PAY vs FOUR vs GPN Stock Comparison

Paymentus Holdings, Shift4 Payments and Global Payments Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PAY Paymentus Holdings, Inc.
$34.99 +13.6% 1M +22.3% 1Y
Market cap
$4.41B
P/E
51.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.36B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins
FOUR Shift4 Payments, Inc.
$42.06 +16.3% 1M -39.1% 1Y
Market cap
$6.54B
P/E
76.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.78B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
3 wins
GPN Global Payments Inc
$99.62 +27.1% 1M +28.1% 1Y
Market cap
$26.48B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$10.23B
Div. yield
1.00%
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Global Payments leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Global Payments 4, Paymentus Holdings 4, Shift4 Payments 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPAYFOURGPNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.41B $6.54B $26.48B GPN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 51.9x 76.1x -28.8x PAY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 42.2x 7.6x 7.8x FOUR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +30.2% +32.4% +32.5% GPN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.2% 0.9% -9.1% PAY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 4.9% 2.3% FOUR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 4.5x 4.8x FOUR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — 1.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.3% -39.1% +28.1% GPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.5%/yr -6.6%/yr -5.9%/yr PAY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 61.3% 65.9% 41.9% GPN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 72/100 65/100 48/100 PAY

Percentile Scorecard

PAYFOURGPN

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

AxisPAYFOURGPN
Valuation 62 #38 of 99 85 #16 of 99 66 #34 of 99
Growth 90 #10 of 94 70 #29 of 94 26 #70 of 94
Profitability 75 #23 of 90 67 #30 of 90 64 #33 of 90
Financial Health 96 #5 of 105 18 #86 of 105 24 #80 of 105
Shareholder Returns 37 #39 of 61 83 #11 of 61 58 #26 of 61
Overall 72 65 48
  • PAY ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • FOUR 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

PeriodPAYFOURGPNSPY
1 month +13.6%+16.3%+27.1% -2.3%
3 months +1.4%-22.5%+15.6% -0.7%
6 months +22.3%-4.4%+38.7% +4.8%
Year to date +10.8%-33.2%+28.7% +10.3%
1 year +22.3%-39.1%+28.1% +10.3%
3 years +125.9%-13.1%-12.4% +73.0%
3 years, per year +31.2%-4.6%-4.3% +20.1%
5 years +31.0%-28.9%-26.1% +61.9%
5 years, per year +5.5%-6.6%-5.9% +10.1%
10 years ——+41.0% +258.6%
10 years, per year ——+3.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePAYFOURGPNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 61.3%65.9%41.9% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 57.0%69.9%35.9% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.711.320.84 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.36-0.590.67 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.0%-71.7%-58.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.6%-43.0%0.0% -3.5%
52-week high $44.65$73.78$99.62 $779.14
52-week low $20.21$35.57$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.

MultiplePAYFOURGPN
P/E now vs peer median 51.9xmedian 20.4x 76.1xmedian 20.4x -28.8xmedian 20.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 2.2x 1.4xmedian 2.2x 2.6xmedian 2.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.8xmedian 13.7x 11.5xmedian 13.7x 11.8xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.7xmedian 16.4x 15.1xmedian 16.4x 32.2xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 1.9x 3.8xmedian 1.9x 1.1xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.40median 1.02 -2.23median 1.02 0.62median 1.02

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 monthsPAYFOURGPN
Revenue $1.36B $4.78B $10.23B
Gross profit $339.38M $1.72B $6.54B
Operating income $103.10M $387.50M $1.27B
Net income $84.86M $122.40M -$873.78M
Free cash flow $159.14M $433.00M $822.72M
R&D $62.79M – –
EPS (diluted) $0.66 $0.55 $-3.46
Cash & equivalents $377.69M $356.00M $5.41B
Total debt – $4.51B $23.56B
Shares (diluted) 129.01M 79.64M 270.12M
Enterprise value $3.08B $3.35B $4.92B

