Cognizant (CTSH)
Information Technology · $26.5B market cap · SEC CIK 0001058290
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 27, 2026, after the close, with analysts expecting $1.50 in earnings per share.
The case for CTSH
- Cheap on earnings at 11.9×, well under the market's usual 20×.
- Holds more cash ($1.9B) than long-term debt ($543M).
- Free cash flow of 9.8% of its market value a year: a lot of cash for the price.
- Trades at 1.27× book value, close to what the balance sheet says it owns.
- Current assets cover the near-term bills 2.2 times over.
- Pays a modest 1.6% dividend.
The case against
- Earnings per share fell 5.4%.
- Revenue growth of +5.6% is slower than 94% of Information Technology companies.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Information Technology companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 90 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 26 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 45 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 56 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 76 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 73 Information Technology companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 11.9× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 1.27× |
| Price / sales | 1.2× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +5.6% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -5.4% |
| Gross margin | 33% |
| Operating margin | 16% |
| Net margin | 10% |
| Return on equity | 15% |
| Debt / equity | 0.11× |
| Current ratio | 2.18 |
| Dividend yield | 1.63% |
| Beta | 0.86 |
| 52-week range | $37.08 – $87.03 |
| Position in that range | 43% of the way up |
| 3-month return | +35.9% |
| 1-year return | -11.3% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Cognizant's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $21.1B | $19.7B | $19.4B | $19.4B | $18.5B |
| Operating income | $3.4B | $2.9B | $2.7B | $3.0B | $2.8B |
| Net income | $2.2B | $2.2B | $2.1B | $2.3B | $2.1B |
| Operating cash flow | $2.9B | $2.1B | $2.3B | $2.6B | $2.5B |
| Capital expenditure | $288M | $297M | $317M | $332M | $279M |
| Total assets | $20.7B | $20.0B | $18.5B | $17.9B | $17.9B |
| Total liabilities | $5.7B | $5.6B | $5.3B | $5.5B | $5.9B |
| Shareholder equity | $15.0B | $14.4B | $13.2B | $12.3B | $12.0B |
| Cash | $1.9B | $2.2B | $2.6B | $2.2B | $1.8B |
| Long-term debt | $543M | $875M | $606M | $638M | $626M |
| Free cash flow | $2.6B | $1.8B | $2.0B | $2.2B | $2.2B |
| Operating margin | 16.1% | 14.7% | 13.9% | 15.3% | 15.3% |
| Net margin | 10.6% | 11.3% | 11.0% | 11.8% | 11.5% |
| Diluted shares | 489M | 497M | 505M | 519M | 528M |
Share count is down 7.4% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
What Cognizant says it does
Competition ." We compete on the basis of reputation and experience, strategic advisory capabilities, digital and AI capabilities, performance and reliability, responsiveness to customer needs, financial stability, corporate governance and competitive pricing of services. The less we are able to differentiate our services and solutions and/or clearly convey the value of our services and solutions, the more difficulty we have in winning new work in sufficient volumes and at our target pricing and overall economics. In addition to large, global competitors, we face competition in many geographic markets from numerous smaller, local competitors that may have more experience with operations in these markets, have well-established relationships with our desired clients, or be able to provide services and solutions at lower costs or on terms more attractive to clients than we can. Additionally, we face competition from clients' in-house…
Risk factors CTSH lists in its 10-K
- The Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to The Year Ended December 31, 2024
- (Dollars in millions, except per share data)
- Revenues - Reportable Business Segments and Geographic Markets
- Cost of Revenues (Exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization Expense)
- SG&A Expenses (Exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization Expense)
- Gain on Sale of Property and Equipment
- Depreciation and Amortization Expense
- Operating Margin and Adjusted Operating Margin
- Other Liquidity and Capital Resources Information
- Business Combinations, Goodwill and Intangible Assets
- Recently Adopted and New Accounting Pronouncements
- Weighted Average Contract Rate (Indian rupee to U.S. dollar)
- Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
- Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting