(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America double-downgraded payments stock Square Inc. to underperform from buy on concern small and medium businesses like restaurants, retailers and salons will struggle to stay afloat once they’ve spent government Covid-19 crisis funds.“A significant number” of small and medium outfits may struggle to survive, especially if the U.S. economy only partially reopens and firms are limited to 25% to 50% occupancy, analyst Jason Kupferberg wrote in a note.“The extent of SMB churn is hard to quantify, and likely won’t be known for perhaps another 6 months, but we note that 75% of Square’s payment volume comes from merchants with less $500,000 in annual card volumes,” he said.He also flagged Square’s 26% rally so far this year, which compares with a 9% decline for the S&P 500. The stock may have “moved too far and too fast relative to its near-term fundamental prospects,” he said.In the same note, Kupferberg also became the sole bear on payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc., cutting his rating to underperform from neutral due to “extreme stress on employment markets.” ADP is exposed to the current recession not just because of the number of employees on its clients’ payrolls, he said, but also in terms of client retention, new bookings and lower float income.He added that Paychex Inc.’s business update call on Tuesday may be a “negative catalyst” for ADP, as Paychex will probably pre-announce a guidance miss for the quarter ended May 31. Kupferberg rates Paychex underperform too, as 99% of its revenue comes from U.S. small and medium businesses averaging 16 employees.Square pared a decline of as much as 2.5% in early Monday trading, while ADP nearly erased a gain of as much as 2% and Paychex rose as much as 4%. Stocks rose across the board on optimism about an experimental vaccine, and as major economies took further steps toward re-opening and the Fed stressed it has more ammunition to combat a downturn.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

While Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good...

EXLS vs. PAYX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of HR, payroll, benefits, and insurance solutions, is now the first HR solutions provider to give business owners the ability to leverage real-time payments to deliver pay to their employees immediately – a capability that has become increasingly important during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The latest Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch shows a decrease in small business employment as the COVID-19 pandemic caused instability for employers nationwide. The jobs index declined 3.65 percent last month to 94.63, a level consistent with rates seen in 2009 during the financial crisis. Hourly earnings growth rose slightly to 2.78 percent ($0.75) year-over-year. However, one-month annualized weekly hours worked growth dropped sharply, by 8.92 percent in April, resulting in a decline in weekly earnings growth to 1.28 percent from a year ago.

With millions of American businesses working to remain open and pay employees during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many have turned to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan program, created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, for financial relief. While Congress prepares to allocate additional relief funds to the currently depleted program, Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of HR, payroll, benefits, and insurance solutions, today announced it has aligned with online lending providers Biz2Credit, Fundera, and Lendio, to offer businesses in most states the opportunity to more rapidly apply for new loan funding, once available, by beginning the application process now.

Today the Board of Directors of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ‑PAYX) declared a regular quarterly dividend of $.62 per share payable May 28, 2020, 2020 to shareholders of record May 15, 2020.

Paychex, Inc. (Nasdaq:PAYX) will host a conference call at 9:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 to provide an update on the business impact of COVID-19. Participating in this call will be Martin Mucci, President and CEO, and Efrain Rivera, Senior Vice President, CFO, and Treasurer. This call will be simultaneously broadcast over the Internet.

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Coronavirus is probably the 1 concern in investors' minds right now. It should be. On February 27th we published an article with the title Recession is Imminent: We Need A Travel Ban NOW. We predicted that a US recession is imminent and US stocks will go down by at least 20% in the next 3-6 […]

Paychex Inc. said in a Tuesday release that it is seeing "early signs of moderation and stabilization" in its key business metrics despite the "severe" effects of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy. "We believe our strong balance sheet and operational flexibility will allow us to successfully manage through the current situation while protecting our cash flow and liquidity," the company said. It expects that it will have enough cash to support normal business operations, share repurchases, and dividends "for the foreseeable future." Paychex is working with governments to understand the requirements of new programs impacting its clients, per the release. Shares have fallen 26% over the past three months as the S&P 500 has declined 13%.

Paychex, Inc. ("Paychex," "we," "our," or "us") (Nasdaq:PAYX) will provide a business update today in response to the impact from COVID-19 and an update to our outlook for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2020 ("fiscal 2020").

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As the second round of funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) became available on April 27, 62 percent of PPP loan applicants were still waiting for funding or approval, according to new research from Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of human resources, payroll, benefits, and insurance solutions for 670,000 small- and medium-sized businesses.

Paychex CEO Martin Mucci provides an honest assessment on how the U.S. economy may evolve post the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit a lot of small and mid-sized businesses hard. Is the company well-positioned to help its clients through these uncertain times while maintaining solid earnings growth? Paychex has been a solid performer, with an annualized return of 10.7% over the last 10 years and 13% over the past five years through Dec. 31, 2019.

Paychex (PAYX) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.

As business owners across the country focus on getting back to business, 63 percent feel the worst is behind them when it comes to the impact of COVID-19 on their operations, according to new research from Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of human resources, payroll, benefits, and insurance solutions for 670,000 small- and medium-sized businesses. However, 4 in 5 business owners are somewhat or very concerned about a possible second wave of infection.

Small and mid-size businesses are anxiously awaiting the new round of federal relief funding. Martin Mucci, Paychex CEO, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the overall impact of the COVID-19 crisis on small businesses and how his company is helping them to survive.

Paychex, Inc. today announced that the Paychex Charitable Foundation will contribute $1 million to United Way to help address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation will support efforts of nonprofits delivering crucial services during the current crisis as well as build on existing support that Paychex provides to human service organizations through United Way throughout the year.