WK vs ADP vs VERX Stock Comparison

Workiva, Automatic Data Processing and Vertex Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WK Workiva Inc
$85.42 +21.8% 1M +4.0% 1Y
Market cap
$4.37B
P/E
73.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.00B
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
2 wins
VERX Vertex, Inc.
$17.59 +43.1% 1M -12.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.84B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$808.60M
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Automatic Data Processing leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Automatic Data Processing 7, Vertex 2, Workiva 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWKADPVERXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.37B $121.50B $2.84B ADP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 73.7x 27.3x -60.4x ADP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.8x 23.7x 22.6x VERX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.8% +6.5% +10.4% WK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.3% 20.3% -5.8% ADP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -47.2% -3.2% VERX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.4x 1.2x ADP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 2.21% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.0% +18.3% -12.4% ADP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -11.8%/yr +6.0%/yr -3.1%/yr ADP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 45.4% 28.0% 62.1% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 37/100 37/100 WK

Percentile Scorecard

WKADPVERX

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

AxisWKADPVERX
Valuation 51 #50 of 100 26 #74 of 100 36 #64 of 100
Growth 98 #3 of 99 29 #71 of 99 36 #64 of 99
Profitability 65 #34 of 96 54 #45 of 96 43 #55 of 96
Financial Health 51 #56 of 112 33 #75 of 112 29 #80 of 112
Shareholder Returns 47 #36 of 67 44 #38 of 67 39 #41 of 67
Overall 62 37 37
  • WK ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • ADP ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • VERX ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodWKADPVERXSPY
1 month +21.8%+17.1%+43.1% -5.9%
3 months +37.3%+12.3%+52.0% -4.6%
6 months +63.4%+43.5%+19.9% +0.2%
Year to date -1.0%+19.4%-11.9% +7.5%
1 year +4.0%+18.3%-12.4% +8.2%
3 years -3.7%+39.3%-20.7% +68.3%
3 years, per year -1.2%+11.7%-7.5% +19.0%
5 years -46.6%+33.8%-14.4% +56.5%
5 years, per year -11.8%+6.0%-3.1% +9.4%
10 years +456.5%+244.8%— +251.5%
10 years, per year +18.7%+13.2%— +13.4%

Risk

MeasureWKADPVERXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 45.4%28.0%62.1% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.3%25.9%61.7% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.01-0.110.09 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.090.65-0.20 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -72.5%-42.2%-82.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.5%-0.3%-15.1% -5.9%
52-week high $93.31$307.94$20.71 $779.14
52-week low $44.31$188.79$10.58 $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.

MultipleWKADPVERX
P/E now vs peer median 73.7xmedian 24.7x 27.3xmedian 24.7x -60.4xmedian 24.7x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 2.8x 5.5xmedian 2.8x 3.5xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 54.3xmedian 16.5x -26.5xmedian 16.5x 29.4xmedian 16.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.6xmedian 15.3x 23.2xmedian 15.3x 63.4xmedian 15.3x
P/B now vs peer median -95.2xmedian 2.7x 23.9xmedian 2.7x 15.8xmedian 2.7x
PEG now vs peer median 2.11median 0.77 2.75median 0.77 -10.64median 0.77

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 monthsWKADPVERX
Revenue $1.00B $22.26B $808.60M
Gross profit $810.06M $10.37B $522.47M
Operating income $52.69M -$6.45B -$17.35M
Net income $63.36M $4.53B -$47.10M
Free cash flow $223.18M $5.25B $44.86M
R&D $222.56M $1.03B $96.35M
EPS (diluted) $1.15 $11.22 $-0.29
Cash & equivalents $333.77M $3.28B $217.80M
Total debt – $4.97B $339.17M
Shares (diluted) 55.21M 403.30M 161.61M
Enterprise value $983.64M $108.30B $1.81B

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
MetricWKADPVERX
P/E 73.7x 27.3x -60.4x
P/FCF 19.6x 23.2x 63.4x
P/Operating cash flow 19.4x 22.3x 17.3x
P/S 4.4x 5.5x 3.5x
P/B -95.2x 23.9x 15.8x
P/Tangible book -68.1x 35.4x 15.9x
EV/EBITDA 54.3x -26.5x 29.4x
EV/EBIT 67.5x -19.1x -170.9x
EV/Revenue 3.5x 5.5x 3.7x
EV/FCF 15.9x 23.5x 66.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.8x 22.6x 18.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.11 2.75 -10.64

