COMPARE · Reviewed July 3, 2026
GDDY vs PCTY
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. GDDY scored 85.8, PCTY scored 88.3 — PCTY ahead by 2.5.
GDDY
GoDaddy Inc.
85.8
$88.51
Score gap
2.5
PCTY leads
PCTY
Paylocity Holding Corporation
88.3
$115.10
The companies
GDDYGoDaddy Inc.
Why now
Software - Infrastructure · market cap $11.7b. Down 51% from 52-week high of $179.61 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.68 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 14 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $112.14 (implying +27% upside).
Moat
Net margin 17% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. FCF converts 189% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash, a sign that working capital and capex are well-disciplined. 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
Down 51% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. 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)
| GDDY | Component | PCTY |
|---|---|---|
| C+70 | FCF | C65 |
| B80 | Rev | B+85 |
| C65 | D/E | B+85 |
| A-90 | 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 |
| C65 | ROE | A-90 |
| 80.7 | Base composite | 83.9 |
Adjustments (signed deltas applied on top of base)
GDDY
GARP sweet spot (PEG <1, positive FCF)+1
insider cluster buying (net +26.8%, 30 txns)+2
forward P/E cheaper (14 → 8)+1
DCF cross-check (avg upside 203%)+2
ROE truncated (buyback-depleted equity)-1
Total+5
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 110%)+2
stacked-bonus cap (+10 → 9.8)-0.15153137095996172
Total+9.848468629040038
DCF cross-check (per-share value vs. live price)
| GDDY upside | Horizon | PCTY upside |
|---|---|---|
| +152% | 1Y | +95% |
| +193% | 5Y | +107% |
| +265% | 10Y | +127% |
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
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