PAY vs PYPL Stock Comparison

Paymentus Holdings and PayPal Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PAY Paymentus Holdings, Inc.
$32.48 +7.6% 1M +4.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.03B
P/E
47.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.36B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$54.99 -0.1% 1M -21.2% 1Y
Market cap
$48.81B
P/E
10.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.13B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionPAYPYPLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.03B $48.81B PYPL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 47.5x 10.0x PYPL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 39.1x 9.9x PYPL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +30.2% +5.7% PAY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.2% 14.4% PYPL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 15.9% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.3x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.1% -21.2% PAY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.3%/yr -25.2%/yr PAY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 61.1% 44.0% PYPL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 72/100 70/100 PAY

Percentile Scorecard

PAYPYPL

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

AxisPAYPYPL
Valuation 63 #37 of 99 92 #9 of 99
Growth 89 #11 of 94 63 #35 of 94
Profitability 75 #23 of 90 88 #12 of 90
Financial Health 96 #5 of 105 39 #65 of 105
Shareholder Returns 38 #38 of 61 67 #21 of 61
Overall 72 70
  • PAY ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPAYPYPLSPY
1 month +7.6%-0.1% -0.8%
3 months +3.2%-1.9% +3.5%
6 months +17.1%+10.5% +7.0%
Year to date +2.8%-5.8% +12.2%
1 year +4.1%-21.2% +13.0%
3 years +127.3%+9.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year +31.5%+3.0% +23.1%
5 years +29.3%-76.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year +5.3%-25.2% +11.0%
10 years —+29.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+2.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePAYPYPLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 61.1%44.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 57.3%48.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.801.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.07-0.48 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.0%-83.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -27.3%-24.7% -1.8%
52-week high $44.65$73.02 $779.14
52-week low $20.21$39.08 $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.

MultiplePAYPYPL
P/E now vs peer median 48.2xmedian 20.6x 9.8xmedian 20.6x
P/S now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 2.3x 1.4xmedian 2.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 25.6xmedian 15.4x 7.2xmedian 15.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.7xmedian 16.4x 7.2xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 1.9x 2.4xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.37median 1.05 0.66median 1.05

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 monthsPAYPYPL
Revenue $1.36B $34.13B
Gross profit $339.38M –
Operating income $103.10M $5.95B
Net income $84.86M $4.90B
Free cash flow $159.14M $6.59B
R&D $62.79M $3.25B
EPS (diluted) $0.66 $5.56
Cash & equivalents $377.69M $8.31B
Total debt – $13.40B
Shares (diluted) 129.01M 882.00M
Enterprise value $2.70B $7.04B

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
MetricPAYPYPL
P/E 48.2x 9.8x
P/FCF 25.7x 7.2x
P/Operating cash flow 25.6x 6.3x
P/S 3.0x 1.4x
P/B 6.7x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 6.8x 2.4x
EV/EBITDA 25.6x 7.2x
EV/EBIT 36.0x 8.3x
EV/Revenue 2.7x 1.5x
EV/FCF 23.3x 7.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.3x 6.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.37 0.66

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPAYPYPL
Revenue growth (1Y) 30.2% 5.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 34.6% 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 28.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 78.1% 1.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 189.2% 9.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 51.3% 4.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 132.4% 6.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 51.3% 16.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 129.3% 15.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 36.8% 23.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.6% 20.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.9% 24.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.4% 21.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPAYPYPL
Gross margin 24.9% –
EBITDA margin 10.7% 20.2%
Operating margin 7.6% 17.4%
Pretax margin 8.4% 17.2%
Net margin 6.2% 14.4%
FCF margin 11.7% 19.3%
Operating cash flow margin 11.7% 21.9%
Return on equity 14.2% 24.6%
Return on assets 11.9% 6.0%
Return on invested capital – 15.9%
Return on capital employed 16.9% 17.9%
Asset turnover 1.9x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 2.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPAYPYPL
Debt / assets – 16.2%
Debt / equity – 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.3x
Debt / FCF – 2.0x
Liabilities / assets 15.4% 76.0%
Equity / assets 84.6% 24.0%
Interest coverage – –
Current ratio 4.9x 1.3x
Quick ratio 4.8x 0.4x
Cash ratio 3.7x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 25.32 1.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPAYPYPL
Dividend yield – 1.0%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 12.7%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 13.7%
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.

ConsensusPAYPYPL
Forward P/E 39.1xFY2026 9.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.83FY2026 $5.55FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +25.8%FY2026 +4.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +24.1% -3.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.36BFY2026 $33.55BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +1.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +33.1% +5.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPAYPYPL
Held by institutions 89.6% 74.2%
Institutions holding 185 1,378
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.9% +0.8%
Institutions buying 116 521
Institutions selling 55 671
Buyers to sellers 2.11 0.78

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.

PAYPYPL
PAY 1.00 0.32
PYPL 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PAY and PYPL?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) $4.03B, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $48.81B.

Which stock is cheaper, PAY and PYPL?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 47.5x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is cheapest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 39.1x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.9x). 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%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +5.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) has the highest net margin (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 6.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paymentus Holdings (PAY) returned the most: Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +4.1%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -21.2%. Over five years, Paymentus Holdings (PAY) compounded fastest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) +5.3%/yr, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -25.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) has been the steadiest (Paymentus Holdings (PAY) 61.1%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 44.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do PAY and PYPL move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.32, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, PAY and PYPL?

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