PCTY vs NOW vs BZ Stock Comparison

Paylocity Holding, ServiceNow and Kanzhun Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PCTY Paylocity Holding Corp
$174.09 +20.5% 1M +23.2% 1Y
Market cap
$9.40B
P/E
34.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.77B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
3 wins
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$106.02 -21.1% 1M -42.3% 1Y
Market cap
$114.51B
P/E
79.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.43B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation Technology
2 wins
BZ Kanzhun Ltd
$17.06 +15.0% 1M -23.0% 1Y
Market cap
$7.93B
P/E
11.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.25B
Div. yield
–
HR Software Technology
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Kanzhun leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Kanzhun 6, Paylocity Holding 3, ServiceNow 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPCTYNOWBZLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.40B $114.51B $7.93B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.8x 79.2x 11.9x BZ
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.7x 28.3x 12.8x BZ
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.0% +21.8% +51.0% BZ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.2% 9.4% 53.2% BZ
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.0% 5.2% — PCTY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.8x — PCTY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +23.2% -42.3% -23.0% PCTY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -10.3%/yr -5.1%/yr -13.9%/yr NOW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.0% 66.8% 39.8% BZ
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 63/100 52/100 87/100 BZ

Percentile Scorecard

PCTYNOWBZ

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

AxisPCTYNOWBZ
Valuation 52 #49 of 100 40 #60 of 100 89 #12 of 100
Growth 68 #32 of 97 47 #52 of 97 96 #5 of 97
Profitability 85 #15 of 94 77 #22 of 94 95 #6 of 94
Financial Health 57 #48 of 111 54 #52 of 111 96 #5 of 111
Shareholder Returns 56 #29 of 64 40 #39 of 64 60 #26 of 64
Overall 63 52 87
  • PCTY 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

PeriodPCTYNOWBZSPY
1 month +20.5%-21.1%+15.0% -2.3%
3 months +24.6%-7.2%+3.6% -0.7%
6 months +59.7%+15.3%+23.8% +4.8%
Year to date +14.2%-30.8%-16.3% +10.3%
1 year +23.2%-42.3%-23.0% +10.3%
3 years +19.8%-12.6%+10.9% +73.0%
3 years, per year +6.2%-4.4%+3.5% +20.1%
5 years -41.8%-22.9%-52.7% +61.9%
5 years, per year -10.3%-5.1%-13.9% +10.1%
10 years +325.2%+526.6%— +258.6%
10 years, per year +15.6%+20.1%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePCTYNOWBZSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.0%66.8%39.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.2%76.4%39.0% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.170.740.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.55-0.63-0.58 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -68.2%-64.5%-73.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.0%-42.0%-24.5% -3.5%
52-week high $177.67$182.77$22.60 $779.14
52-week low $95.10$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.

MultiplePCTYNOWBZ
P/E now vs peer median 34.9xmedian 28.5x 75.9xmedian 28.5x 11.5xmedian 28.5x
P/S now vs peer median 5.2xmedian 2.8x 7.1xmedian 2.8x 6.3xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 16.8x 32.8xmedian 16.8x —median 16.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.7xmedian 16.2x 23.2xmedian 16.2x 11.9xmedian 16.2x
P/B now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 2.9x 8.4xmedian 2.9x 2.6xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.37median 0.90 -22.22median 0.90 0.09median 0.90

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 monthsPCTYNOWBZ
Revenue $1.77B $15.43B $1.25B
Gross profit $1.23B $11.28B $1.21B
Operating income $385.99M $1.49B $412.25M
Net income $269.74M $1.45B $657.32M
Free cash flow $497.10M $4.75B $665.92M
R&D $221.39M $3.47B $58.24M
EPS (diluted) $4.92 $1.39 $1.44
Cash & equivalents $271.92M $2.39B $380.29M
Total debt $81.25M $7.52B –
Shares (diluted) 54.77M 1.04B 463.50M
Enterprise value $8.50B $93.78B -$394.71M

