Cognizant vs IBM
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The short version
- IBM is the larger business, with $67.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $21.1B for Cognizant, about 3.2 times as much.
- IBM grew revenue faster (7.6%, against 7.0%).
- IBM turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.9% FCF margin, against 12.3%).
- Cognizant earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (16.2%, against 15.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of IBM’s earnings: a P/E of 21.6x against 15.3x for Cognizant.
| Latest fiscal year | CTSH · FY25 | IBM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $33.6B | $241.8B |
| Revenue | $21.1B | $67.5B |
| Free cash flow | $2.6B | $12.1B |
| Net income | $2.2B | $10.6B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 7.0% | 7.6% |
| 5-year growth | 4.9% | 4.1% |
| Share count change | −1.6% | 1.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 58.2% |
| Operating margin | 16.1% | — |
| Net margin | 10.6% | 15.7% |
| FCF margin | 12.3% | 17.9% |
| Return on capital | 16.2% | 15.4% |
| Return on equity | 15.2% | 35.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$1.3B | $53.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.3x | 3.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.0B | $6.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 15.3x | 21.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
CTSH $13.5B
IBM $79.9B
FY17
CTSH $14.8B
IBM $79.1B
FY18
CTSH $16.1B
IBM $79.6B
FY19
CTSH $16.8B
IBM $57.7B
FY20
CTSH $16.7B
IBM $55.2B
FY21
CTSH $18.5B
IBM $57.4B
FY22
CTSH $19.4B
IBM $60.5B
FY23
CTSH $19.4B
IBM $61.9B
FY24
CTSH $19.7B
IBM $62.8B
FY25
CTSH $21.1B
IBM $67.5B
CTSH
IBM
Operating margin
FY16
CTSH 17.0%
IBM —
FY17
CTSH 16.8%
IBM —
FY18
CTSH 17.4%
IBM —
FY19
CTSH 14.6%
IBM —
FY20
CTSH 12.7%
IBM —
FY21
CTSH 15.3%
IBM —
FY22
CTSH 15.3%
IBM —
FY23
CTSH 13.9%
IBM —
FY24
CTSH 14.7%
IBM —
FY25
CTSH 16.1%
IBM —
CTSH
IBM
Free cash flow
FY16
CTSH $1.3B
IBM $13.5B
FY17
CTSH $2.1B
IBM $13.5B
FY18
CTSH $2.2B
IBM $11.9B
FY19
CTSH $2.1B
IBM $12.5B
FY20
CTSH $2.9B
IBM $15.6B
FY21
CTSH $2.2B
IBM $10.7B
FY22
CTSH $2.2B
IBM $9.1B
FY23
CTSH $2.0B
IBM $12.7B
FY24
CTSH $1.8B
IBM $12.4B
FY25
CTSH $2.6B
IBM $12.1B
CTSH
IBM
Return on capital
FY16
CTSH 25.8%
IBM 25.9%
FY17
CTSH 21.8%
IBM 12.0%
FY18
CTSH 29.9%
IBM 17.2%
FY19
CTSH 22.9%
IBM 12.1%
FY20
CTSH 16.3%
IBM 4.9%
FY21
CTSH 22.7%
IBM 8.0%
FY22
CTSH 22.0%
IBM 3.4%
FY23
CTSH 18.8%
IBM 12.6%
FY24
CTSH 18.0%
IBM 10.4%
FY25
CTSH 16.2%
IBM 15.4%
CTSH
IBM
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.