ADP vs GPN vs SAP Stock Comparison

Automatic Data Processing, Global Payments and Sap Se Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GPN Global Payments Inc
$83.60 -1.3% 1M -2.4% 1Y
Market cap
$22.22B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$10.23B
Div. yield
1.20%
Payment Processing Technology
2 wins
SAP Sap Se
$237.06 +13.3% 1M -12.2% 1Y
Market cap
$291.23B
P/E
29.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$45.76B
Div. yield
1.24%
ERP Software Technology
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Sap Se leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Sap Se 6, Automatic Data Processing 4, Global Payments 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionADPGPNSAPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $113.52B $22.22B $291.23B SAP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.9x -24.2x 29.0x ADP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.2x 6.5x 27.8x GPN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +32.5% +13.5% GPN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — -9.1% 20.8% SAP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 2.3% 35.6% SAP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 4.8x -0.4x SAP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.38% 1.20% 1.24% ADP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.1% -2.4% -12.2% ADP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.9%/yr -10.2%/yr +10.4%/yr SAP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.6% 40.6% 39.3% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 43/100 50/100 64/100 SAP

Percentile Scorecard

ADPGPNSAP

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisADPGPNSAP
Valuation 38 #63 of 101 72 #28 of 99 53 #48 of 101
Growth 30 #68 of 97 26 #70 of 94 67 #33 of 97
Profitability 75 #24 of 94 64 #33 of 90 91 #9 of 94
Financial Health 20 #87 of 108 25 #79 of 105 79 #24 of 108
Shareholder Returns 52 #31 of 64 62 #23 of 59 29 #46 of 64
Overall 43 50 64
  • ADP ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • GPN ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • SAP ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodADPGPNSAPSPY
1 month +9.0%-1.3%+13.3% +0.9%
3 months +4.4%-5.3%+27.4% +5.9%
6 months +32.7%+17.8%+39.4% +8.5%
Year to date +10.9%+8.0%-2.4% +13.3%
1 year +2.1%-2.4%-12.2% +12.4%
3 years +32.8%-18.7%+80.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year +9.9%-6.7%+21.8% +23.5%
5 years +27.1%-41.5%+63.7% +68.2%
5 years, per year +4.9%-10.2%+10.4% +11.0%
10 years +227.4%+15.2%+169.7% +263.4%
10 years, per year +12.6%+1.4%+10.4% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureADPGPNSAPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.6%40.6%39.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.5%37.0%40.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.091.020.63 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.07-0.06-0.31 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.2%-58.8%-53.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.3%-11.9%-12.2% -0.9%
52-week high $307.94$94.85$270.06 $779.14
52-week low $188.79$62.47$146.09 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleADPGPNSAP
P/E now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 27.6x -24.2xmedian 19.6x 29.0xmedian 27.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.7x 2.2xmedian 2.3x 6.4xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.4x 10.7xmedian 17.5x 11.9xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 15.8x 27.0xmedian 15.9x 28.0xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 22.3xmedian 3.2x 0.9xmedian 2.0x 5.5xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.84 0.52median 1.01 1.81median 0.84

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsADPGPNSAP
Revenue – $10.23B $45.76B
Gross profit – $6.54B $33.40B
Operating income – $1.27B $22.06B
Net income $4.53B -$873.78M $9.47B
Free cash flow – $822.72M $10.40B
R&D $1.03B – $8.26B
EPS (diluted) – $-3.46 $8.11
Cash & equivalents $3.28B $5.41B $10.62B
Total debt – $23.56B $9.68B
Shares (diluted) 403.30M 270.12M 1.18B
Enterprise value $113.52B $660.33M $219.21B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricADPGPNSAP
P/E 23.9x -24.2x 29.0x
P/FCF 19.9x 27.0x 28.0x
P/Operating cash flow 20.8x 13.4x 25.3x
P/S 4.7x 2.2x 6.4x
P/B 22.3x 0.9x 5.5x
P/Tangible book 33.0x 5.1x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA – 10.7x 11.9x
EV/EBIT – 31.8x 12.7x
EV/Revenue – 3.9x 6.1x
EV/FCF – 49.1x 27.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.8x 24.4x 24.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.52 1.81

