Paychex vs Upwork
Paychex reported revenue of $6.5 billion in fiscal 2026, 8.3 times Upwork's $788 million in fiscal 2025. Paychex's revenue grew 16.9% in its latest year, and Upwork's grew 2.4%. Paychex had an operating margin of 38.5%, against 16.4% at Upwork. Free cash flow was $2.3 billion at Paychex and $242 million at Upwork. Their fiscal years end in different months (May 31 and December 31), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Paychex | Upwork | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2026, May 31, 2026 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $6.5B | $788M |
| Revenue growth | 16.9% | 2.4% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 9.9% | 16.1% |
| Gross margin | 74.3% | 77.8% |
| Operating margin | 38.5% | 16.4% |
| Net margin | 27.0% | 14.7% |
| Free cash flow | $2.3B | $242M |
| Free cash flow margin | 35.6% | 30.8% |
| Return on capital | 26.2% | 31.0% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.2x | −2.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.2B | $136M |
| Change in diluted share count | −0.6% | −1.7% |
| Last close | $115.70 | $9.51 |
| P/E at the last close | 22.9× | 12.4× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | bought $197,260, sold $4.6 million | sold $15.8 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
PaychexUpwork
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
PaychexUpwork
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
PaychexUpwork