PAYX · Intrinsic value
Is Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) overvalued or undervalued?
As of Oct 19, 2026, TickerWorth's valuation lenses put Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) at $74.00 – $210.33, too broad a range to say where the delayed market price of $111.63 sits in it, so we do not call it over- or undervalued. It is a model estimate, and every input behind it is sourced below.
Model by Miraaj Patel · generated from SEC filings and market data · Updated Oct 19, 2026 · How these pages are made
What is PAYX worth?
- Fair-value range
- $74.00 – $210.33
- Market price
- $111.63
- Gap to fair value
- —
- Verdict
- Too wide to call
Reverse DCF: Today's price implies revenue growth of 6.5% a year for 5 years; our model assumes 5.5% a year on average over the same horizon.
What is PAYX's TickerWorth Score?
Middle of the pack — real strengths and real weaknesses
Compared with Technology companies in US
Its strongest point: a profitable, high-quality business. Its weakest: growth is slow or negative.
- Value · 57 of 100
Cheaper than 57% of Technology companies in US
- Price vs worth · 58 of 100
- Quality · 84 of 100
More profitable than 84% of Technology companies in US
- Financial health · 27 of 100
Financially stronger than 27% of Technology companies in US
- Growth · 21 of 100
Growing faster than 21% of Technology companies in US
- Momentum · 50 of 100
Outperformed 50% of Technology companies in US over the past year
Confidence: Medium confidence · Scored
Get the Undervalued Company of the Week.
Why PAYX gets a range, not one number
At a recent price of $111.63, Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) sits inside a range too wide to call either way: our valuation lenses put the business somewhere between $74.00 and $210.33 per share. They disagree too widely for us to state a single fair value. We publish the range rather than a midpoint because a number that precise would claim more than the methods can support. This is an educational model, not a price target or a recommendation.
Read the full reasoning
The valuation discounts Paychex, Inc.'s projected free cash flows at a weighted-average cost of capital (WACC) of 8.7%, with a long-run terminal growth rate of 2.5%. About 76% of the enterprise value comes from the terminal value — the portion beyond the explicit forecast window — which is typical for a stable, cash-generative business and a reminder that small changes in the discount rate or terminal growth assumption swing the intrinsic value meaningfully.
Running the DCF in reverse — solving for the growth the current price already assumes — the market is implying roughly 6.5% annual revenue growth for PAYX. Our base case instead compounds to about 5.5% a year over the same forecast, so the market's implied growth is broadly in line with our base case. The reverse-DCF is a quick sanity check: it reframes 'is this stock cheap?' as 'do I believe the growth the price requires?' rather than arguing over a single point estimate of fair value.
Sensitivity matters more than any single number. Across a reasonable band of discount-rate assumptions, PAYX's modeled DCF value ranges from about $66.94 to $160.75 per share. If that range still sits below today's price, the market is optimistic relative to the model across the whole band; if it brackets the price, the stock is roughly fairly valued on our assumptions. Use the interactive slider to see exactly where your own cost-of-capital view lands.
How to read this page: the DCF fair value is what Paychex, Inc. would be worth if its cash flows grow as modeled and are discounted at the stated WACC. The assumptions table shows every input and its source; the reverse-DCF shows what the market believes; the sensitivity band shows how fragile the answer is. None of this is investment advice — it is a transparent, auditable framework for forming your own view of PAYX's intrinsic value. Figures update as new filings and prices come in.
Every input behind PAYX's DCF
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Base-year revenuePaychex, Inc. FY2026 10-K (accession 0001193125-26-307785): us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax, FY2026 full year. | $6,301,100,000 |
| Base EBIT marginPaychex, Inc. FY2026 10-K (accession 0001193125-26-307785): us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss 2,510,500,000 / revenue 6,301,100,000 = 39.84%, FY2026. | 39.8% |
| Forecast revenue growthESTIMATEAssumption — TickerWorth's 5-year explicit forecast | 7% → 6% → 5% → 5% → 4% |
| Risk-free rateLive feed — US 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) | 5.3% |
| BetaLive feed — yfinance, 5-year monthly beta vs the S&P 500 (clamped to 0.4–2.5) | 0.81 |
| Terminal growthESTIMATEAssumption — TickerWorth house default 2.5%, held below WACC | 2.5% |
| Diluted sharesPaychex, Inc. FY2026 10-K (accession 0001193125-26-307785): WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding = 360,000,000 shares, FY2026. | 360M |
| Market priceBackup price feed · as of 2026-10-19 13:16 UTC | $111.63 |
Change PAYX's assumptions
The discount-rate dial and the editable model
ProChange growth, margin and WACC yourself — Pro (7-day free trial, card required).
