Benefitfocus Inc's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Benefitfocus Inc (BNFT) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Benefitfocus Inc vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 249M vs 744,240M combined for tracked competitors (0.0% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is decelerating (-9.8% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs decelerating (-25.2%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: Benefitfocus Inc generated -9.4% revenue growth year over year in Q3 2022, vs 8.5% for its tracked competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its -12.4% net margin compares with 5.1% for the peer group.
- Peer revenue share: Benefitfocus Inc accounted for 0.0% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, down from 0.1% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $0.17M compares with $0.42M for the peer group (0.4x).
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
BNFT Sales vs. its Competitors, Q3 2022
Benefitfocus Inc reported revenue contraction of 9.41 % year on year in Q3 2022, below its competitors' combined revenue growth of 8.52 %.
With a net margin of -12.43 %, Benefitfocus Inc reported lower profitability than its competitors (5.05 %).
Benefitfocus Inc generated 0.04 % of the combined sales of its peer group, down from 0.05 % a year earlier.
Benefitfocus Inc vs. its Competitors, Q3 2022
Revenue growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in an SEC filing; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across Benefitfocus Inc and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| High-Confidence Competitors (1) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Similar Growth & Profitability (7) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across Benefitfocus Inc's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Software & Programming industry grew revenue 16.0% year over year, combined, vs -9.4% for Benefitfocus Inc. Benefitfocus Inc's share of combined industry revenue moved from 0.02% to 0.02%, a gain of 0.00 percentage points.
Benefitfocus Inc's Competitor Quality Breadth
Share of each group, trailing 12 months: profitable (net margin > 0), expanding (revenue growth > 0), growing faster than the industry's own median, and financially distressed (Piotroski F-Score of 2 or below).
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | No | No | No | No |
| Competitors combined (36) | ||||
| High-Confidence Competitors (2) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 12.50 % (1 of 8) | 25.00 % (2 of 8) | 0.00 % (0 of 8) | 25.00 % (2 of 8) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
BNFT Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
BNFT Stock Performance relative to High-Confidence Competitors
BNFT Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sapiens International Corp N V | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | Paycor Hcm Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 3 | Mckesson Corporation | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 4 | Employers Holdings Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 5 | Palantir Technologies Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Benefitfocus Inc's best-performing tracked competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Benefitfocus Inc's Comment on Competition and Industry Peers
ERP software companies, including Oracle (PeopleSoft), Infor (Lawson) and Workday each offering a cloud-based benefits administration software solution;
HR outsourcing companies, such as Towers Watson;
payroll service providers, such as ADP who expanded their core payroll services to include some form of cloud-based benefits administration services; and
various niche software vendors.
Competitors in our carrier segment include:
insurance carriers that have invested in internally developed benefit management solutions;
member services companies, including those providing web-based subscriber enrollment and claims adjudication services, such as Trizetto (acquired by Cognizant) and DST Health Solutions; and
various niche software vendors.
We believe that competition for benefits software and services is based primarily on the following factors:
capability for customization through configuration, integration, security, scalability, and reliability of applications;
competitive and understandable pricing;
breadth and depth of application functionality;
size of customer base and level of user adoption;
extensive data exchange network;
cloud-based delivery model;
dynamic communication capabilities with contextual media, animation, and acknowledgement tools;
ability to integrate with legacy enterprise infrastructures and third-party applications;
domain expertise in benefits and healthcare consumerism;
extensive base of rules and event-driven benefit eligibility and enrollment;
accessible on any browser or mobile device;
modern and adaptive technology platform;
access to third-party apps;
clearly defined implementation timeline;
customer-branding and styling; and
ability to innovate and respond to customer and legislative needs rapidly.
We believe that we compete effectively based upon all of these criteria, and that we are likely to continue to retain a high percentage of our customers from year to year. Nonetheless, we believe that the increasing acceptance of automated solutions in the healthcare marketplace and the adoption of more sophisticated technology and continuing legislative reform will result in increased competition, including potentially from large software companies with greater resources than ours. Other companies might develop superior or more economical service offerings that our customers could find more attractive than our offerings. Moreover, the regulatory landscape might shift in a direction that is more strategically advantageous to competitors.
