Paychex
PAYX Nasdaq· Human Resource & Employment Services
Last close · Oct 26, 2026
$115.70
KIRA · Stoqly’s AI analyst, in plain words
- Paychex had $6.5B of revenue in fiscal 2026, up 16.9% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +9.9% a year on average.
- Its operating margin was 38.6%, down 1.1 pts: of every 100 in sales, about 39 is left after running the business.
- Paychex made $1.8B of net profit in fiscal 2026. From fiscal 2017 to 2026, diluted EPS grew 8.8% a year.
- Free cash flow was $2.3B in fiscal 2026, 35.7% of revenue.
- Paychex returned $2.2B to shareholders in fiscal 2026, 95% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 0.6%.
- Paychex owes $3.4B more than it holds in cash, about 1.2 years of operating profit.
Market cap
$41.3B
P/E
22.9x
Revenue
$6.5B
Net income
$1.8B
Free cash flow
$2.3B
Operating margin
38.6%
Paychex in 30 seconds · fiscal 2026
Are sales growing?
+16.9%
Yes. Sales grew 16.9% last year.
Does it make a profit?
27.0%
Yes. It keeps 27.0% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
35.7%
Yes. 35.7% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
1.2x
Keep an eye on it. Repaying its debt would take 1.2 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
6 / 9
Mixed. It passes 6 of 9 health tests.
How is the share priced?
22.9x
One share costs 22.9 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 26.0x.
What Paychex does
No business description yet.
- Fiscal year ends
- May 31, 2026
- Latest annual report
- 10-K · Jul 17, 2026
- Legal name
- Paychex, Inc.
- CIK
- 0000723531
Paychex · PAYX
Results and finances
The last 5 fiscal years. Amounts in USD.
| Fiscal year | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and profit | |||||
| Revenue | $4.6B | $5.0B | $5.3B | $5.6B | $6.5B |
| Revenue growth | 13.7% | 8.6% | 5.4% | 5.6% | 16.9% |
| Gross margin | 70.6% | 71.0% | 72.0% | 72.4% | 74.3% |
| Operating margin | 39.9% | 40.6% | 41.2% | 39.6% | 38.6% |
| Net income | $1.4B | $1.6B | $1.7B | $1.7B | $1.8B |
| Net margin | 30.2% | 31.1% | 32.0% | 29.7% | 27.0% |
| Diluted EPS | $3.84 | $4.30 | $4.67 | $4.58 | $4.89 |
| Cash | |||||
| Cash from operations | $1.6B | $1.7B | $1.9B | $1.9B | $2.6B |
| Capital expenditure | $134M | $143M | $161M | $192M | $235M |
| Free cash flow | $1.5B | $1.6B | $1.7B | $1.7B | $2.3B |
| FCF margin | 31.6% | 31.2% | 32.9% | 30.7% | 35.7% |
| Dividends paid | $1,000M | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.4B | $1.6B |
| Share buybacks | $145M | $0.0M | $169M | $105M | $611M |
| Share count change | 0.3% | −0.2% | −0.1% | −0.0% | −0.6% |
| Debt and strength | |||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $1.2B | $1.6B | $1.5B | $1.7B | $1.1B |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $806M | $808M | $817M | $5.0B | $4.6B |
| Shareholders' equity | $3.1B | $3.5B | $3.8B | $4.1B | $3.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.2x | −0.4x | −0.3x | 1.4x | 1.2x |
| Current ratio | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.4x | 1.3x | 1.3x |
| Interest coverage | 50.3x | 55.4x | 58.3x | 21.0x | 9.3x |
| Returns and quality | |||||
| Return on capital | 52.1% | 57.5% | 56.9% | 31.9% | 26.2% |
| Return on equity | 46.2% | 47.4% | 46.4% | 41.8% | 44.8% |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Altman Z'' | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 2.4 |
Insiders bought, 12 months
$0.2M
2 insiders
Insiders sold, 12 months
$4.6M
6 insiders
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
How to read these numbers
- Revenue:
- Total sales reported in the income statement.
- Operating margin:
- Operating income as a share of revenue.
- Net income:
- Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
- Free cash flow:
- Cash from operations minus capital spending.
- Net debt / EBITDA:
- Years of EBITDA needed to pay off net debt. Below zero means more cash than debt.
- Return on capital:
- After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Paychex · PAYX
Charts and comparison
Ten years at a glance, and how it stacks up against similar companies.
Revenue
Net income
Margins, % of revenue
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Free cash flow
Dividends and buybacks
Similar companies
Each company’s latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don’t line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paychex PAYX | $41.3B | 16.9% | 38.6% | 35.7% | 26.2% | 22.9x | 6 |
| Korn Ferry KFY | $4.0B | 6.4% | 12.8% | 11.0% | 21.9% | 14.9x | 8 |
| Automatic Data Processing ADP | $121.4B | 6.7% | — | 23.9% | 68.8% | — | 9 |
| Paylocity PCTY | $9.7B | 11.0% | 21.8% | 28.1% | 26.5% | — | 8 |
| Upwork UPWK | $1.2B | 2.4% | 16.4% | 30.8% | 31.0% | 12.3x | 6 |
Price compared with profit (P/E)
How many times its yearly profit per share one share costs. Higher means investors pay more for each unit of profit.
KIRA
At $115.70 a share, the company is worth $41.3B: 22.9 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Paychex grew sales faster than 4 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 2 of 2.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000723531). Data updated October 9, 2026. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.