What does Paychex, Inc. do?
What does it do?
Paychex, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides human capital management solutions (HCM) for human resources, payroll processing, employee benefits, and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, and Israel. It offers technology and advisory solutions; and payroll tax administration services. It operates in the Software - Application industry (Technology sector), headquartered in United States. The company employs roughly 17,600 people.
How does it make money?
The business turns $6.6B in annual revenue into profit. Out of every $100 of sales, about $39 is left as operating profit (operating margin of 38.5%), after a 74% gross margin on the products/services it sells. After all costs, taxes and interest, 27.4% of revenue becomes bottom-line net profit.
Is it financially healthy?
Financially it looks stretched: carries moderate debt (1.2× equity), can just cover its short-term bills (1.3× current ratio), and is currently profitable.
Who at PAYX filed insider trades?
| Date | Insider | Relationship | What happened | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOODY JOSEPH | Director | Other acquisition/disposition | — | Form 4 for DOODY JOSEPH (opens sec.gov in a new tab) | |
| JOSEPH PAMELA A | Director | Grant / award | — | Form 4 for JOSEPH PAMELA A (opens sec.gov in a new tab) | |
| VELLI JOSEPH M | Director | Grant / award | — | Form 4 for VELLI JOSEPH M (opens sec.gov in a new tab) | |
| DOODY JOSEPH | Director | Grant / award | — | Form 4 for DOODY JOSEPH (opens sec.gov in a new tab) | |
| Simmons Christopher C | VP, Controller & Treasurer | Shares withheld (tax) | $4,209.64 | Form 4 for Simmons Christopher C (opens sec.gov in a new tab) | |
| MUCCI MARTIN | Director | Grant / award | — | Form 4 for MUCCI MARTIN (opens sec.gov in a new tab) |
A disclosure, not a signal to trade. Source: SEC EDGAR (Form 4). Older filings and the 90-day buying-and-selling read are part of Pro. See plans
Common questions
What is PAYX's intrinsic value?
TickerWorth's valuation lenses put Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) between $74.00 and $210.33 per share, versus a market price of $111.63. They disagree too widely for us to state a single fair value, so we publish the range.
Is PAYX overvalued or undervalued?
At $111.63 the price sits inside a range too wide to call either way. We don't call PAYX overvalued or undervalued from a range this wide. This is an educational estimate, not advice.
What discount rate is used for PAYX?
A WACC of 8.7% and a terminal growth rate of 2.5%.
Is Paychex stock undervalued?
TickerWorth's fair-value range for Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) is $74.00 – $210.33 against a market price of $111.63. Too wide to call. We publish a range here, not one number, so we do not call it over- or undervalued. This is a model estimate, not investment advice.
Paychex (PAYX) DCF valuation and fair value
Our fair-value range for Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) is $74.00 – $210.33, built on a 8.7% discount rate (WACC) and 2.5% terminal growth. It blends our discounted-cash-flow model with other valuation lenses. Every assumption is listed on this page with its source.
What growth is priced into Paychex stock?
Today's price implies revenue growth of 6.5% a year for 5 years; our model assumes 5.5% a year on average over the same horizon. This is a reverse DCF: it holds our cash-flow model's other inputs and solves for the revenue growth that makes the model equal today's price of $111.63. A model estimate, not investment advice.
Paychex (PAYX) insider trading
The most recent insider filing (SEC Form 4) for Paychex, Inc. (PAYX): DOODY JOSEPH, Director, other acquisition/disposition on 2026-10-16. The latest filings are listed on this page. A disclosure, not a signal to trade.
Other ways into the coverage
Not investment advice. TickerWorth Score is a model output.
Educational tool. Every output reflects the assumptions shown — not a prediction and not investment advice. TickerWorth is not a licensed investment adviser, and these figures are estimates from public filings and market data that can be wrong.