CRCL vs PYPL vs EMPD Stock Comparison

Circle Internet, PayPal Holdings and Empery Digital Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$54.99 -0.1% 1M -21.2% 1Y
Market cap
$48.81B
P/E
10.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.13B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
8 wins
EMPD Empery Digital Inc.
$2.73 -5.5% 1M -59.9% 1Y
Market cap
$79.97M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
-$158.29K
Div. yield
–
Crypto Exchanges Financial Services
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

PayPal Holdings leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (PayPal Holdings 8, Circle Internet 2, Empery Digital 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRCLPYPLEMPDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $19.90B $48.81B $79.97M PYPL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 44.1x 10.0x -0.3x PYPL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 75.3x 9.9x — PYPL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +37.2% +5.7% -105.9% CRCL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.5% 14.4% — CRCL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 15.9% -140.8% PYPL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.3x -0.2x EMPD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -43.8% -21.2% -59.9% PYPL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -25.2%/yr -95.7%/yr PYPL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 95.2% 44.0% 78.3% PYPL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 47/100 70/100 20/100 PYPL

Percentile Scorecard

CRCLPYPLEMPD

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

AxisCRCLPYPLEMPD
Valuation 49 #50 of 97 92 #9 of 99 13 #85 of 97
Growth 96 #4 of 68 63 #35 of 94 22 #53 of 68
Profitability 46 #37 of 67 88 #12 of 90 2 #66 of 67
Financial Health 27 #71 of 97 39 #65 of 105 43 #56 of 97
Shareholder Returns 15 #34 of 40 67 #21 of 61 –
Overall 47 70 20
  • CRCL ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • EMPD ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCRCLPYPLEMPDSPY
1 month -10.3%-0.1%-5.5% -0.8%
3 months +21.6%-1.9%-14.4% +3.5%
6 months -16.4%+10.5%-43.6% +7.0%
Year to date +0.7%-5.8%-40.3% +12.2%
1 year -43.8%-21.2%-59.9% +13.0%
3 years —+9.1%-100.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year —+3.0%-98.0% +23.1%
5 years —-76.6%-100.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year —-25.2%-95.7% +11.0%
10 years —+29.9%— +258.0%
10 years, per year —+2.7%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCRCLPYPLEMPDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 95.2%44.0%78.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 91.6%48.4%87.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.811.012.76 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.46-0.48-0.76 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.9%-83.5%-100.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -44.3%-24.7%-61.8% -1.8%
52-week high $143.29$73.02$7.15 $779.14
52-week low $50.23$39.08$2.52 $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.

MultipleCRCLPYPLEMPD
P/E now vs peer median 43.9xmedian 29.4x 9.8xmedian 20.6x -0.3xmedian 29.4x
P/S now vs peer median 6.4xmedian 2.9x 1.4xmedian 2.3x -484.8xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 52.7xmedian 13.7x 7.2xmedian 15.4x -0.5xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.5xmedian 16.0x 7.2xmedian 16.4x -3.6xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.3x 2.4xmedian 1.9x 0.7xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.52 0.66median 1.05 0.00median 0.52

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 monthsCRCLPYPLEMPD
Revenue $2.91B $34.13B -$158.29K
Gross profit $1.18B – -$173.85K
Operating income $215.57M $5.95B -$272.48M
Net income $451.26M $4.90B -$272.13M
Free cash flow $761.52M $6.59B -$21.04M
R&D – $3.25B $84.38K
EPS (diluted) $1.68 $5.56 $-9.70
Cash & equivalents $1.73B $8.31B $3.69M
Total debt – $13.40B $199.71M
Shares (diluted) 268.64M 882.00M 28.06M
Enterprise value $13.78B $7.04B $36.33M

