COMPARE · Data as of August 27, 2026
ESTC vs PCTY
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. ESTC scored 60.7, PCTY scored 81.6 — PCTY leads.
Compare another set
ESTC
Elastic N.V.
60.7
$83.74 · $8.7B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
20.9
PCTY leads
PCTY
Paylocity Holding Corporation
81.6
$158.15 · $8.8B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
- CheapestESTC24.4x
- Fastest growthESTC+17.3%
- Strongest balance sheetPCTY0.11
- Highest qualityPCTY92 / 100
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)
ESTC
stronger →← stronger
PCTY
54
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
92
86
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
87
48
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
67
PCTY is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
ESTC
PCTY
$322mC
FCF
$497mC
+17.3%B+
Rev
+12.2%B+
0.46B
D/E
0.11B+
24.4xB+
P/E
32.1xB
1.37B
PEG
1.23B
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
ESTC
PCTY
26% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
0% above
~18%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~7%/yr
-36%
1-yr DCF upside
-10%
-21%
5-yr DCF upside
0%
+7%
10-yr DCF upside
+16%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
ESTC
No notable signals flagged.
PCTY
Why this score
- Buying back stock
- Durable high returns
The companies
ESTCElastic N.V.
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $8.7b. 13% off the 52-week high of $96.07. Revenue growing +17%, comfortably above the S&P median. 27 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $84.41 (implying +1% upside).
Moat
Net margin 21% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 29% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. 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
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
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $8.8b. 13% off the 52-week high of $181.97. Revenue growing +12%, comfortably above the S&P median. 19 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $172.00 (implying +9% 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 184% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash, a sign that working capital and capex are well-disciplined.
Risk
Trailing P/E 32x 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 ESTC and PCTY diverge
On the headline score the gap is 20.9 points in favor of PCTY. The widest single difference is Quality, where PCTY leads by 38.1 points.
- QualityESTC 54.2 · PCTY 92.3PCTY +38.1
- ValueESTC 48.2 · PCTY 67.5PCTY +19.3
- GrowthESTC 85.8 · PCTY 87.3level
Pillars run 0–100 against sector peers, so a 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.