COMPARE · Data as of August 21, 2026
MSFT vs PCTY
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. MSFT scored 70.6, PCTY scored 81.9 — PCTY leads.
Compare another set
MSFT
Microsoft Corporation
70.6
$483.24 · $3.6T
fundamentals as of
Score gap
11.3
PCTY leads
PCTY
Paylocity Holding Corporation
81.9
$153.34 · $8.5B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
- CheapestMSFT27.0x
- Fastest growthMSFT+17.8%
- Strongest balance sheetPCTY0.11
- Highest qualityPCTY92 / 100
- Largest discount to fair valuePCTY-3%
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)
MSFT
stronger →← stronger
PCTY
87
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
92
91
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
87
44
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
68
PCTY is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
MSFT
PCTY
$67.0bA
FCF
$497mC
+17.8%B+
Rev
+12.2%B+
0.29B
D/E
0.11B+
27.0xB
P/E
31.2xB
1.57C+
PEG
1.21B
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
MSFT
PCTY
175% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
3% below
~39%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~7%/yr
-70%
1-yr DCF upside
-7%
-64%
5-yr DCF upside
+3%
-51%
10-yr DCF upside
+20%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
MSFT
Why this score
- Raising its dividend
- Durable high returns
PCTY
Why this score
- Buying back stock
- Durable high returns
The companies
MSFTMicrosoft Corporation
Why now
Software - Infrastructure · market cap $3.6T. 13% off the 52-week high of $553.72. Revenue growing +18%, comfortably above the S&P median. 53 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $569.56 (implying +18% upside).
Moat
Net margin 40% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 30% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $3.6T market cap places it among the largest companies in the sector — distribution, R&D, and customer-acquisition costs amortize across a base peers can't replicate.
Risk
P/S 10.8x embeds aggressive forward growth — disappointing top-line guidance would compress the multiple hard. Customer concentration — many software businesses depend on a handful of enterprise accounts; the loss of one $10M+ contract can swing the next quarter's growth narrative.
PCTYPaylocity Holding Corporation
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $8.5b. 16% off the 52-week high of $182.36. 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 +12% 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 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 MSFT and PCTY diverge
On the headline score the gap is 11.3 points in favor of PCTY. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
- ValueMSFT 44.4 · PCTY 68.0PCTY +23.6
- QualityMSFT 87.1 · PCTY 92.3PCTY +5.2
- GrowthMSFT 90.9 · PCTY 87.3MSFT +3.6
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.