Salesforce, Inc. vs Palantir Technologies Inc., two Software stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
On capital efficiency the two land closer than their prices suggest. Palantir earns about 27% on equity and 22% on assets, Salesforce 19% and 6%, and Palantir gets there debt-free with a current ratio near 7, where Salesforce carries 1.15 leverage and only 0.79 coverage. Palantir also keeps more of each sale, a 44% net margin and 46% operating margin against Salesforce's 16% and 21%. The chasm is in the multiple: Palantir near 144 times trailing earnings to Salesforce's 22, and a thin 0.8% free-cash yield against Salesforce's 10%. Similar returns on capital, wildly different price tags; the market is paying many years forward for Palantir's growth and almost nothing extra for Salesforce's cash.
Comparison updated 2026-06-15.
| Metric | CRM | PLTR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $163.36 | $126.75 |
| Market cap | $142.3B | $325.9B |
| Sector | Software | Software |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +6.3% | — |
| P/E | 18.9 | 142.4 |
| P/B | 4.16 | 38.08 |
| P/S | 3.32 | 62.38 |
| EV/EBITDA | 13.8 | 160.3 |
| Revenue growth | +10.9% | +66.4% |
| Gross margin | 76.9% | 86.8% |
| Operating margin | 21.1% | 46.2% |
| Net margin | 15.6% | 43.7% |
| Return on equity | 19.5% | 26.7% |
| Return on assets | 6.2% | 22.4% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.2% | 23.0% |
| FCF yield | 10.3% | 0.8% |
| Debt / equity | 1.15 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 0.79 | 6.91 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 1.90 | 7.35 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.