Accenture vs Cognizant
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The short version
- Accenture is the larger business, with $74.2B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $21.1B for Cognizant, about 3.5 times as much.
- Cognizant kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.1% operating margin, against 15.4%).
- Accenture turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.7% FCF margin, against 12.3%).
- Accenture earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (30.6%, against 16.2%).
| Latest fiscal year | ACN · FY26 | CTSH · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $154.0B | $33.6B |
| Revenue | $74.2B | $21.1B |
| Free cash flow | $11.6B | $2.6B |
| Net income | $8.4B | $2.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.5% | 7.0% |
| 5-year growth | 8.0% | 4.9% |
| Share count change | −2.4% | −1.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 32.1% | — |
| Operating margin | 15.4% | 16.1% |
| Net margin | 11.3% | 10.6% |
| FCF margin | 15.7% | 12.3% |
| Return on capital | 30.6% | 16.2% |
| Return on equity | 26.7% | 15.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$2.7B | −$1.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.2x | −0.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $11.5B | $2.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 15.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
ACN $36.2B
CTSH $14.8B
FY18
ACN $41.0B
CTSH $16.1B
FY19
ACN $43.2B
CTSH $16.8B
FY20
ACN $44.3B
CTSH $16.7B
FY21
ACN $50.5B
CTSH $18.5B
FY22
ACN $61.6B
CTSH $19.4B
FY23
ACN $64.1B
CTSH $19.4B
FY24
ACN $64.9B
CTSH $19.7B
FY25
ACN $69.7B
CTSH $21.1B
FY26
ACN $74.2B
CTSH —
ACN
CTSH
Operating margin
FY17
ACN 14.4%
CTSH 16.8%
FY18
ACN 14.4%
CTSH 17.4%
FY19
ACN 14.6%
CTSH 14.6%
FY20
ACN 14.7%
CTSH 12.7%
FY21
ACN 15.1%
CTSH 15.3%
FY22
ACN 15.2%
CTSH 15.3%
FY23
ACN 13.7%
CTSH 13.9%
FY24
ACN 14.8%
CTSH 14.7%
FY25
ACN 14.7%
CTSH 16.1%
FY26
ACN 15.4%
CTSH —
ACN
CTSH
Free cash flow
FY17
ACN $4.5B
CTSH $2.1B
FY18
ACN $5.4B
CTSH $2.2B
FY19
ACN $6.0B
CTSH $2.1B
FY20
ACN $7.6B
CTSH $2.9B
FY21
ACN $8.4B
CTSH $2.2B
FY22
ACN $8.8B
CTSH $2.2B
FY23
ACN $9.0B
CTSH $2.0B
FY24
ACN $8.6B
CTSH $1.8B
FY25
ACN $10.9B
CTSH $2.6B
FY26
ACN $11.6B
CTSH —
ACN
CTSH
Return on capital
FY17
ACN 91.8%
CTSH 21.8%
FY18
ACN 75.9%
CTSH 29.9%
FY19
ACN 67.9%
CTSH 22.9%
FY20
ACN 56.2%
CTSH 16.3%
FY21
ACN 56.0%
CTSH 22.7%
FY22
ACN 53.0%
CTSH 22.0%
FY23
ACN 41.7%
CTSH 18.8%
FY24
ACN 34.4%
CTSH 18.0%
FY25
ACN 30.6%
CTSH 16.2%
FY26
ACN 30.6%
CTSH —
ACN
CTSH
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.