ADP vs PAYC vs ZM Stock Comparison

Automatic Data Processing, Paycom Software and Zoom Communications Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (SAP) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
PAYC Paycom Software, Inc.
$266.05 +20.3% 1M +42.2% 1Y
Market cap
$11.79B
P/E
25.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.14B
Div. yield
0.57%
HR Software Technology
3 wins
ZM Zoom Communications, Inc.
$91.98 -1.0% 1M +5.4% 1Y
Market cap
$26.89B
P/E
8.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.97B
Div. yield
–
Communications Platforms Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Automatic Data Processing leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Automatic Data Processing 5, Zoom Communications 4, Paycom Software 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionADPPAYCZMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $118.85B $11.79B $26.89B ADP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.6x 25.0x 8.5x ZM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.2x 22.7x 14.3x ZM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% +9.2% +4.6% PAYC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.3% 22.8% 64.1% ZM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -47.2% 31.3% — PAYC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.8x — ADP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.28% 0.57% — ADP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +14.8% +42.2% +5.4% PAYC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.8%/yr -12.3%/yr -20.3%/yr ADP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.9% 46.9% 45.0% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 38/100 62/100 81/100 ZM

Percentile Scorecard

ADPPAYCZM

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

AxisADPPAYCZM
Valuation 28 #72 of 100 51 #50 of 100 70 #9 of 28
Growth 26 #72 of 97 57 #42 of 97 72 #8 of 26
Profitability 53 #45 of 94 98 #3 of 94 83 #5 of 25
Financial Health 34 #74 of 111 40 #67 of 111 97 #2 of 31
Shareholder Returns 51 #32 of 64 62 #25 of 64 –
Overall 38 62 81
  • ADP ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • PAYC ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • ZM ranked among 31 companies in Workplace Software

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodADPPAYCZMSPY
1 month +16.0%+20.3%-1.0% -2.3%
3 months +10.7%+57.7%-6.4% -0.7%
6 months +41.4%+101.2%-13.7% +4.8%
Year to date +16.2%+66.9%+6.6% +10.3%
1 year +14.8%+42.2%+5.4% +10.3%
3 years +36.2%+67.3%+46.0% +73.0%
3 years, per year +10.9%+18.7%+13.5% +20.1%
5 years +32.3%-48.1%-67.8% +61.9%
5 years, per year +5.8%-12.3%-20.3% +10.1%
10 years +232.1%+508.8%— +258.6%
10 years, per year +12.8%+19.8%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureADPPAYCZMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.9%46.9%45.0% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 25.9%42.4%42.9% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.130.051.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.530.900.12 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.2%-77.8%-80.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.0%-3.1%-17.8% -3.5%
52-week high $307.94$274.60$111.88 $779.14
52-week low $188.79$113.59$72.72 $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.

MultipleADPPAYCZM
P/E now vs peer median 26.6xmedian 28.5x 25.0xmedian 28.5x 8.5xmedian 33.0x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.8x 5.5xmedian 2.8x 5.4xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -25.9xmedian 16.8x 14.8xmedian 16.8x 12.8xmedian 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.7xmedian 16.2x 20.5xmedian 16.2x —median 14.5x
P/B now vs peer median 23.3xmedian 2.9x 20.6xmedian 2.9x 2.4xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 2.67median 0.90 1.00median 0.90 0.05median 0.72

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 monthsADPPAYCZM
Revenue $22.26B $2.14B $4.97B
Gross profit $10.37B $1.79B $3.84B
Operating income -$6.45B $648.40M $1.20B
Net income $4.53B $487.60M $3.19B
Free cash flow $5.25B $575.10M –
R&D $1.03B $258.90M $881.96M
EPS (diluted) $11.22 $10.62 $10.64
Cash & equivalents $3.28B $198.00M $931.99M
Total debt $4.97B $900.00M –
Shares (diluted) 403.30M 45.91M 299.75M
Enterprise value $105.65B $10.69B -$3.90B

