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 53/100 PLTR

Percentile Scorecard

PLTRCSCO

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

AxisPLTRCSCO
Valuation 22 #79 of 101 32 #77 of 112
Growth 100 #1 of 97 40 #66 of 109
Profitability 96 #5 of 94 88 #14 of 105
Financial Health 98 #3 of 109 28 #84 of 117
Shareholder Returns 25 #48 of 64 77 #20 of 82
Overall 68 53
  • PLTR ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • CSCO ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPLTRCSCOSPY
1 month +2.6%+0.1% -1.0%
3 months +60.1%-6.7% +2.9%
6 months +37.5%+19.6% +6.4%
Year to date +10.7%+38.3% +11.4%
1 year +9.0%+51.6% +13.1%
3 years +1,082.4%+100.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +127.9%+26.2% +21.5%
5 years +705.4%+93.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year +51.8%+14.1% +10.9%
10 years —+253.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+13.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasurePLTRCSCOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.5%35.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 56.1%37.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.981.09 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.151.46 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.6%-38.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.9%-18.1% -2.5%
52-week high $209.05$130.00 $779.14
52-week low $107.27$70.27 $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.

MultiplePLTRCSCO
P/E now vs peer median 156.5xmedian 29.9x 31.7xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 76.8xmedian 2.8x 6.6xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 174.0xmedian 17.4x 24.2xmedian 19.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 140.8xmedian 16.9x 32.9xmedian 28.3x
P/B now vs peer median 47.8xmedian 3.1x 8.4xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.55median 0.86 11.78median 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 monthsPLTRCSCO
Revenue $6.16B $63.33B
Gross profit $5.22B $40.86B
Operating income $2.63B $15.37B
Net income $3.03B $13.27B
Free cash flow $3.36B $12.77B
R&D $641.24M $9.56B
EPS (diluted) $1.17 $3.33
Cash & equivalents $2.03B $7.22B
Total debt – $29.53B
Shares (diluted) 2.57B 3.99B
Enterprise value $446.59B $371.99B

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
MetricPLTRCSCO
P/E 156.5x 31.7x
P/FCF 140.8x 32.9x
P/Operating cash flow 139.0x 29.6x
P/S 76.8x 6.6x
P/B 47.8x 8.4x
P/Tangible book 47.8x 9.8x
EV/EBITDA 174.0x 24.2x
EV/EBIT 175.9x 28.2x
EV/Revenue 75.3x 6.9x
EV/FCF 138.0x 34.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 136.3x 30.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.55 11.78

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPLTRCSCO
Revenue growth (1Y) 78.9% 11.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 44.4% 3.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 89.6% 11.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 47.7% 4.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 362.6% 30.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 247.7% 0.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 292.3% 30.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 308.7% 1.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 294.3% 30.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 286.3% 2.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 96.6% -0.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 103.5% -10.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 96.5% -3.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 107.6% -12.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPLTRCSCO
Gross margin 84.8% 64.5%
EBITDA margin 43.3% 28.3%
Operating margin 42.8% 24.3%
Pretax margin 49.9% 25.3%
Net margin 49.0% 21.0%
FCF margin 54.6% 20.2%
Operating cash flow margin 55.2% 22.4%
Return on equity 32.9% 26.8%
Return on assets 27.7% 10.4%
Return on invested capital – 15.9%
Return on capital employed 28.0% 17.9%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 13.6% 6.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPLTRCSCO
Debt / assets – 22.8%
Debt / equity – 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.8x
Debt / FCF – 2.3x
Liabilities / assets 15.4% 61.2%
Equity / assets 84.6% 38.8%
Interest coverage – 10.5x
Current ratio 7.2x 0.9x
Quick ratio 7.1x 0.6x
Cash ratio 6.1x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 160.20 4.05

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPLTRCSCO
Dividend yield – 1.6%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 1.3%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.9%
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.

ConsensusPLTRCSCO
Forward P/E 118.5xFY2026 22.5xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $1.66FY2026 $4.74FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +121.3%FY2026 +9.5%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +45.8% +20.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.41BFY2026 $74.93BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +87.8%FY2026 +18.3%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +37.5% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPLTRCSCO
Held by institutions 60.3% 80.1%
Institutions holding 2,836 4,044
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.9% +5.0%
Institutions buying 1,480 1,846
Institutions selling 1,093 1,816
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.02

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.

PLTRCSCO
PLTR 1.00 0.18
CSCO 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PLTR and CSCO?

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Palantir Technologies (PLTR) $477.64B, Cisco Systems (CSCO) $436.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, PLTR and CSCO?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 158.3x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 32.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cisco Systems (CSCO) is cheapest (Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 118.5x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 22.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Palantir Technologies (PLTR) +78.9%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +11.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has the highest net margin (Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 49.0%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 21.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cisco Systems (CSCO) returned the most: Palantir Technologies (PLTR) +9.0%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +51.6%. Over five years, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) compounded fastest (Palantir Technologies (PLTR) +51.8%/yr, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +14.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cisco Systems (CSCO) has been the steadiest (Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 59.5%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 35.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do PLTR and CSCO move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.18, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, PLTR and CSCO?

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