Cognizant vs TCS: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Cognizant reported $21.1B of revenue in FY2025 and $2.2B of net income. TCS reported ~$31B of revenue in FY2026 and ~$5.7B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Cognizant
Cognizant's revenue grew slowly from $19.43 billion in 2022 to $19.74 billion in 2024, then jumped 7% to $21.11 billion in 2025, helped by large deals and the Belcan acquisition. Net income was $2.23 billion in 2025, GAAP operating margin was 16.1%, and adjusted operating margin was 15.8%. Free cash flow reached $2.67 billion. The company returns most of that cash: it paid $610 million in dividends and bought back $1.3 billion of stock in 2025, and deployed $1.6 billion on buybacks in the first half of 2026 alone, while also spending $1.3 billion on acquisitions and drawing $1.0 billion on its revolving credit facility. For 2026 it guides to revenue of $22.04-$22.35 billion (4.0%-5.5% constant-currency growth), adjusted operating margin of 16.0%-16.2%, and adjusted EPS of $5.70-$5.82.
TCS
TCS reported FY2026 revenue of ₹2,67,021 crore ($30.017 billion), up 4.6% in rupees but down about 0.5% in dollars, with net income of about $5.71 billion (₹49,210 crore) and a 19.8% net margin. Q1 FY2027 revenue was ₹72,275 crore ($7.624 billion), up 13.9% in rupees and 2.7% in dollars year over year, with an operating margin of about 24% and net profit of ~$1.55 billion (₹13,349 crore). The growth story now rests on AI: TCS put its annualized AI services revenue at $1.8 billion in Q3 FY2026 and $2.6 billion in Q1 FY2027, while total contract value held at $9.5 billion for the quarter.
Revenue and profit by year
Cognizant
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $21.1B | $2.2B | 10.6% | +7.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $19.7B | — | 0.0% | +2.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $19.4B | — | 0.0% | -0.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $19.4B | — | 0.0% | +5.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $18.5B | $2.1B | 11.5% | +11.1% | Source |
| FY2020 | $16.7B | $1.4B | 8.4% | -0.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $16.8B | $1.8B | 11.0% | +4.1% | Source |
| FY2018 | $16.1B | $2.1B | 13.0% | +8.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $14.8B | $1.5B | 10.2% | +9.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $13.5B | $1.6B | 11.5% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Cognizant
- Health Sciences
30.1% (2025)
Work for health plans, providers, and life-sciences companies, including TriZetto software and healthcare operations. $6.35 billion in 2025.
- Financial Services
29.2% (2025)
Technology and operations work for banks, insurers, and capital-markets firms. $6.17 billion in 2025; grew 12% in Q2 2026 to become the largest segment.
- Products and Resources
25.0% (2025)
Engineering, data, cloud, and operations work for manufacturing, retail, consumer goods, travel, energy, and utilities clients, including Belcan. $5.29 billion in 2025.
- Communications, Media and Technology
15.7% (2025)
Services for telecom, media, and technology companies. $3.30 billion in 2025.
TCS
- IT services
Primary revenue source
Application development, maintenance, modernization and managed technology services.
- Consulting and transformation
Strategic growth stream
Business and technology transformation programs for large enterprises.
- Cloud, AI and cybersecurity
Fast-changing growth area
Cloud migration, AI, data, automation, cybersecurity and platform simplification.
- Business process services
Recurring enterprise stream
Technology-enabled operations and business process services.
- Platforms
Differentiated platform stream
Industry platforms such as TCS BaNCS and related software-led offerings.
Business model and strategy
Cognizant
How it makes money
Cognizant is a B2B services business organized into four industry segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology. In 2025 Health Sciences ($6.35B) and Financial Services ($6.17B) were the two largest; by Q2 2026 Financial Services had become the largest at 31.6% of revenue after growing 12% year over year.
Growth strategy
Under CEO Ravi Kumar S, Cognizant's growth plan has four parts: win more large deals (seven deals of $100 million or more were signed in Q2 2026 alone), use AI to modernize clients' legacy applications, data, and infrastructure, deepen hyperscaler partnerships with Microsoft, Google Cloud, and AWS, and buy specialists.
Competitive advantage
Cognizant's clearest advantage is depth in regulated industries, especially U.S. healthcare and financial services. The 2014 TriZetto acquisition gave it core administration software used by many U.S. health plans, which pulls in implementation, hosting, and operations work and is costly for clients to replace.
TCS
How it makes money
TCS earns revenue through global IT services and consulting, built around eight industry verticals and geographic diversification.
Growth strategy
TCS is growing through AI, cloud modernization, cybersecurity, data, engineering services, platforms, large transformation deals, partnerships and deeper penetration of existing enterprise accounts.
Competitive advantage
TCS' advantage is delivery scale, Tata trust, large-account depth, industry domain expertise, training infrastructure, strong margins and a reputation for mission-critical execution.
Questions about Cognizant vs TCS
Which company has higher revenue — Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation or Tata Consultancy Services Limited?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation reported $21.1B (FY2025), while Tata Consultancy Services Limited reported ~$31B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Tata Consultancy Services Limited is the larger business, with Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation vs Tata Consultancy Services Limited?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation's market capitalisation stands at $25.6B, while Tata Consultancy Services Limited's is $84.0B. Tata Consultancy Services Limited carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation.
Which is more financially efficient — Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation or Tata Consultancy Services Limited?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation generates $59k / employee in revenue per employee, while Tata Consultancy Services Limited generates $52k / employee. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation and Tata Consultancy Services Limited make money?
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation and Tata Consultancy Services Limited generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation: Cognizant is a B2B services business organized into four industry segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology. Tata Consultancy Services Limited: TCS earns revenue through global IT services and consulting, built around eight industry verticals and geographic diversification.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation or Tata Consultancy Services Limited?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation trades at 1.2x P/S and Tata Consultancy Services Limited at 2.7x P/S. Tata Consultancy Services Limited commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation bigger than Tata Consultancy Services Limited?
By last reported revenue, Tata Consultancy Services Limited (~$31B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation ($21.1B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Cognizant vs TCS overview