COMPARE · Reviewed July 2, 2026
ADBE vs PCTY
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. ADBE scored 89.5, PCTY scored 88.5 — ADBE ahead by 1.
ADBE
Adobe Inc.
89.5
$219.72
Score gap
1
ADBE leads
PCTY
Paylocity Holding Corporation
88.5
$115.10
The companies
ADBEAdobe Inc.
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $87.3b. Down 43% from 52-week high of $386.60 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +11%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.56 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 33 sell-side analysts rate this a Hold with a mean 1-yr target of $279.87 (implying +27% upside).
Moat
Net margin 29% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 63% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 142% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash, a sign that working capital and capex are well-disciplined.
Risk
Down 43% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. Beta 1.40 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. Software — competitive moat is durable until it isn't; watch net revenue retention, gross margin trends, and any new market entrant with a fundamentally lower price point.
PCTYPaylocity Holding Corporation
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $6.2b. Down 42% from 52-week high of $197.78 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +15%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.88 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 19 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $152.42 (implying +32% upside).
Moat
Net margin 16% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 22% sits above Buffett's preferred 15% threshold — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 189% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash, a sign that working capital and capex are well-disciplined.
Risk
Down 42% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. AI-native re-pricing — GPT-class models are compressing the cost of features that took years to build; the moat thesis depends on owning the workflow, not just the feature set.
Base grades (each contributes ~14.3% of base composite)
| ADBE | Component | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| A-90 | FCF | C65 |
| B80 | Rev | B+85 |
| C+70 | D/E | B+85 |
| A95 | P/E or P/S | B+85 |
| A-90 | PEG | B+85 |
| Supplemental signals · feed the score, not on the row card | ||
| A95 | FCF Yield | A-90 |
| A95 | ROE | A-90 |
| 88.5 | Base composite | 83.9 |
Adjustments (signed deltas applied on top of base)
ADBE
compounder synergy (FCF yield ≥5% + ROE ≥15% + D/E <1)+4
GARP sweet spot (PEG <1, positive FCF)+1
analyst consensus weak (28% buy)-2
insider cluster buying (net +17.9%, 40 txns)+2
forward P/E cheaper (13 → 8)+1
DCF cross-check (avg upside 66%)+1
Total+7
PCTY
compounder synergy (FCF yield ≥5% + ROE ≥15% + D/E <1)+4
GARP sweet spot (PEG <1, positive FCF)+1
analyst consensus bullish (90% buy/strong-buy)+2
forward P/E cheaper (25 → 13)+1
DCF cross-check (avg upside 114%)+2
stacked-bonus cap (+10 → 9.8)-0.15153137095996172
Total+9.848468629040038
DCF cross-check (per-share value vs. live price)
| ADBE upside | Horizon | PCTY upside |
|---|---|---|
| +44% | 1Y | +99% |
| +62% | 5Y | +111% |
| +92% | 10Y | +131% |
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.