NOW vs PCTY vs WK Stock Comparison

ServiceNow, Paylocity Holding and Workiva Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$102.35 -25.8% 1M -41.8% 1Y
Market cap
$105.47B
P/E
73.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
3 wins
PCTY Paylocity Holding Corp
$169.38 +15.9% 1M +16.4% 1Y
Market cap
$9.38B
P/E
34.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.77B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
8 wins
WK Workiva Inc
$85.42 +21.8% 1M +4.0% 1Y
Market cap
$3.98B
P/E
62.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.00B
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Paylocity Holding leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Paylocity Holding 8, ServiceNow 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOWPCTYWKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $105.47B $9.38B $3.98B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 73.0x 34.8x 62.8x PCTY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.4x 20.5x 23.8x PCTY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.8% +11.0% +18.8% NOW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.4% 15.2% 6.3% PCTY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.2% 21.0% — PCTY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x -0.4x — PCTY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -41.8% +16.4% +4.0% PCTY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.9%/yr -9.6%/yr -11.8%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 66.9% 41.7% 45.4% PCTY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 63/100 62/100 PCTY

Percentile Scorecard

NOWPCTYWK

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

AxisNOWPCTYWK
Valuation 39 #61 of 100 50 #51 of 100 51 #50 of 100
Growth 50 #50 of 99 67 #33 of 99 98 #3 of 99
Profitability 75 #25 of 96 84 #16 of 96 65 #34 of 96
Financial Health 52 #54 of 112 59 #47 of 112 51 #56 of 112
Shareholder Returns 38 #42 of 67 55 #31 of 67 47 #36 of 67
Overall 51 63 62
  • NOW ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • PCTY ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • WK ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNOWPCTYWKSPY
1 month -25.8%+15.9%+21.8% -5.9%
3 months -12.8%+11.8%+37.3% -4.6%
6 months +9.4%+55.2%+63.4% +0.2%
Year to date -33.2%+11.1%-1.0% +7.5%
1 year -41.8%+16.4%+4.0% +8.2%
3 years -16.0%+19.4%-3.7% +68.3%
3 years, per year -5.7%+6.1%-1.2% +19.0%
5 years -26.0%-39.5%-46.6% +56.5%
5 years, per year -5.9%-9.6%-11.8% +9.4%
10 years +515.1%+369.8%+456.5% +251.5%
10 years, per year +19.9%+16.7%+18.7% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureNOWPCTYWKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 66.9%41.7%45.4% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 76.8%40.9%44.3% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.79-0.140.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.630.390.09 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.5%-65.8%-72.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.8%-4.7%-8.5% -5.9%
52-week high $175.93$177.67$93.31 $779.14
52-week low $83.00$95.10$44.31 $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.

MultipleNOWPCTYWK
P/E now vs peer median 73.3xmedian 24.7x 34.0xmedian 24.7x 73.7xmedian 24.7x
P/S now vs peer median 6.9xmedian 2.8x 5.1xmedian 2.8x 4.4xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 31.7xmedian 16.5x 17.7xmedian 16.5x 54.3xmedian 16.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.4xmedian 15.3x 18.2xmedian 15.3x 19.6xmedian 15.3x
P/B now vs peer median 8.1xmedian 2.7x 7.4xmedian 2.7x -95.2xmedian 2.7x
PEG now vs peer median -21.45median 0.77 1.33median 0.77 2.11median 0.77

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 monthsNOWPCTYWK
Revenue $15.43B $1.77B $1.00B
Gross profit $11.28B $1.23B $810.06M
Operating income $1.49B $385.99M $52.69M
Net income $1.45B $269.74M $63.36M
Free cash flow $4.75B $497.10M $223.18M
R&D $3.47B $221.39M $222.56M
EPS (diluted) $1.39 $4.92 $1.15
Cash & equivalents $2.39B $271.92M $333.77M
Total debt $7.52B $81.25M –
Shares (diluted) 1.04B 54.77M 55.21M
Enterprise value $84.73B $8.48B $588.93M

