INTU vs ADP Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Intuit provides financial software for consumers and small businesses spanning tax and accounting, while ADP focuses on payroll processing and human resources outsourcing for employers.
Investors weighing Intuit against ADP are choosing between a higher-growth financial software platform expanding with AI and a steady, established payroll and HR services provider.
ADP holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ADP has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+0.51% vs -49.41%), though INTU has the better forward P/E setup (12.96x vs 20.02x for ADP). On fundamentals, INTU is growing revenue faster (13.70%), while ADP maintains the higher operating margin (23.46%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for INTU (+18.26%) than for ADP (+7.21%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to small business accounting and tax preparation software
- Believe in continued growth from AI-powered product features
- Can tolerate a premium valuation multiple
- Seek higher growth over current income
- Prefer a stable, established payroll and HR outsourcing business
- Value consistent recurring revenue and high client retention
- Want exposure to employment trends and float income dynamics
- Prefer steadier growth and dividend income over rapid expansion
| Metric | INTU | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 48.8 | 51.4 |
| AI ranki | #544 | #430 |
| Latest closei | $330.17 | $285.65 |
| 1M returni | +0.27% | +3.30% |
| 3M returni | +12.00% | +11.34% |
| 6M returni | -14.71% | +42.55% |
| 1Y returni | -49.41% | +0.51% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | INTU | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.1K (-49.0%) started 2025-10-16 | $10.2K (+2.0%) started 2025-10-16 |
| 5Y ago | $6.12K (-38.8%) started 2021-10-18 | $15.58K (+55.8%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $35.14K (+251.4%) started 2016-10-17 | $47.81K (+378.1%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | INTU | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $97.94B | $106.57B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 21.14 | 24.50 |
| Forward P/Ei | 12.96 | 20.02 |
| Price/Salesi | 11.84 | 6.57 |
| EV/Revenuei | 4.59 | 4.91 |
| Analyst targeti | $423.46 | $287.60 |
| Target upsidei | +18.26% | +7.21% |
| Metric | INTU | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 13.70% | 6.80% |
| Earnings growthi | -0.80% | 9.80% |
| EPS growthi | -0.80% | +9.80% |
| FCF margini | +30.02% | +23.89% |
| Operating margini | 17.64% | 23.46% |
| Profit margini | 21.29% | 20.11% |
| ROIC proxyi | 23.60% | 72.24% |
| Return on equityi | 23.60% | 72.24% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.54% | 2.54% |
| Payout ratioi | 29.16% | 60.69% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.96 | 0.83 |
| Debt/equityi | 43.89 | 91.44 |
| Current ratioi | 1.51 | 1.05 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.78 | 0.15 |
Over the past year, INTU and ADP have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.59), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | INTU | ADP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -48.97% | +1.96% |
| CAGRi | -49.02% | +1.96% | |
| Volatilityi | 50.13% | 27.73% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -1.18 | 0.05 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -1.49 | 0.07 | |
| Max drawdowni | 62.68% | 33.52% | |
| Current drawdowni | 51.69% | 0.64% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 36.40% | 14.45% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 41.96% | 17.14% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.02% | 6.58% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.51% | 10.27% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -40.17% | +44.53% |
| CAGRi | -9.77% | +7.65% | |
| Volatilityi | 39.07% | 22.89% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.18 | 0.24 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.25 | 0.34 | |
| Max drawdowni | 68.41% | 42.23% | |
| Current drawdowni | 59.11% | 12.59% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 26.14% | 11.51% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 31.90% | 14.95% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.02% | 9.20% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.51% | 12.17% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +229.19% | +292.14% |
| CAGRi | +12.66% | +14.65% | |
| Volatilityi | 34.84% | 24.82% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.39 | 0.50 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.55 | 0.70 | |
| Max drawdowni | 68.41% | 42.23% | |
| Current drawdowni | 59.11% | 12.59% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 15.21% | 8.60% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 23.00% | 12.35% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.02% | 15.25% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.51% | 22.45% |
| Category | INTU | ADP |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Intuit Inc. | Automatic Data Processing, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Application | Software - Application |
| Core business | Intuit provides financial software products including TurboTax for tax preparation, QuickBooks for small business accounting, and Credit Karma for consumer finance. | ADP provides payroll processing, human resources, and benefits administration services to businesses of all sizes. |
| Investor focus | Watch QuickBooks Online subscriber growth and progress integrating AI-driven features across its product suite. | Watch new business bookings growth, client retention rates, and the impact of employment levels on payroll processing volumes. |
- Dominant, well-known brands across tax preparation and small business accounting
- Recurring, subscription-based revenue model with high customer retention
- Expanding AI-powered features to increase product value and pricing power
- Long-standing market leadership in payroll and HR outsourcing services
- High client retention and recurring revenue from long-term contracts
- Benefits from float income on client funds held between payroll cycles
- Tax preparation business faces seasonal concentration and competitive pressure
- Regulatory scrutiny around free tax filing practices has drawn attention
- Premium valuation requires sustained double-digit growth
- Revenue growth is closely tied to overall employment levels and wage trends
- Interest rate changes affect float income earned on client funds
- Slower growth profile than higher-growth software peers
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