PAYC vs ZM vs WDAY Stock Comparison

Paycom Software, Zoom Communications and Workday Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PAYC Paycom Software, Inc.
$260.65 +19.3% 1M +39.8% 1Y
Market cap
$12.05B
P/E
24.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.14B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
2 wins
ZM Zoom Communications, Inc.
$97.66 +10.5% 1M +17.2% 1Y
Market cap
$27.89B
P/E
8.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.97B
Div. yield
–
Communications Platforms Technology
5 wins
WDAY Workday, Inc.
$195.46 +3.3% 1M -15.5% 1Y
Market cap
$48.51B
P/E
38.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.96B
Div. yield
–
ERP Software Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Zoom Communications leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Zoom Communications 5, Workday 4, Paycom Software 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPAYCZMWDAYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.05B $27.89B $48.51B WDAY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.7x 8.7x 38.6x ZM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.2x 15.1x 17.1x ZM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.2% +4.6% +11.2% WDAY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 22.8% 64.1% 12.6% ZM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 31.3% — 9.8% PAYC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x — -0.3x WDAY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +39.8% +17.2% -15.5% PAYC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -13.8%/yr -18.7%/yr -7.6%/yr WDAY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.9% 44.8% 53.6% ZM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 80/100 70/100 ZM

Percentile Scorecard

PAYCZMWDAY

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

AxisPAYCZMWDAY
Valuation 54 #47 of 101 71 #9 of 29 51 #50 of 101
Growth 57 #42 of 97 69 #9 of 27 93 #8 of 97
Profitability 98 #3 of 93 84 #5 of 26 82 #18 of 93
Financial Health 39 #66 of 108 97 #2 of 31 55 #49 of 108
Shareholder Returns 61 #25 of 63 – –
Overall 62 80 70
  • PAYC ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • ZM ranked among 32 companies in Workplace Software
  • WDAY ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPAYCZMWDAYSPY
1 month +19.3%+10.5%+3.3% +0.7%
3 months +61.4%+5.8%+23.6% +3.7%
6 months +105.6%+0.5%+59.7% +7.1%
Year to date +63.6%+13.2%-9.0% +12.8%
1 year +39.8%+17.2%-15.5% +11.9%
3 years +8.6%+62.8%-5.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +2.8%+17.6%-1.9% +22.8%
5 years -52.4%-64.4%-32.6% +67.6%
5 years, per year -13.8%-18.7%-7.6% +10.9%
10 years +404.7%—+126.8% +262.0%
10 years, per year +17.6%—+8.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePAYCZMWDAYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.9%44.8%53.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.1%42.7%50.5% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.071.040.25 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.850.38-0.29 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -79.5%-80.6%-63.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.1%-12.7%-18.5% -1.2%
52-week high $274.60$111.88$239.92 $779.14
52-week low $113.59$72.72$112.50 $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.

MultiplePAYCZMWDAY
P/E now vs peer median 24.5xmedian 28.0x 9.0xmedian 33.1x 38.1xmedian 28.0x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 2.8x 5.7xmedian 2.5x 4.7xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.5xmedian 16.9x 13.9xmedian 9.8x 28.8xmedian 16.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.1xmedian 15.9x —median 15.2x —median 15.9x
P/B now vs peer median 20.2xmedian 3.2x 2.5xmedian 3.1x 7.3xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.98median 0.89 0.05median 0.74 0.28median 0.89

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 monthsPAYCZMWDAY
Revenue $2.14B $4.97B $9.96B
Gross profit $1.79B $3.84B $7.53B
Operating income $648.40M $1.20B $994.00M
Net income $487.60M $3.19B $1.26B
Free cash flow $575.10M – –
R&D $258.90M $881.96M $2.76B
EPS (diluted) $10.62 $10.64 $5.10
Cash & equivalents $198.00M $931.99M $661.00M
Total debt $900.00M – $2.99B
Shares (diluted) 45.91M 299.75M 246.31M
Enterprise value $10.95B -$2.89B $24.63B

