PAYC vs PCTY Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Paycom's single-database HR and payroll platform against Paylocity's mid-market-focused HCM suite.
Use this Paycom vs Paylocity comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
PCTY holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. PAYC has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+4.66% vs -12.51%), though PCTY has the better forward P/E setup (15.96x vs 16.61x for PAYC). On fundamentals, PCTY is growing revenue faster (11.00%), while PAYC maintains the higher operating margin (31.72%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for PCTY (+11.25%) than for PAYC (-6.52%).
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.
| Metric | PAYC | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 44.4 | 46.2 |
| AI ranki | #803 | #710 |
| Latest closei | $231.67 | $152.25 |
| 1M returni | +32.53% | +3.00% |
| 6M returni | +69.52% | +31.26% |
| 1Y returni | +4.66% | -12.51% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | PAYC | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.32K (+3.2%) started 2025-09-04 | $8.67K (-13.3%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $4.94K (-50.6%) started 2021-09-07 | $5.64K (-43.6%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $45.88K (+358.8%) started 2016-09-06 | $33.58K (+235.8%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | PAYC | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $10.44B | $8.56B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 24.52 | 31.42 |
| Forward P/Ei | 16.61 | 15.96 |
| Price/Salesi | 7.78 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 5.16 | 4.59 |
| Analyst targeti | $216.56 | $172.00 |
| Target upsidei | -6.52% | +11.25% |
| Metric | PAYC | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 9.80% | 11.00% |
| Earnings growthi | 48.10% | 27.60% |
| EPS growthi | +48.10% | +27.60% |
| FCF margini | +19.79% | +20.32% |
| Operating margini | 31.72% | 19.06% |
| Profit margini | 22.78% | 15.23% |
| ROIC proxyi | 41.09% | 21.97% |
| Return on equityi | 41.09% | 21.97% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.65% | N/A |
| Betai | 0.79 | 0.43 |
| Debt/equityi | 171.97 | 10.89 |
| Current ratioi | 1.07 | 1.09 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.08 | 0.09 |
Over the past year, PAYC and PCTY have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.72), 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 | PAYC | PCTY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +3.19% | -13.27% |
| CAGRi | +3.20% | -13.29% | |
| Volatilityi | 47.09% | 40.74% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.20 | -0.26 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.32 | -0.37 | |
| Max drawdowni | 49.82% | 45.83% | |
| Current drawdowni | 3.68% | 13.27% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 29.51% | 25.02% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 33.26% | 27.92% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.72% | 7.24% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 13.33% | 17.99% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -51.36% | -43.64% |
| CAGRi | -13.44% | -10.85% | |
| Volatilityi | 46.15% | 41.09% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.17 | -0.18 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.23 | -0.26 | |
| Max drawdowni | 79.16% | 68.90% | |
| Current drawdowni | 57.50% | 50.20% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 54.33% | 40.50% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 56.98% | 42.72% | |
| Max daily dropi | 38.49% | 15.48% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 39.26% | 23.23% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +352.11% | +235.80% |
| CAGRi | +16.30% | +12.89% | |
| Volatilityi | 45.37% | 42.01% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.47 | 0.39 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.65 | 0.56 | |
| Max drawdowni | 79.16% | 68.90% | |
| Current drawdowni | 57.50% | 50.20% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 31.73% | 25.39% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 41.34% | 31.86% | |
| Max daily dropi | 38.49% | 15.48% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 39.26% | 28.04% |
| Category | PAYC | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| Company | PAYC | PCTY |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Application | Software - Application |
| Core business | Paycom Software, Inc. provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution delivered as software-as-a-service for small to mid-sized companies in the United States. | Paylocity Holding Corporation provides cloud-based human capital management, finance, and IT software solutions in the United States. |
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