PAYX vs WDAY vs ZM Stock Comparison

Paychex, Workday and Zoom Communications Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PAYX Paychex Inc
$119.50 +18.3% 1M +2.6% 1Y
Market cap
$41.42B
P/E
22.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.60B
Div. yield
0.04%
HR Software Technology
4 wins
WDAY Workday, Inc.
$200.17 +7.3% 1M -13.8% 1Y
Market cap
$47.71B
P/E
38.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.16B
Div. yield
–
ERP Software Technology
2 wins
ZM Zoom Communications, Inc.
$88.82 -5.7% 1M +6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$26.36B
P/E
8.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.99B
Div. yield
–
Communications Platforms Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionPAYXWDAYZMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $41.42B $47.71B $26.36B WDAY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.9x 38.1x 8.1x ZM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.0x 17.5x 13.8x ZM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.0% +13.3% +5.0% PAYX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 27.4% 12.3% 65.2% ZM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 23.7% 11.0% — PAYX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.2x -0.2x — WDAY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.6% -13.8% +6.3% ZM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -0.8%/yr -7.1%/yr -19.6%/yr PAYX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.2% 53.5% 44.9% PAYX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 74/100 77/100 ZM

Percentile Scorecard

PAYXWDAYZM

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

AxisPAYXWDAYZM
Valuation 43 #57 of 100 53 #48 of 100 71 #9 of 29
Growth 35 #65 of 99 88 #13 of 99 63 #11 of 28
Profitability 97 #4 of 96 81 #19 of 96 85 #5 of 27
Financial Health 41 #66 of 112 60 #46 of 112 97 #2 of 31
Shareholder Returns 62 #26 of 67 89 #8 of 67 71 #7 of 22
Overall 56 74 77
  • PAYX ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • WDAY ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • ZM ranked among 31 companies in Workplace Software

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPAYXWDAYZMSPY
1 month +18.3%+7.3%-5.7% -5.9%
3 months -0.5%+17.6%-12.3% -4.6%
6 months +26.8%+52.9%-18.0% +0.2%
Year to date +6.5%-6.8%+2.9% +7.5%
1 year +2.6%-13.8%+6.3% +8.2%
3 years +7.2%-8.3%+43.7% +68.3%
3 years, per year +2.3%-2.9%+12.8% +19.0%
5 years -4.1%-31.0%-66.4% +56.5%
5 years, per year -0.8%-7.1%-19.6% +9.4%
10 years +122.7%+141.8%— +251.5%
10 years, per year +8.3%+9.2%— +13.4%

Risk

MeasurePAYXWDAYZMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.2%53.5%44.9% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.5%50.6%43.0% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.070.231.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.08-0.260.14 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.4%-63.4%-79.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.2%-14.3%-20.6% -5.9%
52-week high $127.34$233.69$111.88 $779.14
52-week low $85.57$112.50$72.72 $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.

MultiplePAYXWDAYZM
P/E now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 24.7x 39.2xmedian 24.7x 8.0xmedian 34.8x
P/S now vs peer median 6.4xmedian 2.8x 4.8xmedian 2.8x 5.2xmedian 2.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.2xmedian 16.5x 27.1xmedian 16.5x 11.9xmedian 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 15.3x 17.0xmedian 15.3x 13.5xmedian 13.6x
P/B now vs peer median 11.5xmedian 2.7x 7.5xmedian 2.7x 2.3xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 4.93median 0.77 0.29median 0.77 0.04median 0.73

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 monthsPAYXWDAYZM
Revenue $6.60B $10.16B $4.99B
Gross profit $4.91B $7.70B $3.86B
Operating income $2.59B $1.08B $1.19B
Net income $1.81B $1.25B $3.26B
Free cash flow $1.98B $2.84B $1.93B
R&D – $2.81B $903.44M
EPS (diluted) $5.06 $5.08 $10.86
Cash & equivalents $600.90M $661.00M $931.99M
Total debt $4.56B $2.99B –
Shares (diluted) 356.60M 246.31M 299.75M
Enterprise value $36.51B $27.67B -$4.37B

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
MetricPAYXWDAYZM
P/E 23.5x 39.2x 8.0x
P/FCF 21.5x 17.0x 13.5x
P/Operating cash flow 18.9x 15.7x 13.0x
P/S 6.4x 4.8x 5.2x
P/B 11.5x 7.5x 2.3x
P/Tangible book 20.5x 8.3x 2.3x
EV/EBITDA 14.2x 27.1x 11.9x
EV/EBIT 18.0x 44.2x 15.8x
EV/Revenue 7.0x 4.7x 3.7x
EV/FCF 23.5x 16.8x 9.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.6x 15.5x 9.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.93 0.29 0.04

