The takeaway
Paylocity Holding Corporation shows a pronounced seasonal pattern over 10 years of data — strongest in August (+10.0%) and softest in February (+0.2%).
Right now
In July, the stock has risen 80% of years, averaging +5.6%, about +3.5 pts better than the S&P 500.
The full picture
Paylocity Holding Corporation's most dependable month has been August, higher in 8 of 10 years; February has been its least reliable, up just 40% of the time.
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Month by month
The stock's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in August (+9.7 pts); it has trailed the market most in November (−4.2 pts).
“vs S&P” is Paylocity Holding Corporation’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating Paylocity Holding Corporation’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, August has closed higher 60% of the time versus 80% across the last 10 years — the pattern is weakening.
Figures are the typical (median) August return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 10(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 10-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
The seasonal story is really one month's story — August. It has closed higher in 8 of 10 Augusts, a concentration the rest of the calendar can't touch.
The strength looks broad-based rather than freakish: its average (+10.0%) and median (+8.3%) sit close together, so no single blow-out year is flattering the figure. That reliability comes with real swings, mind — even August ranges by 13.1% from year to year, so any single year can land far from the average. Better still, that strength is the stock's own and not just a buoyant market — August has outpaced the S&P 500 by +9.7 points on average. Few peers keep such company in August — the typical stock clears it just 52% of the time.
August anchors a run, too: the July-through-September window has been the stock's reliable season. On the other side of the ledger, February is the year's quietest corner, essentially flat on average, and the edge isn't year-round — the stock has trailed the S&P 500 in November, December, and March. Its roughest month on record was a −33.7% March in 2020 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
At its steadiest, August strung together 7 straight positive years. The pattern has softened of late, August's last five years slipping below its longer-run record.
For a stock this dependable in August, the sharper question is the rest of the year — outside its strong stretch, the calendar gives far less to lean on.
Short answers on the stock's best month (August), its worst (February), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a pronounced degree. Since 2016 its best month (August, +10.0%) has run well ahead of its worst (February, +0.2%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
August has been the strongest, averaging +10.0% and closing higher in 8 of 10 years since 2016.
It's the weakest month, but it has still averaged a small gain (+0.2%) — quiet rather than genuinely bad.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade