Korn Ferry
KFY · Human Resource & Employment Services
$78.30
2.6%Paylocity
PCTY · Human Resource & Employment Services
$177.19
0.3%The short version
- Korn Ferry is the larger business, with $2.9B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $1.8B for Paylocity, about 1.7 times as much.
- Paylocity grew revenue faster (11.0%, against 6.4%).
- Paylocity kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (21.8% operating margin, against 12.8% operating margin).
- Paylocity turned more of its sales into free cash flow (28.1% FCF margin, against 11.0% FCF margin).
- Paylocity earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (26.5%, against 21.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Paylocity’s earnings: a P/E of 36.0x against 14.8x for Korn Ferry.
| Latest fiscal year | KFY · FY26 | PCTY · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.0B | $9.7B |
| Revenue | $2.9B | $1.8B |
| Free cash flow | $324M | $497M |
| Net income | $277M | $270M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.4% | 11.0% |
| 5-year growth | 10.1% | 22.8% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | −3.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 69.2% |
| Operating margin | 12.8% | 21.8% |
| Net margin | 9.4% | 15.2% |
| FCF margin | 11.0% | 28.1% |
| Return on capital | 21.9% | 26.5% |
| Return on equity | 14.5% | 22.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$731M | −$191M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.5x | −0.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $220M | $398M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 14.8x | 36.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 8 |
FY17
KFY $1.6B
PCTY $300M
FY18
KFY $1.8B
PCTY $378M
FY19
KFY $2.0B
PCTY $468M
FY20
KFY $2.0B
PCTY $561M
FY21
KFY $1.8B
PCTY $636M
FY22
KFY $2.6B
PCTY $853M
FY23
KFY $2.9B
PCTY $1.2B
FY24
KFY $2.8B
PCTY $1.4B
FY25
KFY $2.8B
PCTY $1.6B
FY26
KFY $2.9B
PCTY $1.8B
KFY
PCTY
FY17
KFY 7.4%
PCTY 2.4%
FY18
KFY 11.5%
PCTY 4.2%
FY19
KFY 7.1%
PCTY 12.0%
FY20
KFY 8.9%
PCTY 11.8%
FY21
KFY 8.6%
PCTY 9.1%
FY22
KFY 17.8%
PCTY 9.9%
FY23
KFY 11.1%
PCTY 13.2%
FY24
KFY 7.6%
PCTY 18.5%
FY25
KFY 12.5%
PCTY 19.1%
FY26
KFY 12.8%
PCTY 21.8%
KFY
PCTY
FY17
KFY $56.1M
PCTY $40.6M
FY18
KFY $177M
PCTY $76.2M
FY19
KFY $212M
PCTY $104M
FY20
KFY $195M
PCTY $96.1M
FY21
KFY $220M
PCTY $115M
FY22
KFY $452M
PCTY $137M
FY23
KFY $274M
PCTY $261M
FY24
KFY $229M
PCTY $367M
FY25
KFY $302M
PCTY $405M
FY26
KFY $324M
PCTY $497M
KFY
PCTY
FY17
KFY 9.9%
PCTY —
FY18
KFY 14.9%
PCTY —
FY19
KFY —
PCTY —
FY20
KFY —
PCTY —
FY21
KFY 12.6%
PCTY 24.3%
FY22
KFY 40.7%
PCTY 22.7%
FY23
KFY 21.9%
PCTY 26.8%
FY24
KFY 14.2%
PCTY 32.8%
FY25
KFY 21.2%
PCTY 27.4%
FY26
KFY 21.9%
PCTY 26.5%
KFY
PCTY
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Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.