Growth

14 metrics
MetricADPGPNSAP
Revenue growth (1Y) – 32.5% 13.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 3.3% 11.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 14.8% 12.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.7% 12.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -33.4% 30.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -4.4% 52.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.4% -158.6% 18.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% -44.6% 16.4%
EPS growth (1Y) – -158.9% 22.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -46.2% 16.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.6% -46.4% 43.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% -9.1% 19.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -66.6% 43.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -19.7% 20.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricADPGPNSAP
Gross margin – 63.9% 73.0%
EBITDA margin – 36.8% 51.5%
Operating margin – 12.4% 48.2%
Pretax margin – 5.5% 29.2%
Net margin – -9.1% 20.8%
FCF margin – 8.0% 22.7%
Operating cash flow margin – 16.2% 25.1%
Return on equity 81.4% -3.5% 18.5%
Return on assets 7.1% -1.3% 11.2%
Return on invested capital – 2.3% 35.6%
Return on capital employed – 2.5% 34.0%
Asset turnover – 0.2x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x -1.9x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.3% 3.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricADPGPNSAP
Debt / assets – 37.1% 11.2%
Debt / equity – 1.0x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 4.8x -0.4x
Debt / FCF – 28.6x 0.9x
Liabilities / assets 92.0% 62.6% 39.1%
Equity / assets 8.0% 37.4% 60.9%
Interest coverage – 1.5x 8.3x
Current ratio 1.0x 0.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 0.9x
Cash ratio – 0.4x 0.9x
Altman Z-score – 0.60 7.51

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricADPGPNSAP
Dividend yield 2.4% 1.2% 1.2%
Net buyback yield – 7.1% -0.1%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 8.3% 1.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -28.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 30.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -1.7% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusADPGPNSAP
Forward P/E 22.2xFY2027 6.5xFY2026 27.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.87FY2027 $12.82FY2026 $8.52FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.7%FY2027 +4.9%FY2026 +16.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.8% +18.0% +4.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.14BFY2027 $12.66BFY2026 $42.86BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2027 +35.9%FY2026 -2.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.1% +8.4% +14.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersADPGPNSAP
Held by institutions 88.1% 100.0% 7.2%
Institutions holding 2,291 792 820
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% +7.4% -3.0%
Institutions buying 1,085 374 459
Institutions selling 874 307 245
Buyers to sellers 1.24 1.22 1.87

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ADPGPNSAP
ADP 1.00 0.47 0.54
GPN 0.47 1.00 0.38
SAP 0.54 0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ADP, GPN and SAP?

Sap Se (SAP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $113.52B, Global Payments (GPN) $22.22B, Sap Se (SAP) $291.23B.

Which stock is cheaper, ADP, GPN and SAP?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 23.9x, Global Payments (GPN) -24.2x, Sap Se (SAP) 29.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Global Payments (GPN) is cheapest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 22.2x, Global Payments (GPN) 6.5x, Sap Se (SAP) 27.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Global Payments (GPN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Global Payments (GPN) +32.5%, Sap Se (SAP) +13.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sap Se (SAP) has the highest net margin (Global Payments (GPN) -9.1%, Sap Se (SAP) 20.8%). On return on invested capital, Sap Se (SAP) leads (Global Payments (GPN) 2.3%, Sap Se (SAP) 35.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Automatic Data Processing (ADP) returned the most: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +2.1%, Global Payments (GPN) -2.4%, Sap Se (SAP) -12.2%. Over five years, Sap Se (SAP) compounded fastest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +4.9%/yr, Global Payments (GPN) -10.2%/yr, Sap Se (SAP) +10.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has the highest dividend yield: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 2.38%, Global Payments (GPN) 1.20%, Sap Se (SAP) 1.24%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has been the steadiest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 28.6%, Global Payments (GPN) 40.6%, Sap Se (SAP) 39.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ADP, GPN and SAP?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sap Se (SAP) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.