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Paycom Software

PAYC
78
Software - Application · Technology
Price
$147.94
-2.54 (-1.69%)
Market Cap
$8.07B
Winston Score
78
Winston is happy
A high-quality business with solid fundamentals.

Share count falling — buybacks

3.6% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 58.2M (2021) → 56.1M (2025)

Paycom Software makes software that helps businesses manage their employees. Its main product is a cloud-based platform that handles payroll, hiring, scheduling, time tracking, and benefits — all in one place. The company sells primarily to mid-sized U.S. businesses across many industries, competing in the human capital management (HCM) software space alongside companies like ADP and Paychex.

Paycom charges businesses a recurring subscription fee based on the number of employees using the platform. It operates almost entirely in the United States, generating roughly $1.7 billion in annual revenue. Its competitive edge comes from having everything built on a single database, which makes it easier to use than systems stitched together from multiple products. The key growth challenge ahead is that Paycom's newer self-service payroll tool, Beti, shifts work away from HR teams and onto employees, which has slowed client expansion as some customers need less hands-on support than before.

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

13 trades / 12mo

5 Congressional buys and 8 sells on PAYC in the last 12 months.

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Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+7.8% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+22.5% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady EPS growth

R&D Spend

$283M/ year

Rising (+17% vs prior year)

13.8% of revenue

In line with sector average (15%)

Investing heavily in future products and technology

Insider Activity

25.2%ownership

Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$154M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth context

Paycom Software is growing revenue at 8% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Gross Margin
80.1%
Premium pricing power — 80.1% gross margin
Operating Margin
36.8%
Excellent — 36.8% operating margin
ROCE
13.9%
Good — 13.9% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales YoY
+9.4%
Steady sales growth (9.4% YoY)
EPS YoY
+23.5%
Earnings growing fast (23.5% YoY)

Healthy double-digit earnings growth — what compounders look like.

EPS Consistency
8/8 quarters
Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
151%
Turns 151% of profit into real cash
FCF Margin
21.1%
Converts sales into free cash efficiently (21.1%)

Free cash flow margin above 20%. Out of every $100 in sales, more than $20 is real cash they keep.

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Stability

Debt / Equity
0.87
Moderate — manageable debt (0.87)
Interest Cover
88.42x
Comfortably covers interest (88.4x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
17.0x
Fair value — P/E 17.0

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

P/E vs Forward
+3.7
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (17.0 → 13.4)

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Dividends

Dividend Yield
1.03%
Small dividend — 1.03% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend Growth
+0.0%
Dividend flat

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