PAY vs CPAY vs ACIW Stock Comparison

Paymentus Holdings, Corpay and Aci Worldwide Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PAY Paymentus Holdings, Inc.
$31.85 +5.5% 1M +1.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.97B
P/E
46.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.36B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
2 wins
CPAY Corpay, Inc.
$397.32 -0.2% 1M +39.8% 1Y
Market cap
$25.93B
P/E
22.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.02B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
5 wins
ACIW Aci Worldwide, Inc.
$54.66 +10.4% 1M +8.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.56B
P/E
24.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.82B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Corpay leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Corpay 5, Aci Worldwide 4, Paymentus Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPAYCPAYACIWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.97B $25.93B $5.56B CPAY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 46.8x 22.7x 24.6x CPAY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.4x 15.2x 19.7x CPAY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +30.2% +20.4% +7.0% PAY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.2% 22.7% 12.4% CPAY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 10.7% 10.8% ACIW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.8x 1.9x ACIW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +1.5% +39.8% +8.9% CPAY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.5%/yr +9.5%/yr +12.0%/yr ACIW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 61.1% 36.5% 34.9% ACIW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 73/100 61/100 68/100 PAY

Percentile Scorecard

PAYCPAYACIW

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

AxisPAYCPAYACIW
Valuation 66 #34 of 99 57 #43 of 99 77 #24 of 99
Growth 89 #11 of 94 59 #39 of 94 69 #30 of 94
Profitability 74 #24 of 90 90 #10 of 90 80 #19 of 90
Financial Health 96 #5 of 105 22 #82 of 105 60 #43 of 105
Shareholder Returns 40 #37 of 61 78 #14 of 61 57 #27 of 61
Overall 73 61 68
  • PAY ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • CPAY ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • ACIW ranked among 109 companies in Fintech

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPAYCPAYACIWSPY
1 month +5.5%-0.2%+10.4% -0.2%
3 months -6.8%+3.4%-8.9% +3.9%
6 months +13.7%+27.5%+24.4% +8.2%
Year to date +0.8%+32.0%+14.3% +12.9%
1 year +1.5%+39.8%+8.9% +12.3%
3 years +122.9%+79.1%+176.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +30.6%+21.4%+40.4% +23.3%
5 years +24.8%+57.5%+76.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year +4.5%+9.5%+12.0% +10.9%
10 years —+129.0%+192.3% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+8.6%+11.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePAYCPAYACIWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 61.1%36.5%34.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 57.1%34.1%36.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.790.810.35 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.021.090.25 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.0%-37.3%-44.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.7%-6.6%-9.2% -1.2%
52-week high $44.65$425.23$60.18 $779.14
52-week low $20.21$255.00$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.

MultiplePAYCPAYACIW
P/E now vs peer median 47.2xmedian 20.0x 22.8xmedian 20.0x 24.6xmedian 20.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 2.3x 5.2xmedian 2.3x 3.0xmedian 2.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 25.1xmedian 17.5x 12.6xmedian 17.5x 17.5xmedian 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 15.9x 15.9xmedian 15.9x 17.8xmedian 15.9x
P/B now vs peer median 6.5xmedian 2.0x 7.3xmedian 2.0x 3.7xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.37median 1.03 1.97median 1.03 0.51median 1.03

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 monthsPAYCPAYACIW
Revenue $1.36B $5.02B $1.82B
Gross profit $339.38M – $893.35M
Operating income $103.10M $2.20B $338.68M
Net income $84.86M $1.15B $225.69M
Free cash flow $159.14M $1.64B $311.41M
R&D $62.79M – $179.52M
EPS (diluted) $0.66 $17.20 $2.22
Cash & equivalents $377.69M $3.16B $167.40M
Total debt – $39.11B $822.18M
Shares (diluted) 129.01M 66.33M 101.68M
Enterprise value $2.65B $15.81B $4.83B

