NOW vs PAYC vs MTLS Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Paycom Software and Materialise Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$109.65 -15.6% 1M -39.9% 1Y
Market cap
$108.68B
P/E
75.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
3 wins
PAYC Paycom Software, Inc.
$260.65 +19.3% 1M +39.8% 1Y
Market cap
$12.05B
P/E
24.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.14B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
6 wins
MTLS Materialise Nv
$7.24 -17.3% 1M +32.1% 1Y
Market cap
$423.81M
P/E
28.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$318.57M
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Paycom Software leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Paycom Software 6, ServiceNow 3, Materialise 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWPAYCMTLSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $108.68B $12.05B $423.81M NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 75.2x 24.7x 28.6x PAYC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.5x 22.2x 36.2x PAYC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.8% +9.2% +9.5% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.4% 22.8% 4.6% PAYC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.2% 31.3% 3.0% PAYC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.8x -2.9x MTLS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -39.9% +39.8% +32.1% PAYC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.7%/yr -13.8%/yr -21.4%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 66.6% 46.9% 48.6% PAYC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 62/100 62/100 MTLS

Percentile Scorecard

NOWPAYCMTLS

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

AxisNOWPAYCMTLS
Valuation 36 #65 of 101 54 #47 of 101 88 #13 of 101
Growth 49 #50 of 97 57 #42 of 97 81 #19 of 97
Profitability 79 #20 of 93 98 #3 of 93 58 #40 of 93
Financial Health 53 #51 of 108 39 #66 of 108 77 #26 of 108
Shareholder Returns 42 #37 of 63 61 #25 of 63 7 #59 of 63
Overall 52 62 62
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • PAYC ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • MTLS ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWPAYCMTLSSPY
1 month -15.6%+19.3%-17.3% +0.7%
3 months -0.4%+61.4%+12.9% +3.7%
6 months +24.2%+105.6%+31.9% +7.1%
Year to date -28.4%+63.6%+30.5% +12.8%
1 year -39.9%+39.8%+32.1% +11.9%
3 years -3.6%+8.6%+32.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year -1.2%+2.8%+9.8% +22.8%
5 years -21.4%-52.4%-70.0% +67.6%
5 years, per year -4.7%-13.8%-21.4% +10.9%
10 years +536.8%+404.7%+3.6% +262.0%
10 years, per year +20.3%+17.6%+0.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureNOWPAYCMTLSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 66.6%46.9%48.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 75.9%42.1%51.6% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.690.071.04 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.600.850.66 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-79.5%-84.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.3%-5.1%-17.3% -1.2%
52-week high $186.94$274.60$8.75 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$113.59$4.80 $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.

MultipleNOWPAYCMTLS
P/E now vs peer median 78.5xmedian 28.0x 24.5xmedian 28.0x 28.9xmedian 28.0x
P/S now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 2.8x 5.4xmedian 2.8x 1.3xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 33.9xmedian 16.9x 14.5xmedian 16.9x 8.5xmedian 16.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 15.9x 20.1xmedian 15.9x 37.5xmedian 15.9x
P/B now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 3.2x 20.2xmedian 3.2x 1.5xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median -22.98median 0.89 0.98median 0.89 0.43median 0.89

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 monthsNOWPAYCMTLS
Revenue $15.43B $2.14B $318.57M
Gross profit $11.28B $1.79B $182.99M
Operating income $1.49B $648.40M $10.85M
Net income $1.45B $487.60M $14.82M
Free cash flow $4.75B $575.10M $11.39M
R&D $3.47B $258.90M $57.06M
EPS (diluted) $1.39 $10.62 $0.25
Cash & equivalents $2.39B $198.00M $174.11M
Total debt $7.52B $900.00M $67.15M
Shares (diluted) 1.04B 45.91M 59.07M
Enterprise value $87.94B $10.95B -$212.74M

