PAY vs ACIW vs GPN Stock Comparison

Paymentus Holdings, Aci Worldwide and Global Payments Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PAY Paymentus Holdings, Inc.
$33.49 +5.8% 1M -7.2% 1Y
Market cap
$4.16B
P/E
43.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.42B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
1 win
ACIW Aci Worldwide, Inc.
$59.19 +15.6% 1M +25.0% 1Y
Market cap
$6.30B
P/E
27.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.82B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
7 wins
GPN Global Payments Inc
$95.90 +16.7% 1M +19.9% 1Y
Market cap
$26.22B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$10.23B
Div. yield
0.01%
Payment Processing Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Aci Worldwide leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Aci Worldwide 7, Global Payments 3, Paymentus Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPAYACIWGPNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.16B $6.30B $26.22B GPN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.9x 27.9x -28.1x ACIW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 40.3x 21.4x 7.5x GPN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +26.5% +7.0% +32.5% GPN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.7% 12.4% -9.1% ACIW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 10.8% 2.3% ACIW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.9x 4.8x ACIW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -7.2% +25.0% +19.9% ACIW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.1%/yr +12.9%/yr -6.9%/yr ACIW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.3% 34.8% 41.7% ACIW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 73/100 67/100 49/100 PAY

Percentile Scorecard

PAYACIWGPN

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

AxisPAYACIWGPN
Valuation 68 #32 of 99 76 #25 of 99 72 #28 of 99
Growth 88 #12 of 94 66 #33 of 94 26 #70 of 94
Profitability 78 #21 of 90 80 #19 of 90 64 #33 of 90
Financial Health 96 #5 of 105 61 #42 of 105 23 #81 of 105
Shareholder Returns 37 #40 of 63 55 #29 of 63 58 #27 of 63
Overall 73 67 49
  • PAY ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • ACIW ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • GPN ranked among 109 companies in Fintech

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPAYACIWGPNSPY
1 month +5.8%+15.6%+16.7% -1.0%
3 months -16.3%+2.4%+9.6% -0.4%
6 months +23.4%+36.8%+37.7% +4.5%
Year to date +6.0%+23.8%+23.9% +12.4%
1 year -7.2%+25.0%+19.9% +13.6%
3 years +116.2%+145.7%-15.7% +76.4%
3 years, per year +29.3%+35.0%-5.5% +20.8%
5 years +22.0%+83.0%-29.9% +63.7%
5 years, per year +4.1%+12.9%-6.9% +10.4%
10 years —+248.0%+35.4% +267.7%
10 years, per year —+13.3%+3.1% +13.9%

Risk

MeasurePAYACIWGPNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.3%34.8%41.7% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 59.5%36.4%35.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.940.320.84 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.120.720.48 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.0%-44.2%-58.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -25.0%-1.6%-3.7% -1.6%
52-week high $44.65$60.18$99.62 $779.14
52-week low $20.21$38.47$62.47 $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.

MultiplePAYACIWGPN
P/E now vs peer median 44.6xmedian 21.9x 26.6xmedian 21.9x -27.7xmedian 21.9x
P/S now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 2.3x 3.3xmedian 2.3x 2.5xmedian 2.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 24.1xmedian 16.4x 18.8xmedian 16.4x 11.6xmedian 16.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 17.4x 19.2xmedian 17.4x 31.0xmedian 17.4x
P/B now vs peer median 6.6xmedian 1.7x 4.0xmedian 1.7x 1.1xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.51median 0.91 0.56median 0.91 0.60median 0.91

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 monthsPAYACIWGPN
Revenue $1.42B $1.82B $10.23B
Gross profit $358.38M $893.35M $6.54B
Operating income $116.78M $338.68M $1.27B
Net income $94.59M $225.69M -$873.78M
Free cash flow $167.61M $311.41M $822.72M
R&D $62.87M $179.52M –
EPS (diluted) $0.73 $2.22 $-3.46
Cash & equivalents $407.62M $167.40M $5.41B
Total debt – $822.18M $23.56B
Shares (diluted) 130.34M 101.68M 270.12M
Enterprise value $2.71B $5.57B $4.01B

