Paychex (PAYX) Return on Sales [ROS] (2009 - 2026)
Paychex's Return on Sales [ROS] was 37.98% in fiscal Q1 2027 (quarter ended Aug 31, 2026), up 2.79 percentage points from 35.19% a year earlier and up 0.31 percentage points from the prior quarter.
Paychex (PAYX) Return on Sales [ROS] (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
On a trailing twelve-month basis, Paychex's Return on Sales [ROS] was 39.19% through Aug 31, 2026, up 1.17 percentage points year-over-year; for FY2026 (ended May 31, 2026), it came in at 38.55%, down 1.07 percentage points from FY2025.
- Return on Sales [ROS] shows a five-year change of +2.55 percentage points (FY2021 to FY2026).
- In earlier fiscal years, Return on Sales [ROS] was 39.62% in FY2025 (-1.57 pp), 41.19% in FY2024 (+0.59 pp), 40.60% in FY2023 (+0.71 pp) and 39.90% in FY2022 (+3.89 pp).
- Quarterly Return on Sales [ROS] has moved between 30.20% (fiscal Q4 2025) and 45.84% (fiscal Q3 2025) over five years.
- Compared with a year earlier, Return on Sales [ROS] was higher in four of the last eight quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -0.99 percentage points.
- The best year-over-year quarter for Return on Sales [ROS] over five years was fiscal Q4 2026 (a gain of 7.46 percentage points); the worst was fiscal Q4 2025 (a drop of 7.00 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, PAYX's Return on Sales [ROS] in the three fiscal quarters before Q1 2027 was 37.66% (Q4 2026), 43.78% (Q3 2026) and 36.72% (Q2 2026).
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROS (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palantir Technologies | 386.60 Bn | 351.42 Bn | 1.93 Bn | 46.89% |
| 2 | Oracle | 343.94 Bn | 216.07 Bn | - | 34.78% |
| 3 | Sap Se | 272.35 Bn | 199.75 Bn | 8.64 Bn | 28.53% |
| 4 | Salesforce | 175.46 Bn | 131.33 Bn | 8.70 Bn | 20.55% |
| 5 | Automatic Data Processing | 122.07 Bn | 108.86 Bn | 2.53 Bn | -30.06% |
| 6 | ServiceNow | 105.47 Bn | 84.73 Bn | 2.90 Bn | 9.38% |
| 7 | Intuit | 94.25 Bn | 73.60 Bn | 3.44 Bn | 10.91% |
| 8 | Relx | 73.66 Bn | 72.75 Bn | - | - |
| 9 | Strategy | 51.78 Bn | 38.91 Bn | 89.63 Mn | 16,670.89% |
| 10 | Paychex | 41.64 Bn | 36.72 Bn | 1.20 Bn | 37.98% |
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 | 37.98% |
| May 31, 2026 | 37.66% |
| Feb 28, 2026 | 43.78% |
| Nov 30, 2025 | 36.72% |
| Aug 31, 2025 | 35.19% |
| May 31, 2025 | 30.20% |
| Feb 28, 2025 | 45.84% |
| Nov 30, 2024 | 40.86% |
| Aug 31, 2024 | 41.46% |
| May 31, 2024 | 37.20% |
| Feb 29, 2024 | 45.15% |
| Nov 30, 2023 | 40.24% |
| Aug 31, 2023 | 41.70% |
| May 31, 2023 | 36.87% |
| Feb 28, 2023 | 44.31% |
| Nov 30, 2022 | 39.68% |
| Aug 31, 2022 | 41.09% |
| May 31, 2022 | 34.43% |
| Feb 28, 2022 | 44.11% |
| Nov 30, 2021 | 39.72% |
Paychex Return on Sales [ROS] API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-sales-%5Bros%5D&ticker=PAYX&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-sales-[ros]", "ticker": "PAYX", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-sales-%5Bros%5D&ticker=PAYX&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();