PANW vs PYPL: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-26.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Technology
$374.74
-5.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
High Quality
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$52.71
+9.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B-
QuantHub Verdict
PYPL has more upside to fair value
(+9.1%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
PANW |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$374.74 |
$52.71 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$355.11 |
$57.50 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-5.2%
|
+9.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$305.4B |
$45.1B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
569.8x
|
6.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
26.6x
|
1.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
64.0x
|
7.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+34.4%
|
+4.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
70.4%
|
45.8%
|
| Operating Margin |
6.1%
|
18.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
1.7%
|
24.4%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
1.06% |
| FCF Yield |
1.56%
|
13.97%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
Palo Alto Networks is a global cybersecurity leader built around next-generation firewalls, the Panorama management platform, and a broad subscription portfolio spanning threat prevention, cloud security, secure access, and security analytics, sold to medium and large enterprises, service providers, and governments through direct and channel distribution. The business quality is genuinely high on…
PayPal operates a global digital-payments platform spanning branded checkout, Venmo, Braintree merchant processing, credit products and fraud-risk infrastructure across approximately 200 markets. Business quality is medium: its two-sided network, trusted brand, broad merchant distribution and risk capabilities remain meaningful assets, but its highest-value branded-checkout franchise is under com…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
PANW |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$266.33 |
$43.12 |
| Zone High |
$301.84 |
$48.88 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|