GPN vs PCTY vs ACIW Stock Comparison

Global Payments, Paylocity Holding and Aci Worldwide Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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GPN Global Payments Inc
$99.62 +27.1% 1M +28.1% 1Y
Market cap
$25.96B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$10.23B
Div. yield
0.01%
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins
PCTY Paylocity Holding Corp
$174.09 +20.5% 1M +23.2% 1Y
Market cap
$9.33B
P/E
34.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.77B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
3 wins
ACIW Aci Worldwide, Inc.
$58.40 +16.5% 1M +22.6% 1Y
Market cap
$5.97B
P/E
26.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.82B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Global Payments leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Global Payments 4, Aci Worldwide 4, Paylocity Holding 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGPNPCTYACIWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $25.96B $9.33B $5.97B GPN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -27.8x 34.6x 26.4x ACIW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.6x 20.7x 21.1x GPN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.5% +11.0% +7.0% GPN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -9.1% 15.2% 12.4% PCTY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.3% 21.0% 10.8% PCTY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.8x -0.4x 1.9x PCTY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +28.1% +23.2% +22.6% GPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.9%/yr -10.3%/yr +13.6%/yr ACIW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.9% 42.0% 34.9% ACIW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 63/100 65/100 ACIW

Percentile Scorecard

GPNPCTYACIW

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

AxisGPNPCTYACIW
Valuation 66 #34 of 99 52 #49 of 100 71 #29 of 99
Growth 26 #70 of 94 68 #32 of 97 68 #31 of 94
Profitability 64 #33 of 90 85 #15 of 94 79 #20 of 90
Financial Health 24 #80 of 105 57 #48 of 111 60 #43 of 105
Shareholder Returns 58 #26 of 61 56 #29 of 64 48 #32 of 61
Overall 48 63 65
  • GPN ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • PCTY ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • ACIW ranked among 109 companies in Fintech

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGPNPCTYACIWSPY
1 month +27.1%+20.5%+16.5% -2.3%
3 months +15.6%+24.6%+1.8% -0.7%
6 months +38.7%+59.7%+31.9% +4.8%
Year to date +28.7%+14.2%+22.2% +10.3%
1 year +28.1%+23.2%+22.6% +10.3%
3 years -12.4%+19.8%+142.4% +73.0%
3 years, per year -4.3%+6.2%+34.4% +20.1%
5 years -26.1%-41.8%+89.0% +61.9%
5 years, per year -5.9%-10.3%+13.6% +10.1%
10 years +41.0%+325.2%+222.3% +258.6%
10 years, per year +3.5%+15.6%+12.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGPNPCTYACIWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.9%42.0%34.9% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.9%41.2%36.2% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.84-0.170.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.670.550.65 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.8%-68.2%-44.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-2.0%-3.0% -3.5%
52-week high $99.62$177.67$60.18 $779.14
52-week low $62.47$95.10$38.47 $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.

MultipleGPNPCTYACIW
P/E now vs peer median -28.8xmedian 20.4x 34.9xmedian 28.5x 26.3xmedian 20.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 2.2x 5.2xmedian 2.8x 3.2xmedian 2.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 13.7x 18.2xmedian 16.8x 18.6xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.2xmedian 16.4x 18.7xmedian 16.2x 19.0xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.9x 7.6xmedian 2.9x 3.9xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.62median 1.02 1.37median 0.90 0.55median 1.02

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 monthsGPNPCTYACIW
Revenue $10.23B $1.77B $1.82B
Gross profit $6.54B $1.23B $893.35M
Operating income $1.27B $385.99M $338.68M
Net income -$873.78M $269.74M $225.69M
Free cash flow $822.72M $497.10M $311.41M
R&D – $221.39M $179.52M
EPS (diluted) $-3.46 $4.92 $2.22
Cash & equivalents $5.41B $271.92M $167.40M
Total debt $23.56B $81.25M $822.18M
Shares (diluted) 270.12M 54.77M 101.68M
Enterprise value $3.75B $8.43B $5.24B

