Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. ACN scored 77.6, CTSH scored 73.3 — ACN leads.
Compare another set
ACN
Accenture plc
Information Technology Services · Quality-Growth
77.6
$209.06 · $127.9B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
4.3
ACN leads
CTSH
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation
Information Technology Services · Quality-Growth
73.3
$59.20 · $26.7B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestCTSH12.7x
Fastest growthACN+7.4%
Strongest balance sheetCTSH0.14
Highest qualityACN88 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueCTSH-43%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
ACN
stronger →← stronger
CTSH
88
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
81
70
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
62
76
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
79
ACN is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
ACN
CTSH
$12.6bA-
FCF
$2.6bB
+7.4%B
Rev
+7.0%C+
0.40B
D/E
0.14B+
15.4xA-
P/E
12.7xA
1.98C+
PEG
0.87B+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
ACN
CTSH
35% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
43% below
~-4%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~-8%/yr
+42%
1-yr DCF upside
+69%
+53%
5-yr DCF upside
+76%
+70%
10-yr DCF upside
+87%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
ACN
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
CTSH
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
The companies
ACNAccenture plc
Information Technology Services · $209.06 · beta 1.10
Why now
Information Technology Services · market cap $127.9b. Down 28% from 52-week high of $291.09 — deep drawdown territory. 24 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $223.65 (implying +7% upside).
Moat
ROE 26% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 150% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash. $127.9b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
CTSHCognizant Technology Solutions Corporation
Information Technology Services · $59.20 · beta 0.85
Why now
Information Technology Services · market cap $26.7b. Down 32% from 52-week high of $87.03 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.87 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 25 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $65.90 (implying +11% upside).
Moat
ROE 15% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 117% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Down 32% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
ACN leads CTSH by 2.6 points (80.2 to 77.6), its sharpest advantage coming in FCF (grade A-). A contrarian could still prefer CTSH, which trades about 48% below our DCF fair value — a margin of safety the score doesn't reward.
Our AI analyst is busy right now, so this verdict is drawn directly from the pillars, grades and DCF above.
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where ACN and CTSH diverge
On the headline score the gap is 4.3 points in favor of ACN. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
GrowthACN 70.5 · CTSH 61.5ACN +9.0
QualityACN 87.6 · CTSH 81.2ACN +6.4
ValueACN 75.7 · CTSH 78.7CTSH +3.0
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is ACN or CTSH the better stock?
ACN scores higher: ACN 77.6, CTSH 73.3 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do ACN and CTSH differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where ACN leads by 9 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are ACN and CTSH scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.