Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
Forward P/E is 22.92x against a peer median of 19.77x, a ratio of 1.16x — just above the 1.15 overvalued line — with trailing P/E 25.47x and PEG not available (shown as n/a on the statistics page). Latest-quarter revenue grew 6.8% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), close to the group pace and not far above it, so the growth exception does not apply. Delivered demand check: the Business services, data & distribution group's median growth was 7.2% year over year — demand steady, not accelerating to support a premium.
What would change this label: Move to FAIRLY PRICED if the forward P/E compresses to about 22.7x or below (1.15x the peer median) at unchanged estimates, or if revenue growth rises above 10% year over year for two quarters. Move to UNDERVALUED if the forward P/E compresses to about 17.8x or below (0.90x the peer median) at unchanged estimates.
Automatic Data Processing provides payroll and human-resources software and services that employers use to pay and manage staff. Its shares cost a little more than similar companies, while sales grew a modest 6.8% at about the group pace. That makes the shares look overvalued — a small premium without extra growth to pay for it.
Both lines start at 100 on 2020-09-01. Over the full window Automatic Data Processing returned +111.59% and the S&P 500 +118.28% (price returns; dividends not reinvested). Worst peak-to-trough fall for Automatic Data Processing: -42.2% (2025-06-06 to 2026-04-10). Source: Nasdaq official daily history.
What the label rests on
Forward P/E is 22.92x against a peer median of 19.77x, a ratio of 1.16x — just above the 1.15 overvalued line — with trailing P/E 25.47x and PEG not available (shown as n/a on the statistics page). Latest-quarter revenue grew 6.8% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), close to the group pace and not far above it, so the growth exception does not apply. Delivered demand check: the Business services, data & distribution group's median growth was 7.2% year over year — demand steady, not accelerating to support a premium. The company’s forward P/E is 22.9× against a peer median of 19.8×. Its own history: UNVERIFIED — no sourced range available. Sector demand read: Delivered demand check: the Business services, data & distribution group's median latest-quarter revenue growth was 7.2% year over year (SEC filings) — demand steady, and this company is growing close to that pace at 6.8%. Latest-quarter sales growth was +6.8% versus a year earlier (SEC filings).
| Company | Price (Oct 28, 2026) | Forward P/E | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic Data Processing (ADP) | $287.42 | 22.9× | 25.5× |
| URI | — | 19.8× | 25.9× |
| FAST | — | 37.3× | 41.6× |
| FERG | — | 19.4× | 22.5× |
| PAYX | — | 17.9× | 21.4× |
| VRSK | — | 23.0× | 28.9× |
| Peer median | 19.8× |
Multiples: stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026. Peer set chosen by sector; the median is the middle value of the set. The label and its numbers were recorded in the programme’s label registry on Oct 28, 2026 and will be scored at 6 and 12 months.
Sales, profit and cash
This company does not report a gross-profit line in its SEC facts (normal for banks, payment networks and some health insurers), so profit is shown as net income instead — gross margin is marked UNVERIFIED-absent rather than estimated.
Free cash flow = cash from operations minus spending on plant and equipment, both from the company’s SEC cash-flow statement. Gaps are quarters where that spending line is not separately tagged in the filings — shown as gaps, never estimated.