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
MetricNOWPAYCMTLS
P/E 78.5x 24.5x 28.9x
P/FCF 24.0x 20.1x 37.5x
P/Operating cash flow 21.3x 14.4x 12.3x
P/S 7.4x 5.4x 1.3x
P/B 8.7x 20.2x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 12.0x 21.3x 1.6x
EV/EBITDA 33.9x 14.5x 8.5x
EV/EBIT 78.2x 18.9x 29.6x
EV/Revenue 7.6x 5.7x 1.0x
EV/FCF 24.6x 21.3x 28.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.9x 15.3x 9.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -22.98 0.98 0.43

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWPAYCMTLS
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.8% 9.2% 9.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 11.2% 5.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.1% 10.9% 11.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 19.2% 11.0% 6.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -14.9% 17.7% 105.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.1% 14.9% 24.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -16.5% 17.3% 198.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.1% 15.6% 67.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -16.2% 44.3% 199.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.4% 25.0% 67.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.2% 43.6% 20.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% 21.4% 19.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% 60.1% 378.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 24.3% 45.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWPAYCMTLS
Gross margin 73.1% 83.7% 57.4%
EBITDA margin 22.3% 39.5% 11.8%
Operating margin 9.7% 30.3% 3.4%
Pretax margin 13.1% 32.0% 4.6%
Net margin 9.4% 22.8% 4.6%
FCF margin 30.8% 26.9% 3.6%
Operating cash flow margin 34.6% 37.4% 10.9%
Return on equity 11.3% 70.5% 5.1%
Return on assets 4.6% 9.7% 3.1%
Return on invested capital 5.2% 31.3% 3.0%
Return on capital employed 7.5% 36.7% 2.9%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.7x 1.6x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 10.4% 4.2% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWPAYCMTLS
Debt / assets 23.6% 17.3% 13.8%
Debt / equity 0.6x 1.6x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.8x -2.9x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 1.6x 5.9x
Liabilities / assets 58.9% 89.0% 40.4%
Equity / assets 41.1% 11.0% 59.6%
Interest coverage 14.6x 39.8x 10.2x
Current ratio 0.7x 1.1x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.1x 2.2x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 1.7x
Altman Z-score 4.44 3.04 2.60

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWPAYCMTLS
Dividend yield – 0.6% –
Net buyback yield 2.3% 12.9% -23.6%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 13.5% -23.6%
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.

ConsensusNOWPAYCMTLS
Forward P/E 28.5xFY2026 22.2xFY2026 36.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $11.74FY2026 $0.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +27.1%FY2026 +33.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.0% +14.6% +45.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.25BFY2026 $2.08BFY2026 $302.24MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +1.5%FY2026 -3.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% +11.2% +17.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWPAYCMTLS
Held by institutions 81.6% 90.3% 13.7%
Institutions holding 2,225 595 59
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% -8.5% +9.4%
Institutions buying 1,286 295 23
Institutions selling 779 222 22
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.33 1.05

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.

NOWPAYCMTLS
NOW 1.00 0.50 0.14
PAYC 0.50 1.00 0.08
MTLS 0.14 0.08 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, PAYC and MTLS?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $108.68B, Paycom Software (PAYC) $12.05B, Materialise (MTLS) $423.81M.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, PAYC and MTLS?

Paycom Software (PAYC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 75.2x, Paycom Software (PAYC) 24.7x, Materialise (MTLS) 28.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Paycom Software (PAYC) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 28.5x, Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.2x, Materialise (MTLS) 36.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

ServiceNow (NOW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: ServiceNow (NOW) +21.8%, Paycom Software (PAYC) +9.2%, Materialise (MTLS) +9.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Paycom Software (PAYC) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.8%, Materialise (MTLS) 4.6%). On return on invested capital, Paycom Software (PAYC) leads (ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 31.3%, Materialise (MTLS) 3.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paycom Software (PAYC) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -39.9%, Paycom Software (PAYC) +39.8%, Materialise (MTLS) +32.1%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) -4.7%/yr, Paycom Software (PAYC) -13.8%/yr, Materialise (MTLS) -21.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Paycom Software (PAYC) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 66.6%, Paycom Software (PAYC) 46.9%, Materialise (MTLS) 48.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NOW, PAYC and MTLS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Paycom Software (PAYC) 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.