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
MetricNOWPCTYWK
P/E 73.3x 34.0x 73.7x
P/FCF 22.4x 18.2x 19.6x
P/Operating cash flow 19.9x 16.9x 19.4x
P/S 6.9x 5.1x 4.4x
P/B 8.1x 7.4x -95.2x
P/Tangible book 11.2x 7.9x -68.1x
EV/EBITDA 31.7x 17.7x 54.3x
EV/EBIT 73.1x 22.9x 67.5x
EV/Revenue 7.1x 5.0x 3.5x
EV/FCF 23.0x 17.8x 15.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.5x 16.6x 15.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -21.45 1.33 2.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYWK
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.8% 11.0% 18.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 14.7% 18.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.1% 11.7% 23.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 19.2% 14.9% 21.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -14.9% 27.0% 182.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.1% 35.5% 36.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -16.5% 18.8% 235.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.1% 24.2% 35.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -16.2% 22.6% 242.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.4% 25.6% 34.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.2% 27.5% 69.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% 23.6% 70.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% 22.7% 71.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 24.0% 74.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYWK
Gross margin 73.1% 69.2% 80.6%
EBITDA margin 22.3% 28.1% 6.5%
Operating margin 9.7% 21.8% 5.2%
Pretax margin 13.1% 21.9% 7.2%
Net margin 9.4% 15.2% 6.3%
FCF margin 30.8% 28.1% 22.2%
Operating cash flow margin 34.6% 30.1% 22.4%
Return on equity 11.3% 22.5% –
Return on assets 4.6% 5.2% 4.6%
Return on invested capital 5.2% 21.0% –
Return on capital employed 7.5% 22.1% 7.6%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.7x 2.0x 3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 10.4% 7.8% 12.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYWK
Debt / assets 23.6% 1.7% –
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x -0.4x –
Debt / FCF 1.6x 0.2x –
Liabilities / assets 58.9% 75.0% 103.3%
Equity / assets 41.1% 25.0% -3.3%
Interest coverage 14.6x – 4.2x
Current ratio 0.7x 1.1x 1.6x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.1x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 4.19 2.51 2.33

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOWPCTYWK
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 2.4% 4.3% 3.8%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 4.3% 3.8%
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.

ConsensusNOWPCTYWK
Forward P/E 27.4xFY2026 20.5xFY2027 23.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.74FY2026 $8.25FY2027 $3.59FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.6%FY2026 -0.7%FY2027 +101.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +25.1% +13.7% +17.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.26BFY2026 $1.94BFY2027 $1.01BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.9%FY2026 +9.6%FY2027 +14.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.5% -1.6% +25.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOWPCTYWK
Held by institutions 81.6% 85.4% 88.9%
Institutions holding 2,228 468 305
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.1% +2.3% +1.4%
Institutions buying 1,287 274 184
Institutions selling 781 155 86
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.77 2.14

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.

NOWPCTYWK
NOW 1.00 0.57 0.59
PCTY 0.57 1.00 0.64
WK 0.59 0.64 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOW, PCTY and WK?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: ServiceNow (NOW) $105.47B, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) $9.38B, Workiva (WK) $3.98B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOW, PCTY and WK?

Paylocity Holding (PCTY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (ServiceNow (NOW) 73.0x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 34.8x, Workiva (WK) 62.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) is cheapest (ServiceNow (NOW) 27.4x, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 20.5x, Workiva (WK) 23.8x). 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%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +11.0%, Workiva (WK) +18.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Paylocity Holding (PCTY) has the highest net margin (ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 15.2%, Workiva (WK) 6.3%). On return on invested capital, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) leads (ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paylocity Holding (PCTY) returned the most: ServiceNow (NOW) -41.8%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +16.4%, Workiva (WK) +4.0%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (ServiceNow (NOW) -5.9%/yr, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) -9.6%/yr, Workiva (WK) -11.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) has been the steadiest (ServiceNow (NOW) 66.9%, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 41.7%, Workiva (WK) 45.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.