Stocks · Technology · Information Technology Services
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation CTSH
$58.51 -3.89% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $26.36B
Inexpensive vs sector
Next earnings report: Oct 29, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The shares trade at 12.6× trailing earnings, lower than 86% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
- The diluted share count fell 5.3% in a year, mainly through buybacks.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Technology sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth20Very weak
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 29%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 33%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 43%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 39%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 32%
Quality63Neutral
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 20%
- Gross marginBottom 24%
- Operating marginTop 23%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 31%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 28%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 49%
- Interest coverTop 7%
Value97Exceptional
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 5%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 13%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 5%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 18%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 21%
Momentum26Very weak
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 43%
- 6-month returnBottom 22%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 38%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 45%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 10%
Revisions6Very weak
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 31%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 12%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 23%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 30%
Stability78Positive
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 28%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 40%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 20%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 49%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 6.5% | 5.6% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -3.2% | -5.5% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 34.2% | 32.0% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 15.4% | 15.8% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 11.1% | 12.0% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 5.6% | 6.5% | ↓ | Bottom 29% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -5.5% | -3.2% | ↓ | Bottom 33% |
| Gross margin | 32.0% | 34.2% | ↓ | Bottom 24% |
| Operating margin | 15.8% | 15.4% | ↑ | Top 23% |
| Net margin | 10.3% | 11.9% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 12.0% | 11.1% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 12.3% | — | Top 20% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 2.8% | — | Bottom 39% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.31×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -3.3%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.6%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +2.9 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 0.27×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 94.7×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 2.34%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 9.04%
- Shareholder yield
- 11.39%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -5.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -2.8%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 7 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +3.2%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +2.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $64.25
- Target vs current price
- +9.8%
- Analysts with a rating
- 51
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 45%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | -0.7% | +11.3% | +11.6% | +25.3% | — |
| Apr 29, 2026 | +4.5% | -0.8% | -5.9% | -3.6% | -17.5% |
| Feb 4, 2026 | +2.3% | +3.0% | +0.1% | -12.6% | -29.0% |
| Oct 29, 2025 | +6.9% | +5.7% | +7.4% | +12.7% | +26.2% |
| Jul 30, 2025 | +4.0% | -1.8% | -6.7% | -4.3% | -8.7% |
| Apr 30, 2025 | +2.5% | +0.4% | +5.9% | +9.8% | +4.6% |
| Feb 5, 2025 | +8.0% | +0.1% | +5.2% | +0.9% | -9.9% |
| Oct 30, 2024 | +8.7% | -1.5% | -0.2% | +7.3% | +7.2% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | $1.37 | $1.38 | -0.7% | $5.48B |
| Apr 29, 2026 | $1.40 | $1.34 | +4.5% | $5.41B |
| Feb 4, 2026 | $1.35 | $1.32 | +2.3% | $5.33B |
| Oct 29, 2025 | $1.39 | $1.30 | +6.9% | $5.42B |
| Jul 30, 2025 | $1.31 | $1.26 | +4.0% | $5.25B |
| Apr 30, 2025 | $1.23 | $1.20 | +2.5% | $5.12B |
| Feb 5, 2025 | $1.21 | $1.12 | +8.0% | $5.08B |
| Oct 30, 2024 | $1.25 | $1.15 | +8.7% | $5.04B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 12.6× | 15.9× | 14th | Top 5% |
| P/E (forward) | 10.2× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 6.9× | — | — | Top 5% |
| EV / Sales | 1.27× | — | — | Top 18% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 9.86% | — | — | Top 13% |
| Earnings yield | 7.95% | — | — | Top 5% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 11.6× – 23.5× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- -12.1%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -5.5%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -17.5%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +13.2%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -2.9%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -0.6%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -4.0%
- RSI (14)
- 48.1
- Relative volume
- 1.03×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 46.4%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 95th percentile · High for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.96
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.39
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -32.5%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -57.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 22, 2022 | Jun 30, 2026 | -58.4% | 1071 days | Not yet recovered |
| May 3, 2021 | Jul 19, 2021 | -19.1% | 53 days | 105 days (Dec 15, 2021) |
| Jan 8, 2021 | Mar 4, 2021 | -11.7% | 37 days | 41 days (May 3, 2021) |
| Jan 4, 2022 | Jan 27, 2022 | -10.5% | 16 days | 9 days (Feb 9, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $26.36B
- P/E (TTM)
- 12.6
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $4.65
- Revenue (TTM)
- $21.64B
- Dividend yield
- 2.22%
- 52-week range
- $37.08 – $87.03
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $18.51B | $19.43B | $19.35B | $19.74B | $21.11B |
| Gross profit | $6.90B | $6.98B | $6.69B | $6.78B | $7.12B |
| Operating income | $2.83B | $2.97B | $2.69B | $2.89B | $3.53B |
| Net income | $2.14B | $2.29B | $2.13B | $2.24B | $2.23B |
| EPS (diluted) | $4.05 | $4.41 | $4.21 | $4.51 | $4.55 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.04B | $5.08B | $5.12B | $5.25B | $5.42B | $5.33B | $5.41B | $5.48B |
| Net income | $582.0M | $546.0M | $663.0M | $645.0M | $274.0M | $648.0M | $662.0M | $636.0M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.17 | $1.10 | $1.34 | $1.31 | $0.56 | $1.34 | $1.39 | $1.36 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $2.50B | $2.57B | $2.33B | $2.12B | $2.88B |
| Capital expenditure | -$279.0M | -$332.0M | -$317.0M | -$297.0M | -$288.0M |
| Free cash flow | $2.22B | $2.24B | $2.01B | $1.83B | $2.60B |
| Dividends paid | -$509.0M | -$564.0M | -$591.0M | -$600.0M | -$610.0M |
| Net share buybacks | -$641.0M | -$1.34B | -$993.0M | -$542.0M | -$1.32B |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $1.05B
- Total assets
- $20.82B
- Total liabilities
- $6.36B
- Total debt
- $2.09B
- Net debt
- $1.06B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $14.46B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2026 | $0.33 | Aug 25, 2026 |
| May 18, 2026 | $0.33 | May 27, 2026 |
| Feb 18, 2026 | $0.33 | Feb 26, 2026 |
| Nov 18, 2025 | $0.31 | Nov 26, 2025 |
| Aug 18, 2025 | $0.31 | Aug 26, 2025 |
| May 19, 2025 | $0.31 | May 28, 2025 |
| Feb 18, 2025 | $0.31 | Feb 26, 2025 |
| Nov 19, 2024 | $0.30 | Nov 27, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 36,035,960
- Days to cover
- 6.79
- Change vs previous report
- +1.2%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Mar 10, 2014
- 2-for-1
- Oct 17, 2007
- 2-for-1
- Jun 18, 2004
- 2-for-1
- Apr 2, 2003
- 3-for-1
- Mar 17, 2000
- 2-for-1