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
MetricGPNPCTYACIW
P/E -28.8x 34.9x 26.3x
P/FCF 32.2x 18.7x 19.0x
P/Operating cash flow 16.0x 17.4x 17.9x
P/S 2.6x 5.2x 3.2x
P/B 1.1x 7.6x 3.9x
P/Tangible book 6.1x 8.2x 3.9x
EV/EBITDA 11.8x 18.2x 18.6x
EV/EBIT 35.2x 23.5x 19.4x
EV/Revenue 4.4x 5.1x 3.6x
EV/FCF 54.2x 18.3x 21.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.9x 17.0x 19.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.62 1.37 0.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGPNPCTYACIW
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.5% 11.0% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 14.7% 9.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.8% 11.7% 4.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 14.9% 10.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -33.4% 27.0% 0.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -4.4% 35.5% 34.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -158.6% 18.8% -10.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -44.6% 24.2% 44.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -158.9% 22.6% -7.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -46.2% 25.6% 48.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -46.4% 27.5% 6.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.1% 23.6% 35.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -66.6% 22.7% 6.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.7% 24.0% 37.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGPNPCTYACIW
Gross margin 63.9% 69.2% 49.1%
EBITDA margin 36.8% 28.1% 19.4%
Operating margin 12.4% 21.8% 18.6%
Pretax margin 5.5% 21.9% 16.8%
Net margin -9.1% 15.2% 12.4%
FCF margin 8.0% 28.1% 17.1%
Operating cash flow margin 16.2% 30.1% 18.1%
Return on equity -3.5% 22.5% 15.1%
Return on assets -1.3% 5.2% 7.3%
Return on invested capital 2.3% 21.0% 10.8%
Return on capital employed 2.5% 22.1% 14.3%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -1.9x 2.0x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 7.8% 4.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGPNPCTYACIW
Debt / assets 37.1% 1.7% 26.6%
Debt / equity 1.0x 0.1x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.8x -0.4x 1.9x
Debt / FCF 28.6x 0.2x 2.6x
Liabilities / assets 62.6% 75.0% 51.6%
Equity / assets 37.4% 25.0% 48.4%
Interest coverage 1.5x – 6.4x
Current ratio 0.8x 1.1x 1.6x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.1x 2.0x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.67 2.55 4.19

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGPNPCTYACIW
Dividend yield 1.0% – –
Net buyback yield 5.9% 4.2% 2.8%
Shareholder yield 6.9% 4.2% 2.8%
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.

ConsensusGPNPCTYACIW
Forward P/E 7.6xFY2026 20.7xFY2027 21.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.82FY2026 $8.25FY2027 $2.77FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 -0.7%FY2027 +28.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.0% +13.7% +12.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.66BFY2026 $1.94BFY2027 $1.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +35.9%FY2026 +9.6%FY2027 +3.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.4% -1.6% +20.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGPNPCTYACIW
Held by institutions 100.0% 85.4% 100.0%
Institutions holding 794 468 380
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.4% +2.3% +3.5%
Institutions buying 375 274 198
Institutions selling 308 155 132
Buyers to sellers 1.22 1.77 1.50

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.

GPNPCTYACIW
GPN 1.00 0.43 0.49
PCTY 0.43 1.00 0.49
ACIW 0.49 0.49 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GPN, PCTY and ACIW?

Global Payments (GPN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Global Payments (GPN) $25.96B, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) $9.33B, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) $5.97B.

Which stock is cheaper, GPN, PCTY and ACIW?

Aci Worldwide (ACIW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Global Payments (GPN) -27.8x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 34.6x, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 26.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Global Payments (GPN) is cheapest (Global Payments (GPN) 7.6x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 20.7x, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 21.1x). 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%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +11.0%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Paylocity Holding (PCTY) has the highest net margin (Global Payments (GPN) -9.1%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 15.2%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 12.4%). On return on invested capital, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) leads (Global Payments (GPN) 2.3%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.0%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 10.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Global Payments (GPN) returned the most: Global Payments (GPN) +28.1%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +23.2%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +22.6%. Over five years, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) compounded fastest (Global Payments (GPN) -5.9%/yr, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) -10.3%/yr, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +13.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Global Payments (GPN) 0.01%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 0.00%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 0.00%. Paylocity Holding (PCTY) and Aci Worldwide (ACIW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) has been the steadiest (Global Payments (GPN) 41.9%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 42.0%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 34.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GPN, PCTY and ACIW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Global Payments (GPN) leads on 4. 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.