Is Dayforce still publicly traded on NYSE?

No. Thoma Bravo completed its acquisition of Dayforce on February 4, 2026 for $70.00 per share in cash (about $12.3 billion total), and DAY shares were delisted from both the NYSE and TSX that same day.

Who owns Dayforce now?

Thoma Bravo owns Dayforce after closing its acquisition on February 4, 2026 at $70.00 per share (~$12.3 billion), with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority holding a minority stake in the deal.

Is Dayforce profitable?

Dayforce posted FY2024 net income of $18.1 million on revenue of roughly $1.76 to 1.8 billion, with EBITDA around $313.9 million, indicating thin but positive profitability as of December 31, 2024.

Could AI replace Dayforce's payroll and HR platform?

Unlikely to fully replace it. Dayforce's core value is a multi-jurisdiction payroll tax and compliance engine carrying legal liability that AI models cannot easily assume; its own Co-Pilot AI, announced November 7, 2023, feeds the platform as a feature rather than a substitute.

Did Dayforce hit its $5 billion revenue target?

No. Management's 2024 Investor Day targeted about $5 billion in revenue by 2025, but trailing twelve month revenue was approximately $1.89 billion as of September 30, 2025, well short of that goal.

Who is Dayforce's biggest competitor?

Dayforce competes against enterprise incumbents Workday, ADP, Oracle, and SAP, plus mid-market rival Rippling and peer UKG; it sits as a strong contender below the true enterprise HCM incumbents as of 2025 to 2026.

Job boards and HR platforms · subsidiary of Thoma Bravo · Canada

Ceridian Dayforce

dayforce.com ↗

Payroll and HR software (HCM) platform for mid-size and large employers.

Protection under test

Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026

Something worth protecting exists and is being tested right now.

On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from H2 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: First public update on R&D headcount and product roadmap under Thoma Bravo ownership

The call

Payroll lock-in keeps customers paying, but growth is cooling and new private owner Thoma Bravo now controls whether product investment continues or margins get squeezed.

Ceridian Dayforce sells software that companies use to manage payroll, taxes, and human resources all in one system. Once a customer sets up Dayforce, switching to a competitor like Workday or Rippling is painful and expensive, which keeps customers loyal. However, Dayforce is slowing down (growing at 9.5% instead of 16% a year ago), missed a big financial target in 2025, and now belongs to a private investment firm called Thoma Bravo that typically cuts costs to improve profits. The next year or two will show whether Thoma Bravo invests in new AI features to keep up with Workday and Rippling or squeezes the business for cash, which would determine whether Dayforce stays competitive or falls behind.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. AI adds a Co-Pilot assistant feature on top of Dayforce rather than replacing the payroll tax and compliance engine underneath. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: Workday and Rippling. Workday pushes down into mid-market while Rippling grows faster there, and Dayforce's own customer growth has slowed to 4.4 percent. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Payroll tax compliance is embedded in the system, so ripping it out risks fines and errors, which keeps customers locked in.

What would change this call

Dayforce recurring revenue growth falls below 12% for two straight quarters post-close. Would show accelerating erosion versus Workday, ADP, and Rippling.
Thoma Bravo cuts Dayforce product/engineering headcount within 12 months of the Feb 2026 close. Would show cost-driven margin squeeze overriding AI/product investment.
Live customer count growth stays near or below 4.4% YoY in future disclosures. Would confirm mid-market share loss to Rippling rather than a one-time dip.

Key numbers

Recurring revenue grew 14% YoY in Q3 2025 (2025-09-30)
Customer count grew only 4.4% YoY to 7,025 (2025-09-30)
Thoma Bravo bought company for $70/share, ~$12.3B (2026-02-04)

Named risks

Recurring revenue growth could fall below 12% for two consecutive private quarters under PE ownership. Severity: high
Thoma Bravo cost-cutting phase leading to concentrated product or engineering layoffs. Severity: medium
Credibility damage from missing management's own ~$5 billion 2025 revenue target. Severity: medium
Loss of public earnings visibility now that Dayforce is private, limiting external monitoring. Severity: medium
Competitive AI feature race from Workday, Microsoft Dynamics, and ADP could erode Co-Pilot differentiation. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Workday	contesting	Workday moving down-market into mid-market HCM, overlapping Dayforce's turf as of 2025
Rippling	gaining on	Described as growing fast in mid-market with a broader, more modern surface, 2026
ADP	contesting	Incumbent payroll scale player competing directly in HCM/payroll segment
Oracle	contesting	Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM listed as direct competitor per Workday competitor mapping, 2026
SAP	contesting	SAP SuccessFactors listed as direct enterprise HCM competitor, 2026
Microsoft Dynamics 365	gaining on	Agentic Copilot features rolling out October 2025 to March 2026, pressuring HCM AI differentiation

Questions people ask

Is Dayforce still publicly traded on NYSE?: No. Thoma Bravo completed its acquisition of Dayforce on February 4, 2026 for $70.00 per share in cash (about $12.3 billion total), and DAY shares were delisted from both the NYSE and TSX that same day.
Who owns Dayforce now?: Thoma Bravo owns Dayforce after closing its acquisition on February 4, 2026 at $70.00 per share (~$12.3 billion), with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority holding a minority stake in the deal.
Is Dayforce profitable?: Dayforce posted FY2024 net income of $18.1 million on revenue of roughly $1.76 to 1.8 billion, with EBITDA around $313.9 million, indicating thin but positive profitability as of December 31, 2024.
Could AI replace Dayforce's payroll and HR platform?: Unlikely to fully replace it. Dayforce's core value is a multi-jurisdiction payroll tax and compliance engine carrying legal liability that AI models cannot easily assume; its own Co-Pilot AI, announced November 7, 2023, feeds the platform as a feature rather than a substitute.
Did Dayforce hit its $5 billion revenue target?: No. Management's 2024 Investor Day targeted about $5 billion in revenue by 2025, but trailing twelve month revenue was approximately $1.89 billion as of September 30, 2025, well short of that goal.
Who is Dayforce's biggest competitor?: Dayforce competes against enterprise incumbents Workday, ADP, Oracle, and SAP, plus mid-market rival Rippling and peer UKG; it sits as a strong contender below the true enterprise HCM incumbents as of 2025 to 2026.

Timeline

2026-02-04Thoma Bravo completes $12.3B acquisition at $70/share; DAY delisted from NYSE and TSX
2025-11-12Dayforce stockholders approve Thoma Bravo acquisition
2025-10-29Q3 2025 10-Q filed: revenue $481.6M, up 9.5% YoY
2025-10Dayforce launches Strategic Workforce Planning product
2025-09Dayforce expands Flex Work to contingent workforce management for frontline workers
2025-08-21Thoma Bravo agrees to acquire Dayforce for approximately $12.3 billion
2024-02-01Corporate rebrand from Ceridian HCM Holding to Dayforce Inc; ticker changes CDAY to DAY
2024-01Dayforce acquires Danish learning and development platform Eloomi
2023-11-07Dayforce Co-Pilot AI feature announced at INSIGHTS 2023

Revision history

22 July 2026

First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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