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
MetricCRCLPYPLEMPD
P/E 43.9x 9.8x -0.3x
P/FCF 24.5x 7.2x -3.6x
P/Operating cash flow 24.0x 6.3x -3.7x
P/S 6.4x 1.4x -484.8x
P/B 5.3x 2.4x 0.7x
P/Tangible book 6.1x 2.4x 0.7x
EV/EBITDA 52.7x 7.2x -0.5x
EV/EBIT 78.4x 8.3x -0.5x
EV/Revenue 5.8x 1.5x -808.7x
EV/FCF 22.2x 7.5x -6.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.8x 6.6x -6.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.66 0.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRCLPYPLEMPD
Revenue growth (1Y) 37.2% 5.7% -105.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 6.1% -27.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 47.0% – 98.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 60.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 228.3% 1.4% -1,168%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 9.8% -124.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 231.5% 4.8% -979.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 6.4% -80.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 152.6% 16.1% 80.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 15.0% 98.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 48.5% 23.2% -39.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 20.1% 6.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 52.0% 24.5% -37.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 21.7% 7.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRCLPYPLEMPD
Gross margin 40.5% – –
EBITDA margin 11.0% 20.2% –
Operating margin 7.4% 17.4% –
Pretax margin 13.8% 17.2% –
Net margin 15.5% 14.4% –
FCF margin 26.2% 19.3% –
Operating cash flow margin 26.7% 21.9% 13,276%
Return on equity 13.0% 24.6% -193.7%
Return on assets 0.6% 6.0% -136.2%
Return on invested capital 6.2% 15.9% -140.8%
Return on capital employed 4.1% 17.9% -145.0%
Asset turnover 0.0x 0.4x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.5x 0.1x
Stock comp / revenue 7.7% 2.9% -11,701%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRCLPYPLEMPD
Debt / assets – 16.2% 30.6%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.3x -0.2x
Debt / FCF – 2.0x -2.6x
Liabilities / assets 95.5% 76.0% 36.8%
Equity / assets 4.5% 24.0% 63.2%
Interest coverage – – -52.3x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.3x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.0x 0.4x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 0.22 1.89 -7.82

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRCLPYPLEMPD
Dividend yield – 1.0% –
Net buyback yield -2.9% 12.7% 190.9%
Shareholder yield -2.9% 13.7% 190.9%
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.

ConsensusCRCLPYPLEMPD
Forward P/E 75.3xFY2026 9.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.06FY2026 $5.55FY2026 $-0.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +4.5%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +46.2% -3.1% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.23BFY2026 $33.55BFY2026 $488.61KFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +17.3%FY2026 +1.1%FY2026 -51.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +24.6% +5.1% -13.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRCLPYPLEMPD
Held by institutions 52.3% 74.2% 60.9%
Institutions holding 562 1,378 37
Change in shares held, QoQ +11.4% +0.8% -7.2%
Institutions buying 380 521 12
Institutions selling 120 671 16
Buyers to sellers 3.17 0.78 0.75

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.

CRCLPYPLEMPD
CRCL 1.00 0.27 0.49
PYPL 0.27 1.00 0.18
EMPD 0.49 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CRCL, PYPL and EMPD?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Circle Internet (CRCL) $19.90B, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $48.81B, Empery Digital (EMPD) $79.97M.

Which stock is cheaper, CRCL, PYPL and EMPD?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Circle Internet (CRCL) 44.1x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.0x, Empery Digital (EMPD) -0.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is cheapest (Circle Internet (CRCL) 75.3x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Circle Internet (CRCL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Circle Internet (CRCL) +37.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +5.7%, Empery Digital (EMPD) -105.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Circle Internet (CRCL) has the highest net margin (Circle Internet (CRCL) 15.5%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.4%). On return on invested capital, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) leads (Circle Internet (CRCL) 6.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 15.9%, Empery Digital (EMPD) -140.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year PayPal Holdings (PYPL) returned the most: Circle Internet (CRCL) -43.8%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -21.2%, Empery Digital (EMPD) -59.9%. Over five years, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) compounded fastest (PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -25.2%/yr, Empery Digital (EMPD) -95.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) has been the steadiest (Circle Internet (CRCL) 95.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 44.0%, Empery Digital (EMPD) 78.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CRCL, PYPL and EMPD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) leads on 8. 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.