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
MetricPCTYNOWBZ
P/E 34.9x 75.9x 11.5x
P/FCF 18.7x 23.2x 11.9x
P/Operating cash flow 17.4x 20.6x 11.9x
P/S 5.2x 7.1x 6.3x
P/B 7.6x 8.4x 2.6x
P/Tangible book 8.2x 11.6x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 18.2x 32.8x –
EV/EBIT 23.5x 75.7x 13.6x
EV/Revenue 5.1x 7.3x 4.5x
EV/FCF 18.3x 23.8x 8.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.0x 21.2x 8.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.37 -22.22 0.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPCTYNOWBZ
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.0% 21.8% 51.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.7% 22.1% 20.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 14.1% 21.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.9% 19.2% 22.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 27.0% -14.9% 64.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 35.5% 32.1% 236.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 18.8% -16.5% 121.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 24.2% -3.1% 132.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 22.6% -16.2% 118.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 25.6% -3.4% 131.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 27.5% 10.2% 25.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.6% 21.8% 37.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 22.7% 20.0% 24.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.0% 25.9% 41.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPCTYNOWBZ
Gross margin 69.2% 73.1% 96.5%
EBITDA margin 28.1% 22.3% –
Operating margin 21.8% 9.7% 32.9%
Pretax margin 21.9% 13.1% 66.1%
Net margin 15.2% 9.4% 53.2%
FCF margin 28.1% 30.8% 53.1%
Operating cash flow margin 30.1% 34.6% 53.1%
Return on equity 22.5% 11.3% 21.6%
Return on assets 5.2% 4.6% 17.1%
Return on invested capital 21.0% 5.2% –
Return on capital employed 22.1% 7.5% 13.4%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.5x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 3.7x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 7.8% 10.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPCTYNOWBZ
Debt / assets 1.7% 23.6% –
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.8x –
Debt / FCF 0.2x 1.6x –
Liabilities / assets 75.0% 58.9% 21.7%
Equity / assets 25.0% 41.1% 78.3%
Interest coverage – 14.6x –
Current ratio 1.1x 0.7x 4.2x
Quick ratio 0.1x 0.6x 3.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 3.0x
Altman Z-score 2.55 4.32 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPCTYNOWBZ
Dividend yield – – 3.0%
Net buyback yield 4.2% 2.4% –
Shareholder yield 4.2% 2.4% 3.0%
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.

ConsensusPCTYNOWBZ
Forward P/E 20.7xFY2027 28.3xFY2026 12.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.25FY2027 $3.85FY2026 $1.34FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.7%FY2027 +9.7%FY2026 +18.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.7% +27.0% +3.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.94BFY2027 $15.25BFY2026 $1.42BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.6%FY2027 +14.8%FY2026 +20.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -1.6% +17.7% +7.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPCTYNOWBZ
Held by institutions 85.4% 81.6% 66.1%
Institutions holding 468 2,226 254
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% -2.1% -1.6%
Institutions buying 274 1,286 129
Institutions selling 155 780 94
Buyers to sellers 1.77 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.

PCTYNOWBZ
PCTY 1.00 0.57 0.07
NOW 0.57 1.00 0.11
BZ 0.07 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PCTY, NOW and BZ?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Paylocity Holding (PCTY) $9.40B, ServiceNow (NOW) $114.51B, Kanzhun (BZ) $7.93B.

Which stock is cheaper, PCTY, NOW and BZ?

Kanzhun (BZ) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 34.8x, ServiceNow (NOW) 79.2x, Kanzhun (BZ) 11.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kanzhun (BZ) is cheapest (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 20.7x, ServiceNow (NOW) 28.3x, Kanzhun (BZ) 12.8x). 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: Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +11.0%, ServiceNow (NOW) +21.8%, Kanzhun (BZ) +51.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Kanzhun (BZ) has the highest net margin (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 15.2%, ServiceNow (NOW) 9.4%, Kanzhun (BZ) 53.2%). On return on invested capital, Paylocity Holding (PCTY) leads (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 21.0%, ServiceNow (NOW) 5.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Paylocity Holding (PCTY) returned the most: Paylocity Holding (PCTY) +23.2%, ServiceNow (NOW) -42.3%, Kanzhun (BZ) -23.0%. Over five years, ServiceNow (NOW) compounded fastest (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) -10.3%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) -5.1%/yr, Kanzhun (BZ) -13.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kanzhun (BZ) has been the steadiest (Paylocity Holding (PCTY) 42.0%, ServiceNow (NOW) 66.8%, Kanzhun (BZ) 39.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PCTY, 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 6. 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.