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
MetricPAYCZMWDAY
P/E 24.5x 9.0x 38.1x
P/FCF 20.1x – –
P/Operating cash flow 14.4x – –
P/S 5.4x 5.7x 4.7x
P/B 20.2x 2.5x 7.3x
P/Tangible book 21.3x 2.5x 8.1x
EV/EBITDA 14.5x 13.9x 28.8x
EV/EBIT 18.9x 17.8x 47.0x
EV/Revenue 5.7x 4.3x 4.7x
EV/FCF 21.3x – –
EV/Operating cash flow 15.3x – –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.98 0.05 0.28

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPAYCZMWDAY
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.2% 4.6% 11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 11.2% 3.7% 14.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.9% 5.7% 11.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 4.5% 14.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.7% 23.2% 88.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.9% 112.9% 129.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 17.3% 168.3% 115.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 15.6% 182.3% 131.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 44.3% 175.9% 136.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 25.0% 184.2% 135.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 43.6% – –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.4% – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 60.1% – –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.3% – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPAYCZMWDAY
Gross margin 83.7% 77.2% 75.5%
EBITDA margin 39.5% 30.9% 16.3%
Operating margin 30.3% 24.1% 10.0%
Pretax margin 32.0% 82.5% 12.4%
Net margin 22.8% 64.1% 12.6%
FCF margin 26.9% – –
Operating cash flow margin 37.4% – –
Return on equity 70.5% 30.2% 17.6%
Return on assets 9.7% 25.0% 7.4%
Return on invested capital 31.3% – 9.8%
Return on capital employed 36.7% 11.2% 9.6%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x – –
Stock comp / revenue 4.2% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPAYCZMWDAY
Debt / assets 17.3% – 18.8%
Debt / equity 1.6x – 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x – -0.3x
Debt / FCF 1.6x – –
Liabilities / assets 89.0% 16.8% 59.3%
Equity / assets 11.0% 83.2% 40.7%
Interest coverage 39.8x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 3.8x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.1x 3.7x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.1x 3.4x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 3.04 9.48 3.83

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPAYCZMWDAY
Dividend yield 0.6% – –
Net buyback yield 12.9% – –
Shareholder yield 13.5% – –
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.

ConsensusPAYCZMWDAY
Forward P/E 22.2xFY2026 15.1xFY2026 17.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.74FY2026 $6.45FY2026 $11.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +27.1%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026 +24.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.6% +2.8% +22.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.08BFY2026 $4.76BFY2026 $11.18BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.5%FY2026 -2.4%FY2026 +17.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.2% +8.0% +8.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPAYCZMWDAY
Held by institutions 90.3% 67.2% 98.1%
Institutions holding 595 863 911
Change in shares held, QoQ -8.5% +2.9% +5.3%
Institutions buying 295 478 488
Institutions selling 222 279 323
Buyers to sellers 1.33 1.71 1.51

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.

PAYCZMWDAY
PAYC 1.00 0.37 0.64
ZM 0.37 1.00 0.48
WDAY 0.64 0.48 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PAYC, ZM and WDAY?

Workday (WDAY) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paycom Software (PAYC) $12.05B, Zoom Communications (ZM) $27.89B, Workday (WDAY) $48.51B.

Which stock is cheaper, PAYC, ZM and WDAY?

Zoom Communications (ZM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paycom Software (PAYC) 24.7x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 8.7x, Workday (WDAY) 38.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Zoom Communications (ZM) is cheapest (Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.2x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 15.1x, Workday (WDAY) 17.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Workday (WDAY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Paycom Software (PAYC) +9.2%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +4.6%, Workday (WDAY) +11.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Zoom Communications (ZM) has the highest net margin (Paycom Software (PAYC) 22.8%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 64.1%, Workday (WDAY) 12.6%). On return on invested capital, Paycom Software (PAYC) leads (Paycom Software (PAYC) 31.3%, Workday (WDAY) 9.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paycom Software (PAYC) returned the most: Paycom Software (PAYC) +39.8%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +17.2%, Workday (WDAY) -15.5%. Over five years, Workday (WDAY) compounded fastest (Paycom Software (PAYC) -13.8%/yr, Zoom Communications (ZM) -18.7%/yr, Workday (WDAY) -7.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Zoom Communications (ZM) has been the steadiest (Paycom Software (PAYC) 46.9%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 44.8%, Workday (WDAY) 53.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PAYC, ZM and WDAY?

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