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
MetricPAYACIWGPN
P/E 44.6x 26.6x -27.7x
P/FCF 25.2x 19.2x 31.0x
P/Operating cash flow 25.1x 18.2x 15.4x
P/S 3.0x 3.3x 2.5x
P/B 6.6x 4.0x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 6.7x 4.0x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA 24.1x 18.8x 11.6x
EV/EBIT 32.7x 19.6x 34.4x
EV/Revenue 2.7x 3.7x 4.3x
EV/FCF 22.8x 21.3x 53.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 22.7x 20.1x 26.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.51 0.56 0.60

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPAYACIWGPN
Revenue growth (1Y) 26.5% 7.0% 32.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 34.7% 9.9% 3.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 28.7% 4.5% 14.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.2% 10.6% 5.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 77.8% 0.1% -33.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 123.3% 34.9% -4.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 59.2% -10.1% -158.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 89.6% 44.8% -44.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 57.9% -7.1% -158.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 87.3% 48.0% -46.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 16.0% 6.9% -46.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 41.7% 35.3% -9.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.0% 6.0% -66.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 42.0% 37.8% -19.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPAYACIWGPN
Gross margin 25.2% 49.1% 63.9%
EBITDA margin 11.1% 19.4% 36.8%
Operating margin 8.2% 18.6% 12.4%
Pretax margin 9.0% 16.8% 5.5%
Net margin 6.7% 12.4% -9.1%
FCF margin 11.8% 17.1% 8.0%
Operating cash flow margin 11.8% 18.1% 16.2%
Return on equity 15.1% 15.1% -3.5%
Return on assets 12.7% 7.3% -1.3%
Return on invested capital – 10.8% 2.3%
Return on capital employed 18.4% 14.3% 2.5%
Asset turnover 1.9x 0.6x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 1.5x -1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 4.3% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPAYACIWGPN
Debt / assets – 26.6% 37.1%
Debt / equity – 0.5x 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.9x 4.8x
Debt / FCF – 2.6x 28.6x
Liabilities / assets 15.8% 51.6% 62.6%
Equity / assets 84.2% 48.4% 37.4%
Interest coverage – 6.4x 1.5x
Current ratio 4.8x 1.6x 0.8x
Quick ratio 4.7x 2.0x 0.7x
Cash ratio 3.7x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 24.47 4.22 0.65

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPAYACIWGPN
Dividend yield – – 1.0%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 2.7% 6.2%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.7% 7.2%
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.

ConsensusPAYACIWGPN
Forward P/E 40.3xFY2026 21.4xFY2026 7.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.83FY2026 $2.77FY2026 $12.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +25.8%FY2026 +28.2%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +24.1% +12.6% +18.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.36BFY2026 $1.81BFY2026 $12.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +3.0%FY2026 +35.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +33.1% +20.2% +8.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPAYACIWGPN
Held by institutions 44.9% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 185 380 794
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.9% +3.5% +7.4%
Institutions buying 116 198 375
Institutions selling 55 132 308
Buyers to sellers 2.11 1.50 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.

PAYACIWGPN
PAY 1.00 0.46 0.46
ACIW 0.46 1.00 0.49
GPN 0.46 0.49 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PAY, ACIW and GPN?

Global Payments (GPN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) $4.16B, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) $6.30B, Global Payments (GPN) $26.22B.

Which stock is cheaper, PAY, ACIW and GPN?

Aci Worldwide (ACIW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 43.9x, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 27.9x, Global Payments (GPN) -28.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Global Payments (GPN) is cheapest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 40.3x, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 21.4x, Global Payments (GPN) 7.5x). 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: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +26.5%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +7.0%, Global Payments (GPN) +32.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Aci Worldwide (ACIW) has the highest net margin (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 6.7%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 12.4%, Global Payments (GPN) -9.1%). On return on invested capital, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) leads (Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 10.8%, Global Payments (GPN) 2.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Aci Worldwide (ACIW) returned the most: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) -7.2%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +25.0%, Global Payments (GPN) +19.9%. Over five years, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) compounded fastest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +4.1%/yr, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +12.9%/yr, Global Payments (GPN) -6.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) has been the steadiest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 58.3%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 34.8%, Global Payments (GPN) 41.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) leads on 7. 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.