COMPARE · Data as of August 21, 2026
NOW vs PCTY
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. NOW scored 71.7, PCTY scored 81.9 — PCTY leads.
Compare another set
NOW
ServiceNow, Inc.
71.7
$128.48 · $132.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
10.2
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
- CheapestPCTY31.2x
- Fastest growthNOW+22.2%
- 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)
NOW
stronger →← stronger
PCTY
67
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
92
91
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
87
61
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
68
PCTY is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
NOW
PCTY
$4.6bB
FCF
$497mC
+22.2%A-
Rev
+12.2%B+
0.68C+
D/E
0.11B+
79.8xC
P/E
31.2xB
1.14B+
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
NOW
PCTY
21% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
3% below
~18%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~7%/yr
-36%
1-yr DCF upside
-7%
-17%
5-yr DCF upside
+3%
+20%
10-yr DCF upside
+20%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
NOW
No notable signals flagged.
PCTY
Why this score
- Buying back stock
- Durable high returns
The companies
NOWServiceNow, Inc.
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $132.8b. Down 34% from 52-week high of $194.73 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +22%, comfortably above the S&P median. 46 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $142.23 (implying +11% upside).
Moat
ROE 13% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income — non-cash charges (depreciation, intangible amortization) are holding down GAAP earnings while cash generation stays strong. $132.8b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Trailing P/E 79.8x prices in sustained high growth — any quarter that disappoints triggers sharp re-rating. 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. 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 $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 NOW and PCTY diverge
On the headline score the gap is 10.2 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.
- QualityNOW 66.7 · PCTY 92.3PCTY +25.6
- ValueNOW 60.9 · PCTY 68.0PCTY +7.1
- GrowthNOW 90.8 · PCTY 87.3NOW +3.5
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.