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
MetricADPPAYCZM
P/E 26.6x 25.0x 8.5x
P/FCF 22.7x 20.5x –
P/Operating cash flow 21.8x 14.7x –
P/S 5.3x 5.5x 5.4x
P/B 23.3x 20.6x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 34.6x 21.8x 2.4x
EV/EBITDA -25.9x 14.8x 12.8x
EV/EBIT -18.7x 19.3x 16.4x
EV/Revenue 5.4x 5.8x 4.0x
EV/FCF 23.0x 21.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow 22.1x 15.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.67 1.00 0.05

Growth

14 metrics
MetricADPPAYCZM
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% 9.2% 4.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.7% 11.2% 3.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.0% 10.9% 5.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 11.0% 4.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -2.7% 17.7% 23.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.8% 14.9% 112.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.4% 17.3% 168.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 15.6% 182.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.3% 44.3% 175.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.9% 25.0% 184.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.6% 43.6% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 21.4% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.0% 60.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.2% 24.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricADPPAYCZM
Gross margin 46.6% 83.7% 77.2%
EBITDA margin -20.9% 39.5% 30.9%
Operating margin -29.0% 30.3% 24.1%
Pretax margin 26.4% 32.0% 82.5%
Net margin 20.3% 22.8% 64.1%
FCF margin 23.6% 26.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 24.5% 37.4% –
Return on equity 81.4% 70.5% 30.2%
Return on assets 7.1% 9.7% 25.0%
Return on invested capital -47.2% 31.3% –
Return on capital employed -54.0% 36.7% 11.2%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.6x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 4.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricADPPAYCZM
Debt / assets 7.8% 17.3% –
Debt / equity 1.0x 1.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.8x –
Debt / FCF 0.9x 1.6x –
Liabilities / assets 92.0% 89.0% 16.8%
Equity / assets 8.0% 11.0% 83.2%
Interest coverage -13.7x 39.8x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.1x 3.8x
Quick ratio 0.1x 0.1x 3.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 3.4x
Altman Z-score 1.87 3.07 9.05

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricADPPAYCZM
Dividend yield 2.3% 0.6% –
Net buyback yield 2.1% 12.6% –
Shareholder yield 4.4% 13.2% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusADPPAYCZM
Forward P/E 23.2xFY2027 22.7xFY2026 14.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.87FY2027 $11.74FY2026 $6.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.7%FY2027 +27.1%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.8% +14.6% +2.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.14BFY2027 $2.08BFY2026 $4.76BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.9%FY2027 +1.5%FY2026 -2.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.1% +11.2% +8.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersADPPAYCZM
Held by institutions 88.1% 90.3% 75.7%
Institutions holding 2,293 596 864
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% -8.5% +2.9%
Institutions buying 1,087 296 479
Institutions selling 874 222 279
Buyers to sellers 1.24 1.33 1.72

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.

ADPPAYCZM
ADP 1.00 0.67 0.35
PAYC 0.67 1.00 0.36
ZM 0.35 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ADP, PAYC and ZM?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $118.85B, Paycom Software (PAYC) $11.79B, Zoom Communications (ZM) $26.89B.

Which stock is cheaper, ADP, PAYC and ZM?

Zoom Communications (ZM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 26.6x, Paycom Software (PAYC) 25.0x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 8.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Zoom Communications (ZM) is cheapest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 23.2x, Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.7x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 14.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Paycom Software (PAYC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +6.5%, Paycom Software (PAYC) +9.2%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +4.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Zoom Communications (ZM) has the highest net margin (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 20.3%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.8%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 64.1%). On return on invested capital, Paycom Software (PAYC) leads (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) -47.2%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 31.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paycom Software (PAYC) returned the most: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +14.8%, Paycom Software (PAYC) +42.2%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +5.4%. Over five years, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) compounded fastest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +5.8%/yr, Paycom Software (PAYC) -12.3%/yr, Zoom Communications (ZM) -20.3%/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) 2.28%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 0.57%. Zoom Communications (ZM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has been the steadiest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 27.9%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 46.9%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 45.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ADP, PAYC and ZM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) leads on 5. 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.