Financial Contrast: Dayforce (NYSE:DAY) vs. GitLab (NASDAQ:GTLB)

GitLab (NASDAQ:GTLB) and Dayforce (NYSE:DAY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

GitLab has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dayforce has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.0% of GitLab shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of GitLab shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Dayforce shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares GitLab and Dayforce’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GitLab	-0.55%	-2.71%	-1.63%
Dayforce	-7.91%	6.54%	1.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for GitLab and Dayforce, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GitLab	1	8	16	2	2.70
Dayforce	2	14	1	1	2.06

GitLab currently has a consensus target price of $57.87, suggesting a potential upside of 42.64%. Dayforce has a consensus target price of $70.36, suggesting a potential upside of 1.86%. Given GitLab’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe GitLab is more favorable than Dayforce.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares GitLab and Dayforce”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GitLab	$759.25 million	8.91	-$6.33 million	($0.04)	-1,014.25
Dayforce	$1.76 billion	6.28	$18.10 million	($0.94)	-73.48

Dayforce has higher revenue and earnings than GitLab. GitLab is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dayforce, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

GitLab beats Dayforce on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GitLab

GitLab Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops software for the software development lifecycle in the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It offers GitLab, a DevOps platform, which is a single application that leads to faster cycle time and allows visibility throughout and control over various stages of the DevOps lifecycle. The company helps organizations to plan, build, secure, and deploy software to drive business outcomes. It also provides related training and professional services. The company was formerly known as GitLab B.V. and changed its name to GitLab Inc. in July 2015. GitLab Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Dayforce

Dayforce Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a human capital management (HCM) software company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers Dayforce, a cloud HCM platform that provides human resources, payroll and tax, workforce management, wallet, benefits, and talent intelligence functionalities; and Powerpay, a cloud HR and payroll solution for the small business market. The company also provides payroll and payroll-related services; and implementation and professional services. It sells its solutions through direct sales force and third-party channels. The company was formerly known as Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. and changed its name to Dayforce Inc. in February 2024. Dayforce Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.