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPAYXWDAYZM
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.0% 13.3% 5.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 14.8% 3.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.4% 13.7% 6.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 15.7% 4.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.5% 105.7% 22.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 134.8% 112.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 11.9% 114.6% 174.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.2% 130.7% 184.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 13.6% 135.4% 181.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.8% 135.4% 186.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.6% 18.9% 4.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.4% 19.5% 16.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 8.4% 18.8% 4.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 1.9% 22.6% 19.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPAYXWDAYZM
Gross margin 74.4% 75.8% 77.3%
EBITDA margin 49.8% 17.4% 31.4%
Operating margin 39.2% 10.7% 23.7%
Pretax margin 36.0% 12.6% 83.8%
Net margin 27.4% 12.3% 65.2%
FCF margin 30.0% 28.0% 38.6%
Operating cash flow margin 34.1% 30.3% 40.1%
Return on equity 48.5% 19.0% 30.6%
Return on assets 11.3% 7.8% 25.3%
Return on invested capital 23.7% 11.0% –
Return on capital employed 27.0% 11.5% 11.0%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.6x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 2.5x 0.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 16.2% 14.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPAYXWDAYZM
Debt / assets 29.1% 18.8% –
Debt / equity 1.2x 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.2x -0.2x –
Debt / FCF 2.3x 1.1x –
Liabilities / assets 76.3% 59.3% 16.8%
Equity / assets 23.7% 40.7% 83.2%
Interest coverage 9.7x – –
Current ratio 1.3x 0.9x 3.8x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.9x 3.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.5x 3.4x
Altman Z-score 3.40 3.93 8.80

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPAYXWDAYZM
Dividend yield 4.8% – –
Net buyback yield 1.1% 10.7% 5.4%
Shareholder yield 5.9% 10.7% 5.4%
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.

ConsensusPAYXWDAYZM
Forward P/E 19.0xFY2026 17.5xFY2026 13.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.28FY2026 $11.45FY2026 $6.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.0%FY2026 +24.1%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -1.6% +22.8% +2.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.60BFY2026 $11.18BFY2026 $4.76BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.4%FY2026 +17.1%FY2026 -2.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.2% +8.4% +8.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPAYXWDAYZM
Held by institutions 82.5% 81.9% 76.2%
Institutions holding 1,531 912 865
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.4% +5.3% +2.9%
Institutions buying 787 488 479
Institutions selling 532 324 280
Buyers to sellers 1.48 1.51 1.71

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.

PAYXWDAYZM
PAYX 1.00 0.60 0.30
WDAY 0.60 1.00 0.47
ZM 0.30 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PAYX, WDAY and ZM?

Workday (WDAY) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paychex (PAYX) $41.42B, Workday (WDAY) $47.71B, Zoom Communications (ZM) $26.36B.

Which stock is cheaper, PAYX, WDAY and ZM?

Zoom Communications (ZM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paychex (PAYX) 22.9x, Workday (WDAY) 38.1x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 8.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Zoom Communications (ZM) is cheapest (Paychex (PAYX) 19.0x, Workday (WDAY) 17.5x, Zoom Communications (ZM) 13.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Paychex (PAYX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Paychex (PAYX) +14.0%, Workday (WDAY) +13.3%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +5.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Zoom Communications (ZM) has the highest net margin (Paychex (PAYX) 27.4%, Workday (WDAY) 12.3%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 65.2%). On return on invested capital, Paychex (PAYX) leads (Paychex (PAYX) 23.7%, Workday (WDAY) 11.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Zoom Communications (ZM) returned the most: Paychex (PAYX) +2.6%, Workday (WDAY) -13.8%, Zoom Communications (ZM) +6.3%. Over five years, Paychex (PAYX) compounded fastest (Paychex (PAYX) -0.8%/yr, Workday (WDAY) -7.1%/yr, Zoom Communications (ZM) -19.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Paychex (PAYX) 0.04%, Workday (WDAY) 0.00%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 0.00%. Workday (WDAY) and Zoom Communications (ZM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Paychex (PAYX) has been the steadiest (Paychex (PAYX) 31.2%, Workday (WDAY) 53.5%, Zoom Communications (ZM) 44.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.