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
MetricPAYFOURGPN
P/E 51.9x 76.1x -28.8x
P/FCF 27.7x 15.1x 32.2x
P/Operating cash flow 27.6x 11.0x 16.0x
P/S 3.2x 1.4x 2.6x
P/B 7.2x 3.8x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 7.3x -5.6x 6.1x
EV/EBITDA 27.8x 11.5x 11.8x
EV/EBIT 39.1x 27.6x 35.2x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 2.2x 4.4x
EV/FCF 25.3x 24.7x 54.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.3x 18.0x 26.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.40 -2.23 0.62

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPAYFOURGPN
Revenue growth (1Y) 30.2% 32.4% 32.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 34.6% 28.2% 3.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 28.5% 55.7% 14.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.2% 42.6% 5.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 78.1% 41.2% -33.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 189.2% 45.3% -4.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 51.3% -55.2% -158.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 132.4% -4.9% -44.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 51.3% -77.1% -158.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 129.3% -34.2% -46.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 36.8% 16.0% -46.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.6% 16.4% -9.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.9% 8.8% -66.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.4% 13.3% -19.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPAYFOURGPN
Gross margin 24.9% 35.9% 63.9%
EBITDA margin 10.7% 19.5% 36.8%
Operating margin 7.6% 8.1% 12.4%
Pretax margin 8.4% 3.2% 5.5%
Net margin 6.2% 0.9% -9.1%
FCF margin 11.7% 9.1% 8.0%
Operating cash flow margin 11.7% 12.4% 16.2%
Return on equity 14.2% 7.0% -3.5%
Return on assets 11.9% 1.4% -1.3%
Return on invested capital – 4.9% 2.3%
Return on capital employed 16.9% 5.5% 2.5%
Asset turnover 1.9x 0.5x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 4.8x -1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 1.8% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPAYFOURGPN
Debt / assets – 51.9% 37.1%
Debt / equity – 2.6x 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 4.5x 4.8x
Debt / FCF – 10.4x 28.6x
Liabilities / assets 15.4% 80.1% 62.6%
Equity / assets 84.6% 19.9% 37.4%
Interest coverage – 1.5x 1.5x
Current ratio 4.9x 1.2x 0.8x
Quick ratio 4.8x 1.1x 0.7x
Cash ratio 3.7x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 27.02 1.21 0.67

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPAYFOURGPN
Dividend yield – – 1.0%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 9.6% 5.9%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 9.6% 6.9%
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.

ConsensusPAYFOURGPN
Forward P/E 42.2xFY2026 7.6xFY2026 7.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.83FY2026 $5.50FY2026 $12.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +25.8%FY2026 +6.4%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +24.1% +8.7% +18.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.36BFY2026 $2.44BFY2026 $12.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +23.2%FY2026 +35.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +33.1% +6.6% +8.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPAYFOURGPN
Held by institutions 89.6% 87.4% 100.0%
Institutions holding 185 358 794
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.9% -2.3% +7.4%
Institutions buying 116 187 375
Institutions selling 55 142 308
Buyers to sellers 2.11 1.32 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.

PAYFOURGPN
PAY 1.00 0.42 0.47
FOUR 0.42 1.00 0.57
GPN 0.47 0.57 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PAY, FOUR and GPN?

Global Payments (GPN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) $4.41B, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) $6.54B, Global Payments (GPN) $26.48B.

Which stock is cheaper, PAY, FOUR and GPN?

Paymentus Holdings (PAY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 51.9x, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 76.1x, Global Payments (GPN) -28.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) is cheapest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 42.2x, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 7.6x, Global Payments (GPN) 7.8x). 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) +30.2%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) +32.4%, Global Payments (GPN) +32.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Paymentus Holdings (PAY) has the highest net margin (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 6.2%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 0.9%, Global Payments (GPN) -9.1%). On return on invested capital, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) leads (Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 4.9%, Global Payments (GPN) 2.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Global Payments (GPN) returned the most: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +22.3%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) -39.1%, Global Payments (GPN) +28.1%. Over five years, Paymentus Holdings (PAY) compounded fastest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +5.5%/yr, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) -6.6%/yr, Global Payments (GPN) -5.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Global Payments (GPN) 1.00%. Paymentus Holdings (PAY) and Shift4 Payments (FOUR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Global Payments (GPN) has been the steadiest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 61.3%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 65.9%, Global Payments (GPN) 41.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PAY, FOUR 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, Global Payments (GPN) leads on 4. 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.