Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. PAY scored 76.7, FICO scored 86.3 — FICO leads.
Compare another set
PAY
Paymentus Holdings, Inc.
Software - Infrastructure · Quality-Growth
76.7
$31.88 · $4.0B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
9.6
FICO leads
FICO
Fair Isaac Corporation
Software - Application · Quality-Growth
86.3
$667.58 · $14.4B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestFICO19.3x
Fastest growthPAY+30.2%
Highest qualityFICO91 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueFICO-1%
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)
PAY
stronger →← stronger
FICO
69
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
91
96
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
87
69
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
81
FICO is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
PAY
FICO
$159mC
FCF
$961mC+
+30.2%A
Rev
+15.9%B+
0.02A-
D/E
Negative equity
48.3xC+
P/E
19.3xB+
2.48C
PEG
0.67A-
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
PAY
FICO
38% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
1% below
~24%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~10%/yr
-44%
1-yr DCF upside
-13%
-28%
5-yr DCF upside
+1%
+4%
10-yr DCF upside
+25%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
PAY
No notable signals flagged.
FICO
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
The companies
PAYPaymentus Holdings, Inc.
Software - Infrastructure · $31.88 · beta 1.34
Why now
Software - Infrastructure · market cap $4.0b. Down 30% from 52-week high of $45.31 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +30% — in hypergrowth territory. 7 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $40.14 (implying +26% upside).
Moat
ROE 14% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 188% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash. 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
Trailing P/E 48x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates. 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.
FICOFair Isaac Corporation
Software - Application · $667.58 · beta 1.34
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $14.4b. Down 64% from 52-week high of $1858.91 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +16%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.67 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 19 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $1,113 (implying +67% upside).
Moat
Net margin 34% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. FCF converts 118% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash. 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 64% 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.
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 PAY and FICO diverge
On the headline score the gap is 9.6 points in favor of FICO. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
QualityPAY 68.6 · FICO 91.1FICO +22.5
ValuePAY 68.5 · FICO 81.3FICO +12.8
GrowthPAY 95.9 · FICO 86.7PAY +9.2
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 FICO or PAY the better stock?
FICO scores higher: FICO 86.3, PAY 76.7 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 FICO and PAY differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where FICO leads by 23 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 FICO and PAY 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.