Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. HQY scored 69.2, WAY scored 62.0 — HQY leads.
Compare another set
HQY
HealthEquity, Inc.
Health Information Services · Quality-Growth
69.2
$92.61 · $7.7B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
7.2
HQY leads
WAY
Waystar Holding Corp.
Health Information Services · Quality-Growth
62
$26.68 · $5.1B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestHQY33.4x
Fastest growthWAY+19.2%
Strongest balance sheetWAY0.37
Highest qualityHQY71 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueHQY-2%
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)
HQY
stronger →← stronger
WAY
71
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
46
78
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
89
60
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
58
HQY is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
HQY
WAY
$437mC
FCF
$246mC
+9.5%B
Rev
+19.2%B+
0.49B
D/E
0.37B
33.4xC+
P/E
38.1xC+
1.14B+
PEG
3.02D
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
HQY
WAY
2% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
7% above
~8%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~12%/yr
-9%
1-yr DCF upside
-20%
+2%
5-yr DCF upside
-7%
+19%
10-yr DCF upside
+16%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
HQY
Why this score
Buying back stock
WAY
Why this score
Diluting shareholders
Short track record
The companies
HQYHealthEquity, Inc.
Health Information Services · $92.61 · beta 0.24
Why now
Health Information Services · market cap $7.7b. 14% off the 52-week high of $107.62. 15 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $119.33 (implying +29% 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. ROE 11% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 185% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 33x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
WAYWaystar Holding Corp.
Health Information Services · $26.68 · beta 0.18
Why now
Health Information Services · market cap $5.1b. Down 34% from 52-week high of $40.35 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +19%, comfortably above the S&P median. 22 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $33.77 (implying +27% upside).
Moat
FCF converts 183% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Down 34% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. Trailing P/E 38x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates. ROE 3% is below the long-run sustainable threshold of ~10% — capital efficiency would need to improve for the equity base to compound at the market rate.
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 HQY and WAY diverge
On the headline score the gap is 7.2 points in favor of HQY. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
QualityHQY 71.1 · WAY 46.1HQY +25.0
GrowthHQY 77.9 · WAY 88.5WAY +10.6
ValueHQY 59.9 · WAY 58.3level
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 HQY or WAY the better stock?
HQY scores higher: HQY 69.2, WAY 62.0 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 HQY and WAY differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where HQY 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 HQY and WAY 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.