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Side-by-side financial comparison of Paychex (PAYX) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

Paychex is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($1.5B vs $1.4B, roughly 1.1× Palantir Technologies). Palantir Technologies runs the higher net margin — 43.3% vs 26.3%, a 17.0% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Palantir Technologies posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (70.0% vs 17.4%). Palantir Technologies produced more free cash flow last quarter ($764.0M vs $382.8M). Over the past eight quarters, Palantir Technologies's revenue compounded faster (48.9% CAGR vs 3.8%).

Paychex, Inc. is an American company that provides human resources, payroll, and employee benefits outsourcing services for small- to medium-sized businesses. Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Rochester, New York, the company has more than 100 offices serving approximately 800,000 payroll clients in the U.S. and Europe. Paychex is ranked 681st on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations by revenue.

Palantir Technologies Inc. is an American publicly traded company that develops data integration and analytics platforms enabling government agencies, militaries, and corporations to combine and analyze data from multiple sources. Its flagship products—Gotham and Foundry —connect previously siloed databases to support intelligence operations, counterterrorism analysis, law enforcement, and enterprise analytics.

PAYX vs PLTR — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
PAYX
PAYX
1.1× larger
PAYX
$1.5B
$1.4B
PLTR
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
PLTR
PLTR
+52.6% gap
PLTR
70.0%
17.4%
PAYX
Higher net margin
PLTR
PLTR
17.0% more per $
PLTR
43.3%
26.3%
PAYX
More free cash flow
PLTR
PLTR
$381.2M more FCF
PLTR
$764.0M
$382.8M
PAYX
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
PLTR
PLTR
Annualised
PLTR
48.9%
3.8%
PAYX

Income Statement — Q2 FY2026 vs Q4 FY2025

Metric
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Revenue
$1.5B
$1.4B
Net Profit
$395.4M
$608.7M
Gross Margin
72.6%
84.6%
Operating Margin
38.0%
40.9%
Net Margin
26.3%
43.3%
Revenue YoY
17.4%
70.0%
Net Profit YoY
-4.4%
670.4%
EPS (diluted)
$1.10
$0.24

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$1.5B
$1.4B
Q3 25
$1.5B
$1.2B
Q2 25
$1.4B
$1.0B
Q1 25
$1.5B
$883.9M
Q4 24
$1.3B
$827.5M
Q3 24
$1.3B
$725.5M
Q2 24
$1.3B
$678.1M
Q1 24
$1.4B
$634.3M
Net Profit
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$395.4M
$608.7M
Q3 25
$383.8M
$475.6M
Q2 25
$297.2M
$326.7M
Q1 25
$519.3M
$214.0M
Q4 24
$413.4M
$79.0M
Q3 24
$427.4M
$143.5M
Q2 24
$379.9M
$134.1M
Q1 24
$498.6M
$105.5M
Gross Margin
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
72.6%
84.6%
Q3 25
72.3%
82.4%
Q2 25
71.5%
80.8%
Q1 25
73.6%
80.4%
Q4 24
70.4%
78.9%
Q3 24
70.3%
79.8%
Q2 24
70.1%
81.0%
Q1 24
72.8%
81.7%
Operating Margin
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
38.0%
40.9%
Q3 25
36.3%
33.3%
Q2 25
31.2%
26.8%
Q1 25
47.2%
19.9%
Q4 24
42.0%
1.3%
Q3 24
42.7%
15.6%
Q2 24
38.3%
15.5%
Q1 24
46.6%
12.8%
Net Margin
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
26.3%
43.3%
Q3 25
25.7%
40.3%
Q2 25
21.5%
32.6%
Q1 25
35.4%
24.2%
Q4 24
32.3%
9.5%
Q3 24
33.4%
19.8%
Q2 24
30.2%
19.8%
Q1 24
35.7%
16.6%
EPS (diluted)
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$1.10
$0.24
Q3 25
$1.06
$0.18
Q2 25
$0.83
$0.13
Q1 25
$1.43
$0.08
Q4 24
$1.14
$0.03
Q3 24
$1.18
$0.06
Q2 24
$1.05
$0.06
Q1 24
$1.38
$0.04