| Quarter | Sales | Gross margin | Net income | EPS (GAAP, diluted) | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q/E Jun 2026 2026-06-30 | $5.5B | — | $979M | — | $1.4B |
| Q/E Mar 2026 2026-03-31 | $5.9B | — | $1.4B | 3.38 | $2.2B |
| Q/E Dec 2025 2025-12-31 | $5.4B | — | $1.1B | 2.62 | $1.1B |
| Q/E Sep 2025 2025-09-30 | $5.2B | — | $1.0B | 2.49 | $596M |
| Q/E Jun 2025 2025-06-30 | $5.1B | — | $911M | — | $1.4B |
| Q/E Mar 2025 2025-03-31 | $5.6B | — | $1.2B | 3.06 | $1.5B |
| Q/E Dec 2024 2024-12-31 | $5.0B | — | $963M | 2.35 | $1.1B |
| Q/E Sep 2024 2024-09-30 | $4.8B | — | $956M | 2.34 | $766M |
| Q/E Jun 2024 2024-06-30 | $4.8B | — | $829M | — | $1.2B |
| Q/E Mar 2024 2024-03-31 | $5.3B | — | $1.2B | 2.88 | $1.4B |
| Q/E Dec 2023 2023-12-31 | $4.7B | — | $878M | 2.13 | $978M |
| Q/E Sep 2023 2023-09-30 | $4.5B | — | $859M | 2.08 | $287M |
The last twelve reported quarters. Full 24-quarter history sits in the data pack behind this page. A dash means the figure is not tagged as a standalone quarter in the company’s SEC facts (the usual case is the fourth quarter, which many companies only report inside the full-year filing) — it is missing, not zero.
Earnings: getting better or worse?
Each box is one quarter’s earnings per share (EPS). Green means EPS was higher than the same quarter a year earlier; red means lower; a dash means the figure is not tagged in the filings.
Basis: GAAP diluted EPS from SEC company facts, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Key facts
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Company (legal name in filings) | AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING INC |
| Chief executive | Maria Black (source: https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/adp/company/) |
| Sector | Industrials — Human Resource & Employment Services — provides payroll and human-resources software and services to employers |
| Share price (Oct 28, 2026) | $287.42 |
| Market value (market cap) | $116.4B — share price times shares outstanding of 397,262,737 (SEC filings; SEC EDGAR dei EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding (latest)) |
| Sales, last twelve months | $21.9B |
| Net income, last twelve months | $4.4B |
| Free cash flow, last twelve months | $5.2B |
| Latest reported quarter | Q/E Jun 2026 (of 24 quarters in the data pack) |
| Six-year price return vs S&P 500 | +111.59% vs +118.28% |
| Worst peak-to-trough fall | -42.2% (2025-06-06 to 2026-04-10) |
What we could not verify
- Gross profit / gross margin: not tagged as a standalone line in this company's EDGAR company facts (common for banks, payment networks and some healthcare payers) — shown as UNVERIFIED-absent; the page charts revenue and net income instead.
- TTM GAAP diluted EPS could not be summed from company facts because at least one of the last four quarters (typically Q4) has no standalone tagged EPS; trailing P/E is therefore taken from the labelled secondary source in valuation_label.md.
- Own-history P/E (5-year median): not computed in the Phase 1 batch — UNVERIFIED
- PEG ratio: shown as n/a on the statistics page — UNVERIFIED (not available from the secondary source).
- Guidance record (each quarter scored against the guidance the company gave the quarter before) is not yet compiled for this company — it is a Phase 2 layer. The earnings strip below therefore uses reported EPS versus a year earlier, which is fully sourced from filings.
The IT factor — the most exciting thing the market is overlooking — is not assessed on an X-Ray page. It belongs to the Deep Dive (Phase 2), where it gets the evidence standard it needs. Leadership-era scoring (the six years split by chief executive) is likewise a Phase 2 layer; this page names the current chief executive only, from a sourced profile.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR submissions — Filing index; company legal name.
https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000008670.json - SEC EDGAR company facts — Quarterly financial spine: revenue, gross profit, net income, GAAP diluted EPS, operating cash flow, PP&E capex, buybacks, dividends, diluted shares.
https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0000008670.json - Nasdaq official daily history — Daily closes for the company; SPY (assetclass=etf) saved as raw/nasdaq_spy_raw.json over identical dates.
https://api.nasdaq.com/api/quote/ADP/historical?assetclass=stocks - Valuation multiples and peer figures — stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026; see valuation_label.md in the data pack.
Conventions: earliest-filed value per period, as first reported; cash-flow years-to-date differenced quarter by quarter; EPS never differenced; free cash flow = operating cash flow minus plant-and-equipment spending. This page is a dated snapshot — updates are new versions, never silent edits.