We publish no single base value for Cognizant. Our valuation methods put it between $63.39 and $90.96 a share. The valuation code's reason: no point fair value: the two anchors behind it compound the same growth rate and differ only in how they end — a perpetuity at the terminal rate against a multiple on the final year — so the midpoint between them measures terminal treatment rather than what the business is worth. The published range is the same reading with the false precision removed: read it as the span the method supports, and treat neither edge as a point estimate.
| Method | Value | vs price | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discounted cash flow | $90.96 | +42.7% | free cash flow $2.36bn, growth 4.6% for 5 years, then fading to 3% over 5 more, discounted at 9.54%; stress floor $60.88 |
| Exit multiple (P/E) | $63.39 | -0.6% | earnings per share $5.77 valued at 14.32× (the stock's own median P/E) in 5 years, discounted back |
| Sum of the parts | — | — | no sum of the parts: this run holds no segment disclosure for the name |
| Price to sales | — | — | not reached: the cash-flow or earnings methods produced an anchor, so this fallback was not run |
| Tangible book | — | — | used only for lenders, where book value is the business |
| Price to FFO (REITs) | — | — | used only for REITs |
Each working is rebuilt by code from the valuation's own figures and checked against the published value.
The discount rate:
| Risk-free rate | 5.13% (10-year US Treasury yield) |
| Company's own beta | 0.84 (5 years of monthly returns against the S&P 500; standard error 0.29) |
| Peer beta | 1.34 (median of 73 S&P 500 Information Technology companies) |
| Blend of own and peers | 0.96 (75% own, 25% peers, weighted by how precisely the company's own beta is measured) |
| Adjusted beta | 0.98 (0.67 × 0.96 + 0.33, pulled toward the market's 1.0) |
| Equity risk premium | 4.5% |
| Discount rate = risk-free + adjusted beta × premium | 9.54% |
Free cash flow grows 4.60% a year for 5 years, then fades in equal steps toward 3% over 5 more; each year is discounted by 1 ÷ (1 + rate)^year:
| Year | Growth | Free cash flow | Discount factor | Present value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Now | — | $2.36bn | — | — |
| Year 1 | 4.60% | $2.47bn | 0.9129 | $2.26bn |
| Year 2 | 4.60% | $2.59bn | 0.8334 | $2.15bn |
| Year 3 | 4.60% | $2.70bn | 0.7608 | $2.06bn |
| Year 4 | 4.60% | $2.83bn | 0.6946 | $1.96bn |
| Year 5 | 4.60% | $2.96bn | 0.6341 | $1.88bn |
| Year 6 | 4.33% | $3.09bn | 0.5788 | $1.79bn |
| Year 7 | 4.07% | $3.21bn | 0.5284 | $1.70bn |
| Year 8 | 3.80% | $3.33bn | 0.4824 | $1.61bn |
| Year 9 | 3.53% | $3.45bn | 0.4404 | $1.52bn |
| Year 10 | 3.27% | $3.57bn | 0.4020 | $1.43bn |
| Terminal value = year-10 cash flow × (1 + 3%) ÷ (9.54% − 3%) | $56.15bn |
| Terminal value in today's money | $22.57bn |
| Present value of years 1–10 | $18.36bn |
| Total present value | $40.93bn |
| Shares outstanding | 450.00m |
| Value per share = total ÷ shares | $90.96 |
How the DCF value moves with the discount rate and the starting growth (the middle cell is the published value):
| Discount rate | Growth -0.4% | Growth 4.6% | Growth 9.6% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.54% | $79.20 | $107.67 | — |
| 9.54% | $67.51 | $90.96 | — |
| 10.54% | $58.90 | $78.69 | — |
The same DCF at each beta, starting growth unchanged:
| Beta | Value | Discount rate | DCF value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company's own beta | 0.84 | 8.91% | $100.82 |
| Peer beta | 1.34 | 11.16% | $72.60 |
| Adjusted beta (used) | 0.98 | 9.54% | $90.96 |
Earnings per share grow on the same fading path as the DCF:
| Year | Growth | Earnings per share |
|---|---|---|
| Now | — | $5.77 |
| Year 1 | 4.60% | $6.03 |
| Year 2 | 4.12% | $6.28 |
| Year 3 | 3.78% | $6.52 |
| Year 4 | 3.55% | $6.75 |
| Year 5 | 3.38% | $6.98 |
| Earnings per share in year 5 | $6.98 |
| Exit P/E (the stock's own median P/E) | 14.32× |
| Value in 5 years = earnings × P/E | $99.97 |
| Discounted at 9.54% over 5 years: ÷ 1.5771 | $63.39 |
We publish no single base value for Cognizant. Our valuation methods put it between $63.39 and $90.96 a share. The valuation code's reason: no point fair value: the two anchors behind it compound the same growth rate and differ only in how they end — a perpetuity at the terminal rate against a multiple on the final year — so the midpoint between them measures terminal treatment rather than what the business is worth. The published range is the same reading with the false precision removed: read it as the span the method supports, and treat neither edge as a point estimate.
One-year price simulation: a 10% chance the price is below $36.04 and a 10% chance it is above $111.71 in a year; a 50% chance it is higher than today's $63.75, from 43.91% volatility. The simulation assumes the price drifts up at our discount rate of 9.54% a year.
At $63.75 the price implies free cash flow growing -1.4% a year for five years and then fading toward 3% over five more; its revenue has grown 4.6%.
| Week | Price | Base value |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Oct 2026 | $58.51 | $88.77 |
| 9 Oct 2026 | $59.20 | $88.49 |
| 16 Oct 2026 | $66.03 | — |
| 23 Oct 2026 | $70.54 | — |
| 30 Oct 2026 | $65.11 | — |
| 6 Nov 2026 | $64.72 | — |
| 12 Nov 2026 | $63.75 | — |
Data as of 12 Nov 2026; financials to 30 Sep 2026. Sources: company filings via EODHD, SEC EDGAR, US Treasury. How these values are computed. Not investment advice.
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