How does PAY’s current valuation compare to peers in the cloud‑based bill‑payment space after this earnings beat?

Short answer:

The press release you shared tells us that Payment Us (NYSE: PAY) posted a very strong quarter—revenues up ≈ 42 % YoY, contribution profit up ≈ 22 % YoY, and adjusted EBITDA up ≈ 41 % YoY. However, the release does not include any of the valuation metrics (e.g., price‑to‑earnings, enterprise‑value‑to‑EBITDA, price‑to‑sales, market‑cap, or share‑price movement) that are required to directly compare PAY’s current valuation with that of its peers in the cloud‑based bill‑payment space.

Below is a structured guide that explains:

1. Which valuation numbers you need to make a meaningful “valuation‑vs‑peers” comparison after an earnings beat.
   
2. How to obtain those numbers for both PAY and its competitors.
   
3. What the typical “peer set” looks like for a cloud‑based bill‑payment company.
   
4. A template for the actual comparative analysis once you have the data.

1. Key Valuation Metrics Needed

2. Where to Pull the Data

3. Typical Peer Set for a Cloud‑Based Bill‑Payment Platform

Note: Because the “cloud‑based bill‑payment” niche is relatively narrow, analysts often group PAY with SaaS‑focused fintech companies (e.g., DocuSign, Okta, Twilio) for valuation‑multiple benchmarking. If you want a pure‑play comparison, the list above is a starting point.

4. How to Conduct the Comparison (Step‑by‑Step)

1. Collect PAY’s latest valuation numbers (as of the day after the earnings release).

   • Example (hypothetical):
     
     • Share price: $55
       
     • Shares outstanding: 150 M → Market cap = $8.25 B
       
     • Debt: $1.0 B, Cash: $0.5 B → EV = $8.25 B + $1.0 B – $0.5 B = $8.75 B
       
     • Adjusted EBITDA (quarter): $85 M (annualized ≈ $340 M)
       
     • EV/Adj‑EBITDA (annualized) ≈ $8.75 B / $340 M ≈ 25.7x (example).
       
     • Revenue (quarter): $400 M (annualized ≈ $1.6 B) → P/S ≈ 5.2x.

2. Collect the same metrics for each peer (preferably the last twelve months—LTM—figures).

   • Example (illustrative only):
     
     • FIS: EV/Adj‑EBITDA ~ 12x, P/S ~ 3.5x, Revenue growth 7 % YoY.
       
     • PayPal: EV/Adj‑EBITDA ~ 18x, P/S ~ 7x, growth 9 % YoY.
       
     • ACI: EV/Adj‑EBITDA ~ 22x, P/S ~ 5.5x, growth 12 % YoY.

3. Normalize the multiples for growth differences:

   • Growth‑adjusted EV/EBITDA = EV/EBITDA ÷ (1 + revenue‑growth).
     
   • Higher “growth‑adjusted” multiples indicate a premium for growth.

4. Interpret the spread:

   • If PAY’s EV/Adj‑EBITDA (≈25×) is significantly higher than the peer median (≈18×), the market is pricing in a growth premium (perhaps due to the 41.9 % revenue growth).
     
   • If the P/S is also above peer median, the premium extends to the top line.
     
   • Conversely, if EV/Adj‑EBITDA is lower than peers despite higher growth, the market may be skeptical about sustainability, or the stock may be under‑valued.

5. Check post‑earnings stock reaction:

   • Compare the % price change from the day before earnings to the day after. A large positive move (e.g., +7 % on the day) would suggest investors rewarded the beat and may have widened the valuation gap.

6. Assess analyst outlook:

   • Look at consensus EPS estimates vs. actual. If the company ** beat both revenue and earnings, analysts may **raise target price, further supporting a higher valuation relative to peers.

5. What the Answer Would Look Like (once the data is in)

“After the Q2‑2025 earnings beat, Payment Us trades at an enterprise‑value‑to‑adjusted‑EBITDA multiple of roughly 26×, which is about 30 % higher than the median 20× multiple of its cloud‑based bill‑payment peers (FIS, PayPal, ACI, etc.). Its price‑to‑sales multiple of ~5.5× also sits above the peer median of 4.2×. The higher multiples reflect the company’s 41.9 % YoY revenue growth—well above the 10‑12 % growth of the comparable companies—plus a 40 % YoY increase in adjusted EBITDA. The market reacted positively; the stock rose 5.8 % on the day of the release, and analysts raised their 12‑month price target from $50 to $58, implying a further 10‑12 % upside. Taken together, the data suggest that Payment Us is trading at a premium to its peers, but the premium appears justified by its superior growth and margin expansion.”

But: the press release you provided does not contain any of the above numbers, so we cannot compute the exact multiples or the relative premium/discount without pulling the latest market data and the financial statements of both PAY and its peers.

6. Bottom‑Line Summary for the Question

Because the earnings release you shared does not include current market‑valuation data (share price, market cap, debt, cash, EV, P/E, EV/EBITDA, or comparable peer multiples), we cannot directly state how PAY’s valuation compares to its peers after this earnings beat.

To answer the question precisely, you need to:

1. Retrieve PAY’s latest market‑cap and EV (from a real‑time market data source).
   
2. Calculate or obtain PAY’s EV/EBITDA and price‑to‑sales (or other relevant multiples) using the latest financial statements (10‑Q).
   
3. Gather the same multiples for a defined set of cloud‑based bill‑payment peers (FIS, PayPal, ACI, etc.) from the same data source and for the same period (LTM).
   
4. Compare the multiples, adjusting for growth differentials.
   
5. Consider the stock price reaction and any analyst target‑price changes.

Once those numbers are in hand, you can apply the framework above to produce a concrete “valuation‑vs‑peers” assessment. If you have access to a financial data platform (e.g., Bloomberg, FactSet, or a brokerage terminal), you can quickly pull the required numbers and perform the analysis in a few minutes.

If you can provide the current share price, market‑cap, or EV/EBITDA numbers for PAY and its peers, I can run the exact calculations for you.