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWKADPVERX
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.8% 6.5% 10.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.3% 6.7% 13.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 23.6% 8.0% 10.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 21.1% 8.0% 15.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 182.8% -2.7% -112.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 36.4% -3.8% 2.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 235.4% 9.4% 12.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.0% 9.0% -11.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 242.7% 10.3% 11.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 34.9% 9.9% 5.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 69.3% 14.6% 0.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 70.7% 12.6% 34.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 71.1% 14.0% -41.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 74.1% 13.2% 31.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWKADPVERX
Gross margin 80.6% 46.6% 64.6%
EBITDA margin 6.5% -20.9% 12.5%
Operating margin 5.2% -29.0% -2.1%
Pretax margin 7.2% 26.4% -1.8%
Net margin 6.3% 20.3% -5.8%
FCF margin 22.2% 23.6% 5.5%
Operating cash flow margin 22.4% 24.5% 20.3%
Return on equity – 81.4% -22.4%
Return on assets 4.6% 7.1% -4.0%
Return on invested capital – -47.2% -3.2%
Return on capital employed 7.6% -54.0% -2.9%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.6x 1.2x -3.5x
Stock comp / revenue 12.3% 1.1% 7.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWKADPVERX
Debt / assets – 7.8% 29.0%
Debt / equity – 1.0x 1.9x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.4x 1.2x
Debt / FCF – 0.9x 7.6x
Liabilities / assets 103.3% 92.0% 84.6%
Equity / assets -3.3% 8.0% 15.4%
Interest coverage 4.2x -13.7x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.0x 0.7x
Quick ratio 1.4x 0.1x 0.6x
Cash ratio 1.2x 0.1x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 2.33 1.90 2.11

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWKADPVERX
Dividend yield – 2.2% –
Net buyback yield 3.8% 2.0% 2.6%
Shareholder yield 3.8% 4.3% 2.6%
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.

ConsensusWKADPVERX
Forward P/E 23.8xFY2026 23.7xFY2027 22.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.59FY2026 $12.97FY2027 $0.78FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +101.7%FY2026 +16.6%FY2027 +21.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.8% +7.0% +38.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.01BFY2026 $22.20BFY2027 $795.75MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.5%FY2026 +1.2%FY2027 +6.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +25.9% +18.1% +17.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWKADPVERX
Held by institutions 88.9% 88.1% 46.0%
Institutions holding 305 2,294 229
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +4.4% -7.0%
Institutions buying 184 1,087 135
Institutions selling 86 875 69
Buyers to sellers 2.14 1.24 1.96

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.

WKADPVERX
WK 1.00 0.62 0.72
ADP 0.62 1.00 0.63
VERX 0.72 0.63 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WK, ADP and VERX?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Workiva (WK) $4.37B, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $121.50B, Vertex (VERX) $2.84B.

Which stock is cheaper, WK, ADP and VERX?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Workiva (WK) 73.7x, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 27.3x, Vertex (VERX) -60.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Vertex (VERX) is cheapest (Workiva (WK) 23.8x, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 23.7x, Vertex (VERX) 22.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Workiva (WK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Workiva (WK) +18.8%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +6.5%, Vertex (VERX) +10.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has the highest net margin (Workiva (WK) 6.3%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 20.3%, Vertex (VERX) -5.8%). On return on invested capital, Vertex (VERX) leads (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) -47.2%, Vertex (VERX) -3.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Automatic Data Processing (ADP) returned the most: Workiva (WK) +4.0%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +18.3%, Vertex (VERX) -12.4%. Over five years, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) compounded fastest (Workiva (WK) -11.8%/yr, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +6.0%/yr, Vertex (VERX) -3.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 2.21%. Workiva (WK) and Vertex (VERX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has been the steadiest (Workiva (WK) 45.4%, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 28.0%, Vertex (VERX) 62.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, WK, ADP and VERX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) leads on 7. 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.