PAYX vs NOW vs BZ Stock Comparison

Paychex, ServiceNow and Kanzhun Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PAYX Paychex Inc
$109.26 +7.8% 1M -12.6% 1Y
Market cap
$38.90B
P/E
21.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.60B
Div. yield
5.24%
HR Software Technology
3 wins
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$154.83 +14.2% 1M -18.2% 1Y
Market cap
$160.09B
P/E
95.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
3 wins
BZ Kanzhun Ltd
$16.65 +18.0% 1M -25.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.75B
P/E
11.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.25B
Div. yield
3.06%
HR Software Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Kanzhun leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Kanzhun 5, ServiceNow 3, Paychex 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPAYXNOWBZLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $38.90B $160.09B $7.75B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.5x 95.6x 11.2x BZ
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.4x 40.2x 12.4x BZ
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.0% +22.2% +51.0% BZ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 27.4% 11.3% 53.2% BZ
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 23.7% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 0.8x — NOW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 5.24% — 3.06% PAYX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.6% -18.2% -25.6% PAYX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.4%/yr +2.4%/yr -14.3%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.4% 58.7% 39.5% PAYX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 52/100 87/100 BZ

Percentile Scorecard

PAYXNOWBZ

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

AxisPAYXNOWBZ
Valuation 48 #53 of 101 27 #74 of 101 90 #11 of 101
Growth 34 #64 of 97 58 #41 of 97 96 #5 of 97
Profitability 97 #4 of 94 82 #18 of 94 95 #6 of 94
Financial Health 40 #65 of 108 50 #55 of 108 96 #5 of 108
Shareholder Returns 68 #21 of 64 41 #38 of 64 59 #27 of 64
Overall 58 52 87
  • PAYX ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • NOW ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications
  • BZ ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPAYXNOWBZSPY
1 month +7.8%+14.2%+18.0% -0.2%
3 months -8.1%+40.0%+5.2% +3.9%
6 months +20.1%+71.1%+21.4% +8.2%
Year to date -2.6%+1.1%-18.3% +12.9%
1 year -12.6%-18.2%-25.6% +12.3%
3 years -0.3%+39.7%+12.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year -0.1%+11.8%+3.9% +23.3%
5 years -11.4%+12.6%-53.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year -2.4%+2.4%-14.3% +10.9%
10 years +97.8%+811.3%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +7.1%+24.7%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasurePAYXNOWBZSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.4%58.7%39.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 33.0%61.3%38.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.040.610.66 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.40-0.31-0.65 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.4%-64.5%-73.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.2%-18.2%-26.3% -1.2%
52-week high $127.34$189.26$22.60 $779.14
52-week low $85.57$83.00$12.65 $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.

MultiplePAYXNOWBZ
P/E now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 28.3x 95.6xmedian 28.3x 11.2xmedian 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 2.8x 10.9xmedian 2.8x 6.2xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 17.3x 47.7xmedian 17.3x —median 17.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.6xmedian 15.8x 35.0xmedian 15.8x 11.6xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 10.5xmedian 3.2x 12.8xmedian 3.2x 2.5xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 4.50median 0.85 18.40median 0.85 0.09median 0.85

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 monthsPAYXNOWBZ
Revenue $6.60B $14.73B $1.25B
Gross profit $4.91B $11.02B $1.21B
Operating income $2.59B $1.68B $412.25M
Net income $1.81B $1.67B $657.32M
Free cash flow $1.98B $4.58B $665.92M
R&D – $3.26B $58.24M
EPS (diluted) $5.06 $1.61 $1.44
Cash & equivalents $600.90M $2.50B $380.29M
Total debt $4.56B $7.52B –
Shares (diluted) 356.60M 1.03B 463.50M
Enterprise value $33.98B $138.55B -$571.08M

