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Paychex PAYX Return on invested capital

Return on invested capital at other companies

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. logo
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.ADP
66.7%-10.3pp
Equifax logo
EquifaxEFX
8.8%+0.9pp
ROP
Roper Technologies, Inc.ROP
6.6%+0.3pp
Global Payments logo
Global PaymentsGPN
3.6%-0.9pp
Corpay logo
CorpayCPAY
14.2%+0.2pp
PayPal Holdings, Inc. logo
PayPal Holdings, Inc.PYPL
35.9%+12.6pp

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$1.8B+19.9%
Gross profit$1.4B+22.8%
Operating income$792.0M+14.5%
Net income$560.3M+7.9%
EPS (diluted)$1.56+9.1%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$1.7B+11.4%
Total debt$4.6B+434%
Total equity$4.0B-2.5%
Total assets$17.5B+56.1%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$812.5M+13.5%
CapEx$51.0M+4.7%
Free cash flow$761.5M+14.1%

Valuation

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Market cap$34.96B-38.4%
Enterprise value$37.83B-32.3%
P/E21.4×-11.3×
P/S5.5×-4.9×

Profitability

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Gross margin73.9%+1.9pp
Operating margin36.9%-4.6pp
Net margin25.8%-6.1pp

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity40.3%-4.0pp
Debt / equity1.1×+0.9×
Current ratio1.3×-0.1×

Where this comes from

Calculated from Paychex’s reported figures.

Based on trailing twelve months.

The official record: Paychex’s 10-Q, filed March 26, 2026, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

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Questions, answered.

What is Paychex's return on invested capital?
Paychex (PAYX) reported return on invested capital of 34.6% in Q4 2025.
How has Paychex's return on invested capital changed year-over-year?
Paychex's return on invested capital decreased by 36.4% year-over-year, from 54.4% to 34.6%.
What is the long-term trend for Paychex's return on invested capital?
Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Paychex's return on invested capital has grown at a -1.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from 207.7% to 193%.
What does return on invested capital mean?
The after-tax return the business earns on all the capital — debt and equity — invested in it.
How do you interpret return on invested capital?
The cleanest measure of business quality: ROIC sustained above the cost of capital creates value, below it destroys value. Compare against WACC, not against zero.
How does return on invested capital compare across companies?
Highly comparable across companies as a quality screen. Sector-sensitive definitions of invested capital mean banks/insurers are best excluded.