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$1.5B
$7.2B
Total DebtLower is stronger
$5.0B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$3.9B
$7.4B
Total Assets
$16.5B
$8.9B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
1.28×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$1.5B
$7.2B
Q3 25
$1.7B
$6.4B
Q2 25
$1.7B
$6.0B
Q1 25
$1.6B
$5.4B
Q4 24
$1.2B
$5.2B
Q3 24
$1.5B
$4.6B
Q2 24
$1.5B
$4.0B
Q1 24
$1.7B
$3.9B
Total Debt
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$5.0B
Q3 25
$5.0B
Q2 25
$4.9B
Q1 25
Q4 24
Q3 24
Q2 24
$798.6M
Q1 24
Stockholders' Equity
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$3.9B
$7.4B
Q3 25
$4.0B
$6.6B
Q2 25
$4.1B
$5.9B
Q1 25
$4.1B
$5.4B
Q4 24
$3.9B
$5.0B
Q3 24
$3.9B
$4.5B
Q2 24
$3.8B
$4.1B
Q1 24
$3.7B
$3.8B
Total Assets
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$16.5B
$8.9B
Q3 25
$16.7B
$8.1B
Q2 25
$16.6B
$7.4B
Q1 25
$11.2B
$6.7B
Q4 24
$10.6B
$6.3B
Q3 24
$10.5B
$5.8B
Q2 24
$10.4B
$5.2B
Q1 24
$13.0B
$4.8B
Debt / Equity
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
1.28×
Q3 25
1.25×
Q2 25
1.20×
Q1 25
Q4 24
Q3 24
Q2 24
0.21×
Q1 24

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$444.9M
$777.3M
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$382.8M
$764.0M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
25.5%
54.3%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
4.1%
0.9%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
1.13×
1.28×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$2.0B
$2.1B

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$444.9M
$777.3M
Q3 25
$718.4M
$507.7M
Q2 25
$343.8M
$539.3M
Q1 25
$716.0M
$310.3M
Q4 24
$295.0M
$460.3M
Q3 24
$546.1M
$419.8M
Q2 24
$221.7M
$144.2M
Q1 24
$671.7M
$129.6M
Free Cash Flow
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
$382.8M
$764.0M
Q3 25
$662.5M
$500.9M
Q2 25
$283.3M
$531.6M
Q1 25
$667.3M
$304.1M
Q4 24
$248.0M
$457.2M
Q3 24
$510.5M
$415.8M
Q2 24
$180.4M
$141.3M
Q1 24
$631.0M
$126.9M
FCF Margin
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
25.5%
54.3%
Q3 25
44.4%
42.4%
Q2 25
20.5%
53.0%
Q1 25
45.5%
34.4%
Q4 24
19.4%
55.3%
Q3 24
39.9%
57.3%
Q2 24
14.4%
20.8%
Q1 24
45.2%
20.0%
Capex Intensity
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
4.1%
0.9%
Q3 25
3.7%
0.6%
Q2 25
4.4%
0.8%
Q1 25
3.3%
0.7%
Q4 24
3.7%
0.4%
Q3 24
2.8%
0.5%
Q2 24
3.3%
0.4%
Q1 24
2.9%
0.4%
Cash Conversion
PAYX
PAYX
PLTR
PLTR
Q4 25
1.13×
1.28×
Q3 25
1.87×
1.07×
Q2 25
1.16×
1.65×
Q1 25
1.38×
1.45×
Q4 24
0.71×
5.83×
Q3 24
1.28×
2.92×
Q2 24
0.58×
1.08×
Q1 24
1.35×
1.23×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

PAYX
PAYX

Management Solutions$1.2B78%
Peo And Insurance Solutions$336.9M22%

PLTR
PLTR

Geographic Concentration Risk$1.1B77%
Other$330.4M23%

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