Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. DAVE scored 84.2, PCTY scored 74.6 — DAVE leads.
Compare another set
DAVE
Dave Inc.
Software - Application · Quality-Growth
84.2
$368.42 · $4.7B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
9.6
DAVE leads
PCTY
Paylocity Holding Corporation
Software - Application · Quality-Growth
74.6
$153.96 · $8.5B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestDAVE23.8x
Fastest growthDAVE+59.7%
Strongest balance sheetPCTY0.11
Highest qualityPCTY92 / 100
Largest discount to fair valuePCTY-41%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
DAVE
stronger →← stronger
PCTY
76
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
92
99
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
74
80
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
61
DAVE is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
DAVE
PCTY
$319mC
FCF
$497mC
+59.7%A
Rev
+11.0%B
1.29C
D/E
0.11B+
23.8xB+
P/E
31.3xB
0.85B+
PEG
1.24B
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
DAVE
PCTY
3% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
41% below
~16%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~-4%/yr
-25%
1-yr DCF upside
+52%
-3%
5-yr DCF upside
+68%
+36%
10-yr DCF upside
+96%
These two disagree on this pair: the Value pillar ranks cheapness against sector peers, while price-vs-fair-value is an absolute read. A name can be the better value in its sector and still the dearer one on cash flows.
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
DAVE
Why this score
Durable high returns
Diluting shareholders
PCTY
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
The companies
DAVEDave Inc.
Software - Application · $368.42 · beta 3.93
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $4.7b. 20% off the 52-week high of $458.25. Revenue growing +60% — in hypergrowth territory. PEG 0.85 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 14 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $444.21 (implying +21% upside).
Moat
Net margin 35% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. FCF converts 143% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash. Software economics — recurring revenue, embedded customer workflows, and high gross margin all compound the moat once a base account is won. Switching costs are the lever.
Risk
Beta 3.93 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. SaaS displacement — recurring revenue is sticky in good times but accelerates in churn during a downturn as customers consolidate vendors and renegotiate seat counts.
PCTYPaylocity Holding Corporation
Software - Application · $153.96 · beta 0.50
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $8.5b. 5% off the 52-week high of $161.93. Revenue growing +11%, comfortably above the S&P median. 20 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $172.20 (implying +12% upside).
Moat
Net margin 15% 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% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 184% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 31x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates. 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.
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.
Where DAVE and PCTY diverge
On the headline score the gap is 9.6 points in favor of DAVE. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
GrowthDAVE 98.6 · PCTY 74.1DAVE +24.5
ValueDAVE 80.2 · PCTY 60.5DAVE +19.7
QualityDAVE 75.5 · PCTY 92.4PCTY +16.9
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is DAVE or PCTY the better stock?
DAVE scores higher: DAVE 84.2, PCTY 74.6 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do DAVE and PCTY differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where DAVE leads by 25 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are DAVE and PCTY scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.