COMPARE · Data as of August 27, 2026
NAVN vs PCTY
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. NAVN scored 33.8, PCTY scored 81.6 — PCTY leads.
Compare another set
NAVN
Navan, Inc.
33.8
$30.58 · $7.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
47.8
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
- Fastest growthNAVN+30.8%
- Strongest balance sheetPCTY0.11
- Highest qualityPCTY92 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
NAVN
stronger →← stronger
PCTY
30
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
92
94
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
87
14
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
67
PCTY is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
NAVN
PCTY
$33mC-
FCF
$497mC
+30.8%A
Rev
+12.2%B+
0.14B+
D/E
0.11B+
11.1xC
P/S
—
—
PEG
1.23B
—
P/E
32.1xB
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
NAVN
PCTY
911% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
0% above
>60%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~7%/yr
-92%
1-yr DCF upside
-10%
-90%
5-yr DCF upside
0%
-85%
10-yr DCF upside
+16%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
NAVN
Why this score
- Short track record
PCTY
Why this score
- Buying back stock
- Durable high returns
The companies
NAVNNavan, Inc.
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $7.8b. Trading near 52-week high of $30.88 — momentum setup, limited technical margin of safety. Revenue growing +31% — in hypergrowth territory. 15 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $29.93 (implying -2% upside).
Moat
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
Currently unprofitable (margin -50.9%) — path to GAAP profitability is the core thesis risk. Trading within 1% of the 52-week high — limited technical margin of safety; a momentum reversal would test conviction. P/S 11.1x embeds aggressive forward growth — disappointing top-line guidance would compress the multiple hard.
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 NAVN and PCTY diverge
On the headline score the gap is 47.8 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.
- QualityNAVN 29.8 · PCTY 92.3PCTY +62.5
- ValueNAVN 13.8 · PCTY 67.5PCTY +53.7
- GrowthNAVN 93.8 · PCTY 87.3NAVN +6.5
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.