WDAY vs PAYC Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Workday and Paycom by enterprise vs SMB HR and payroll market focus, AI-driven workforce analytics, international expansion, customer churn dynamics, and which HR software platform offers better long-term subscription growth.
Use this Workday vs Paycom comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
WDAY and PAYC are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. PAYC has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-38.92% vs -42.94%), though WDAY has the better forward P/E setup (10.70x vs 12.04x for PAYC). Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for WDAY (+24.26%) than for PAYC (+2.15%).
| Metric | WDAY | PAYC |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 40.2 | 42.0 |
| AI rank | #1140 | #951 |
| Latest close | $135.34 | $145.35 |
| 1M return | +14.61% | +14.25% |
| 6M return | -28.08% | -4.56% |
| 1Y return | -42.94% | -38.92% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | WDAY | PAYC |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.71K (-42.9%) started 2025-07-24 | $6.09K (-39.1%) started 2025-07-25 |
| 5Y ago | $5.67K (-43.3%) started 2021-07-26 | $3.83K (-61.7%) started 2021-07-26 |
| 10Y ago | $16.91K (+69.1%) started 2016-07-25 | $31.81K (+218.1%) started 2016-07-25 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | WDAY | PAYC |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $33.43B | $6.9B |
| Trailing P/E | 42.16 | 17.12 |
| Forward P/E | 10.70 | 12.04 |
| Price/Sales | 3.39 | 7.78 |
| EV/Revenue | 3.34 | 3.59 |
| Analyst target | $168.17 | $151.13 |
| Target upside | +24.26% | +2.15% |
| Metric | WDAY | PAYC |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 13.50% | 7.80% |
| Earnings growth | 248.00% | 22.60% |
| EPS growth | +248.00% | +22.60% |
| FCF margin | +31.65% | +14.08% |
| Operating margin | N/A | 36.76% |
| Profit margin | 8.60% | 22.44% |
| ROIC proxy | 10.86% | 37.15% |
| Return on equity | 10.86% | 37.15% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 1.01% |
| Beta | 1.10 | 0.80 |
| Debt/equity | 56.94 | 94.07 |
| Current ratio | 1.01 | 1.08 |
| Quick ratio | 0.91 | 0.08 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | WDAY | PAYC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -42.94% | -39.13% |
| CAGR | -42.96% | -39.22% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -1.05 | -1.17 | |
| Max drawdown | 54.58% | 52.43% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.42% | 10.72% | |
| Max wkly drop | 15.05% | 13.33% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -43.28% | -62.31% |
| CAGR | -10.73% | -17.74% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.20 | -0.30 | |
| Max drawdown | 63.38% | 79.16% | |
| Max daily drop | 15.33% | 38.49% | |
| Max wkly drop | 20.18% | 39.26% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +69.11% | +213.50% |
| CAGR | +5.40% | +12.11% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.22 | 0.39 | |
| Max drawdown | 63.38% | 79.16% | |
| Max daily drop | 15.33% | 38.49% | |
| Max wkly drop | 20.58% | 39.26% |
| Category | WDAY | PAYC |
|---|---|---|
| Company | WDAY | PAYC |
| Sector | N/A | Technology |
| Industry | N/A | Software - Application |
| Core business | N/A | N/A |
| Investor focus | N/A | N/A |
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