COMPARE · Data as of August 24, 2026
PCTY vs TWLO
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. PCTY scored 81.8, TWLO scored 62.3 — PCTY leads.
Compare another set
PCTY
Paylocity Holding Corporation
81.8
$152.45 · $8.4B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
19.5
PCTY leads
TWLO
Twilio Inc.
62.3
$222.59 · $34.2B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
- CheapestTWLO30.8x
- Fastest growthTWLO+17.8%
- Strongest balance sheetPCTY0.11
- Highest qualityPCTY92 / 100
- Largest discount to fair valuePCTY-4%
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)
PCTY
stronger →← stronger
TWLO
92
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
57
87
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
65
68
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
66
PCTY is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
PCTY
TWLO
$497mC
FCF
$1.0bC+
+12.2%B+
Rev
+17.8%B+
0.11B+
D/E
0.12B+
31.0xB
P/E
30.8xB
1.24B
PEG
0.39A
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
PCTY
TWLO
4% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
131% above
~7%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~32%/yr
-7%
1-yr DCF upside
-62%
+4%
5-yr DCF upside
-57%
+20%
10-yr DCF upside
-47%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
PCTY
Why this score
- Buying back stock
- Durable high returns
TWLO
No notable signals flagged.
The companies
PCTYPaylocity Holding Corporation
Why now
Software - Application · market cap $8.4b. 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 +13% 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.
TWLOTwilio Inc.
Why now
Software - Infrastructure · market cap $34.2b. 14% off the 52-week high of $258.35. Revenue growing +18%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.39 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 31 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $250.08 (implying +12% upside).
Moat
Net margin 21% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 13% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. 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 31x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates. SaaS displacement — recurring revenue is sticky in good times but accelerates in churn during a downturn as customers consolidate vendors and renegotiate seat counts.
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 PCTY and TWLO diverge
On the headline score the gap is 19.5 points in favor of PCTY. The widest single difference is Quality, where PCTY leads by 35.1 points.
- QualityPCTY 92.3 · TWLO 57.2PCTY +35.1
- GrowthPCTY 87.3 · TWLO 64.6PCTY +22.7
- ValuePCTY 67.8 · TWLO 65.5level
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.