NOW vs PCTY vs BR Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Paylocity Holding and Broadridge Financial Solutions Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$154.83 +14.2% 1M -18.2% 1Y
Market cap
$160.09B
P/E
95.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
3 wins
PCTY Paylocity Holding Corp
$170.07 +18.6% 1M +12.3% 1Y
Market cap
$9.06B
P/E
34.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.77B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Paylocity Holding leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Paylocity Holding 5, ServiceNow 3, Broadridge Financial Solutions 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWPCTYBRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $160.09B $9.06B $20.19B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 95.6x 34.1x 18.3x BR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 40.2x 20.6x 17.2x BR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.2% +11.0% +8.5% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.3% 15.2% 15.0% PCTY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 21.0% 16.7% PCTY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x -0.4x 1.8x PCTY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — 2.26% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -18.2% +12.3% -23.6% PCTY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.4%/yr -10.8%/yr -0.3%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.7% 42.2% 30.6% BR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 64/100 56/100 PCTY

Percentile Scorecard

NOWPCTYBR

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

AxisNOWPCTYBR
Valuation 27 #74 of 101 54 #47 of 101 65 #36 of 101
Growth 58 #41 of 97 65 #35 of 97 40 #59 of 97
Profitability 82 #18 of 94 87 #13 of 94 81 #19 of 94
Financial Health 50 #55 of 108 56 #48 of 108 44 #61 of 108
Shareholder Returns 41 #38 of 64 60 #26 of 64 51 #32 of 64
Overall 52 64 56
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • PCTY ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • BR ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWPCTYBRSPY
1 month +14.2%+18.6%+8.1% -0.2%
3 months +40.0%+22.6%+11.9% +3.9%
6 months +71.1%+66.3%+11.5% +8.2%
Year to date +1.1%+11.5%-20.7% +12.9%
1 year -18.2%+12.3%-23.6% +12.3%
3 years +39.7%-2.5%+5.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +11.8%-0.8%+1.9% +23.3%
5 years +12.6%-43.6%-1.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year +2.4%-10.8%-0.3% +10.9%
10 years +811.3%+295.4%+177.2% +261.1%
10 years, per year +24.7%+14.7%+10.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureNOWPCTYBRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.7%42.2%30.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.3%41.6%32.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.61-0.150.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.310.29-0.77 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-68.9%-49.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.2%-4.3%-23.7% -1.2%
52-week high $189.26$177.67$232.02 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$95.10$135.44 $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.

MultipleNOWPCTYBR
P/E now vs peer median 95.6xmedian 28.3x 34.1xmedian 28.3x 18.3xmedian 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 10.9xmedian 2.8x 5.1xmedian 2.8x 2.7xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 47.7xmedian 17.3x 17.8xmedian 17.3x 14.3xmedian 17.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.0xmedian 15.8x 18.2xmedian 15.8x 15.8xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 12.8xmedian 3.2x 7.4xmedian 3.2x 7.1xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 18.40median 0.85 1.33median 0.85 0.84median 0.85

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 monthsNOWPCTYBR
Revenue $14.73B $1.77B $7.48B
Gross profit $11.02B $1.23B $2.38B
Operating income $1.68B $385.99M $1.30B
Net income $1.67B $269.74M $1.12B
Free cash flow $4.58B $497.10M $1.28B
R&D $3.26B $221.39M –
EPS (diluted) $1.61 $4.92 $9.60
Cash & equivalents $2.50B $271.92M $402.90M
Total debt $7.52B $81.25M $3.25B
Shares (diluted) 1.03B 54.77M 117.10M
Enterprise value $138.55B $8.16B $18.82B

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
MetricNOWPCTYBR
P/E 95.6x 34.1x 18.3x
P/FCF 35.0x 18.2x 15.8x
P/Operating cash flow 30.2x 17.0x 15.0x
P/S 10.9x 5.1x 2.7x
P/B 12.8x 7.4x 7.1x
P/Tangible book 18.3x 8.0x 12.3x
EV/EBITDA 47.7x 17.8x 14.3x
EV/EBIT 97.0x 23.0x 17.7x
EV/Revenue 11.1x 5.0x 3.1x
EV/FCF 35.6x 17.8x 18.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 30.7x 16.6x 17.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 18.40 1.33 0.84

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYBR
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.2% 11.0% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 14.7% 7.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.4% 11.7% 11.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 20.5% 14.9% 10.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 4.9% 27.0% 9.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 49.1% 35.5% 11.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 0.5% 18.8% 33.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 24.2% 21.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.7% 22.6% 35.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 25.6% 21.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.0% 27.5% 14.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.2% 23.6% 17.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.0% 22.7% 13.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.7% 24.0% 17.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYBR
Gross margin 74.8% 69.2% 31.8%
EBITDA margin 23.2% 28.1% 21.5%
Operating margin 11.4% 21.8% 17.4%
Pretax margin 15.9% 21.9% 19.3%
Net margin 11.3% 15.2% 15.0%
FCF margin 31.1% 28.1% 17.1%
Operating cash flow margin 36.0% 30.1% 18.0%
Return on equity 13.8% 22.5% 39.7%
Return on assets 6.0% 5.2% 12.7%
Return on invested capital – 21.0% 16.7%
Return on capital employed 10.6% 22.1% 17.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x 2.0x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 12.3% 7.8% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYBR
Debt / assets 23.7% 1.7% 36.4%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.1x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x -0.4x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 0.2x 2.5x
Liabilities / assets 60.5% 75.0% 68.2%
Equity / assets 39.5% 25.0% 31.8%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 0.7x 1.1x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.1x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 5.78 2.52 4.06

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYBR
Dividend yield – – 2.3%
Net buyback yield 2.0% 4.3% 2.9%
Shareholder yield 2.0% 4.3% 5.1%
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.

ConsensusNOWPCTYBR
Forward P/E 40.2xFY2026 20.6xFY2027 17.2xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $3.85FY2026 $8.25FY2027 $10.32FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 -0.7%FY2027 +7.5%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +27.0% +13.7% +5.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.25BFY2026 $1.94BFY2027 $7.42BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +9.6%FY2027 -0.9%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +17.7% -1.6% +3.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWPCTYBR
Held by institutions 81.6% 85.3% 92.3%
Institutions holding 2,224 466 1,014
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% +2.3% -1.2%
Institutions buying 1,285 273 487
Institutions selling 779 154 398
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.77 1.22

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.

NOWPCTYBR
NOW 1.00 0.64 0.56
PCTY 0.64 1.00 0.63
BR 0.56 0.63 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, PCTY and BR?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $160.09B, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) $9.06B, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) $20.19B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, PCTY and BR?

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 95.6x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 34.1x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 18.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 40.2x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 20.6x, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 17.2x). 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) +22.2%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +11.0%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Paylocity Holding (PCTY) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 15.2%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 15.0%). On return on invested capital, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) leads (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.0%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 16.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paylocity Holding (PCTY) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -18.2%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +12.3%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) -23.6%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) +2.4%/yr, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) -10.8%/yr, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) -0.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 2.26%. ServiceNow (NOW) and Paylocity Holding (PCTY) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 58.7%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 42.2%, Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) 30.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NOW, PCTY and BR?

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