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
MetricPAYCPAYACIW
P/E 47.2x 22.8x 24.6x
P/FCF 25.2x 15.9x 17.8x
P/Operating cash flow 25.1x 14.1x 16.8x
P/S 2.9x 5.2x 3.0x
P/B 6.5x 7.3x 3.7x
P/Tangible book 6.7x 39.0x 3.7x
EV/EBITDA 25.1x 12.6x 17.5x
EV/EBIT 35.2x 15.3x 18.3x
EV/Revenue 2.7x 6.7x 3.4x
EV/FCF 22.8x 20.5x 19.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 22.8x 18.2x 18.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.37 1.97 0.51

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPAYCPAYACIW
Revenue growth (1Y) 30.2% 20.4% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 34.6% 11.5% 9.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 28.5% – 4.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.2% – 10.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 78.1% 17.9% 0.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 189.2% 12.4% 34.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 51.3% 9.4% -10.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 132.4% 7.4% 44.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 51.3% 17.0% -7.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 129.3% 11.6% 48.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 36.8% -12.7% 6.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.6% 0.6% 35.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.9% -15.0% 6.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.4% -0.2% 37.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPAYCPAYACIW
Gross margin 24.9% – 49.1%
EBITDA margin 10.7% 53.0% 19.4%
Operating margin 7.6% 43.7% 18.6%
Pretax margin 8.4% 33.3% 16.8%
Net margin 6.2% 22.7% 12.4%
FCF margin 11.7% 32.6% 17.1%
Operating cash flow margin 11.7% 36.8% 18.1%
Return on equity 14.2% 32.2% 15.1%
Return on assets 11.9% 4.2% 7.3%
Return on invested capital – 10.7% 10.8%
Return on capital employed 16.9% 20.9% 14.3%
Asset turnover 1.9x 0.2x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.6x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 2.3% 4.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPAYCPAYACIW
Debt / assets – 37.6% 26.6%
Debt / equity – 3.0x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.8x 1.9x
Debt / FCF – 6.5x 2.6x
Liabilities / assets 15.4% 87.3% 51.6%
Equity / assets 84.6% 12.7% 48.4%
Interest coverage – 5.0x 6.4x
Current ratio 4.9x 1.0x 1.6x
Quick ratio 4.8x 0.5x 2.0x
Cash ratio 3.7x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 24.90 1.59 4.05

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPAYCPAYACIW
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 0.0% 6.5% 3.0%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 6.5% 3.0%
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.

ConsensusPAYCPAYACIW
Forward P/E 38.4xFY2026 15.2xFY2026 19.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.83FY2026 $26.14FY2026 $2.77FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +25.8%FY2026 +22.3%FY2026 +28.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +24.1% +17.2% +12.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.36BFY2026 $5.64BFY2026 $1.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +25.3%FY2026 +3.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +33.1% +8.1% +20.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPAYCPAYACIW
Held by institutions 44.9% 97.9% 100.0%
Institutions holding 185 732 378
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.9% +0.8% +3.5%
Institutions buying 116 389 198
Institutions selling 55 240 130
Buyers to sellers 2.11 1.62 1.52

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.

PAYCPAYACIW
PAY 1.00 0.34 0.42
CPAY 0.34 1.00 0.38
ACIW 0.42 0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PAY, CPAY and ACIW?

Corpay (CPAY) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) $3.97B, Corpay (CPAY) $25.93B, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) $5.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, PAY, CPAY and ACIW?

Corpay (CPAY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 46.8x, Corpay (CPAY) 22.7x, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 24.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Corpay (CPAY) is cheapest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 38.4x, Corpay (CPAY) 15.2x, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 19.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Paymentus Holdings (PAY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +30.2%, Corpay (CPAY) +20.4%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Corpay (CPAY) has the highest net margin (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 6.2%, Corpay (CPAY) 22.7%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 12.4%). On return on invested capital, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) leads (Corpay (CPAY) 10.7%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 10.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Corpay (CPAY) returned the most: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +1.5%, Corpay (CPAY) +39.8%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +8.9%. Over five years, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) compounded fastest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +4.5%/yr, Corpay (CPAY) +9.5%/yr, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) +12.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) has been the steadiest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 61.1%, Corpay (CPAY) 36.5%, Aci Worldwide (ACIW) 34.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PAY, CPAY 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, Corpay (CPAY) 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.