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
MetricPAYXNOWBZ
P/E 21.5x 95.6x 11.2x
P/FCF 19.6x 35.0x 11.6x
P/Operating cash flow 17.3x 30.2x 11.6x
P/S 5.9x 10.9x 6.2x
P/B 10.5x 12.8x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 18.7x 18.3x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA 13.0x 47.7x –
EV/EBIT 16.6x 97.0x 13.2x
EV/Revenue 6.5x 11.1x 4.3x
EV/FCF 21.6x 35.6x 8.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.0x 30.7x 8.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.50 18.40 0.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPAYXNOWBZ
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.0% 22.2% 51.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 22.5% 20.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.4% 16.4% 21.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 20.5% 22.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.5% 4.9% 64.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 49.1% 236.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 11.9% 0.5% 121.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.2% 5.5% 132.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 13.6% 1.7% 118.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.8% 5.2% 131.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.6% 13.0% 25.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.4% 22.2% 37.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 8.4% 19.0% 24.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 1.9% 25.7% 41.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPAYXNOWBZ
Gross margin 74.4% 74.8% 96.5%
EBITDA margin 49.8% 23.2% –
Operating margin 39.2% 11.4% 32.9%
Pretax margin 36.0% 15.9% 66.1%
Net margin 27.4% 11.3% 53.2%
FCF margin 30.0% 31.1% 53.1%
Operating cash flow margin 34.1% 36.0% 53.1%
Return on equity 48.5% 13.8% 21.6%
Return on assets 11.3% 6.0% 17.1%
Return on invested capital 23.7% – –
Return on capital employed 27.0% 10.6% 13.4%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 3.2x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 12.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPAYXNOWBZ
Debt / assets 29.1% 23.7% –
Debt / equity 1.2x 0.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 0.8x –
Debt / FCF 2.3x 1.6x –
Liabilities / assets 76.3% 60.5% 21.7%
Equity / assets 23.7% 39.5% 78.3%
Interest coverage 9.7x – –
Current ratio 1.3x 0.7x 4.2x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.6x 3.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 3.0x
Altman Z-score 3.21 5.78 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPAYXNOWBZ
Dividend yield 5.2% – 3.1%
Net buyback yield 1.2% 2.0% –
Shareholder yield 6.4% 2.0% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 90.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 82.0% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.5% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 10.3% – –

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.

ConsensusPAYXNOWBZ
Forward P/E 17.4xFY2026 40.2xFY2026 12.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.28FY2026 $3.85FY2026 $1.34FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.0%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026 +18.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -1.6% +27.0% +3.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.60BFY2026 $15.25BFY2026 $1.42BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.4%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026 +20.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.2% +17.7% +7.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPAYXNOWBZ
Held by institutions 82.5% 81.6% 66.1%
Institutions holding 1,528 2,224 254
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.4% -2.1% -1.6%
Institutions buying 785 1,285 129
Institutions selling 531 779 94
Buyers to sellers 1.48 1.65 1.37

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.

PAYXNOWBZ
PAYX 1.00 0.54 0.11
NOW 0.54 1.00 0.14
BZ 0.11 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PAYX, NOW and BZ?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paychex (PAYX) $38.90B, ServiceNow (NOW) $160.09B, Kanzhun (BZ) $7.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, PAYX, NOW and BZ?

Kanzhun (BZ) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paychex (PAYX) 21.5x, ServiceNow (NOW) 95.6x, Kanzhun (BZ) 11.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kanzhun (BZ) is cheapest (Paychex (PAYX) 17.4x, ServiceNow (NOW) 40.2x, Kanzhun (BZ) 12.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Kanzhun (BZ) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Paychex (PAYX) +14.0%, ServiceNow (NOW) +22.2%, Kanzhun (BZ) +51.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Kanzhun (BZ) has the highest net margin (Paychex (PAYX) 27.4%, ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%, Kanzhun (BZ) 53.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paychex (PAYX) returned the most: Paychex (PAYX) -12.6%, ServiceNow (NOW) -18.2%, Kanzhun (BZ) -25.6%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (Paychex (PAYX) -2.4%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) +2.4%/yr, Kanzhun (BZ) -14.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Paychex (PAYX) has the highest dividend yield: Paychex (PAYX) 5.24%, Kanzhun (BZ) 3.06%. ServiceNow (NOW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Paychex (PAYX) has been the steadiest (Paychex (PAYX) 31.4%, ServiceNow (NOW) 58.7%, Kanzhun (BZ) 39.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PAYX, NOW and BZ?

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