Publicly Traded Peers of Benefitfocus Inc
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | 359.93 | 249.11 |
| Palantir Technologies Inc | 481,578.75 | 6,156.87 |
| Oracle Corporation | 397,830.00 | 73,266.00 |
| Accenture Plc | 107,402.58 | 73,100.60 |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | 105,583.94 | 21,947.40 |
| Mckesson Corporation | 102,069.77 | 410,983.00 |
| SUBTOTAL | 1,684,132.13 | 750,623.41 |
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Sources: Benefitfocus Inc's official press releases and regulatory filings; CSIMarket.com's market research; and the financial filings and press releases of the other companies cited.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Benefitfocus Inc versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Benefitfocus Inc's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from SEC filings and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Alight Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| DST Health Solutions | Named by the company | 85% |
Filing basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Benefitfocus Inc's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: relationships are extracted from SEC filings (named-competitor disclosures) and corroborating sources. Named by the company = explicitly disclosed as a competitor; Inferred = derived from corroborating signals. Confidence reflects evidence strength.
Benefitfocus Inc's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| Palantir Technologies Inc | Government Operating 51.15 % |
| Oracle Corporation | Cloud and Software Business 83.96 % |
| Accenture Plc | Americas 49.30 % |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | Employer Services 67.96 % |
| Mckesson Corporation | North American Pharmaceutical 83.45 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Benefitfocus Inc's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | 360 | 171,797 | -12,705 |
| Palantir Technologies Inc | 481,579 | 1,390,126 | 684,290 |
| Oracle Corporation | 397,830 | 519,617 | 134,184 |
| Accenture Plc | 107,403 | 93,839 | 10,006 |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | 105,584 | 378,403 | 76,095 |
| Mckesson Corporation | 102,070 | 8,058,490 | 103,922 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 1,683,772 | 422,131 | 35,909 |
Benefitfocus Inc's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent filing. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Oracle Corporation | Americas 63.46 % |
| Aon Plc | Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Other Than United Kingdom and Ireland 16.91 % |
| Workday Inc | United States 74.47 % |
| Cerner Corporation | Domestic 88.02 % |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation | North America 74.59 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
Benefitfocus Inc's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Software & Programming industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (343 companies).| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 50.35 % | 64.28 % (avg) | -13.9 pp |
| Operating Margin | -4.49 % | industry median | +22.2 pp |
| EBITDA Margin | -1.19 % | 2.53 % (avg) | -3.7 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 4.19 % | 4.79 % (avg) | -0.6 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
Benefitfocus Inc's Valuation vs Competitive Position
Valuation multiples vs the Software & Programming industry average (343 companies, excluding loss-making/negative-equity outliers), alongside returns on capital for context on whether a premium or discount lines up with measurably stronger or weaker returns.| Metric | Company | Industry Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | - | 39.5x | - |
| EV / EBITDA | - | 21.7x | - |
| P/B | -2.5x | 5.4x | -7.9x |
| Return on Equity | 19.84 % | industry aggregate | 3.91 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | -13.09 % | -0.26 % (avg) | -12.83 % |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. A valuation premium or discount is not, by itself, a judgment of over- or under-valuation. Compare it against the return and growth context shown elsewhere on this page.
Benefitfocus Inc's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in SEC filings.| Metric | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | 34.73 % | 26.03 % | 10.03 % | 0.77 % | 14.29 % | -9.32 % | -1.88 % |
| Operating Margin | -29.31 % | -13.79 % | -5.27 % | -15.34 % | -8.29 % | -1.11 % | -2.17 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | -56.19 % | 1,544.50 % | -27.15 % | -39.84 % | -10.23 % | -1.24 % | -3.28 % |
| P/E | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
Benefitfocus Inc's Strategic Group Map
Every company in Benefitfocus Inc's industry and named-competitor list, plotted by trailing 12-month revenue growth and operating margin. Benefitfocus Inc is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC (the Similar Growth & Profitability group above) are labeled.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
Benefitfocus Inc's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Barriers to Entry | Moderate, in line with the industry | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 4.19 % vs industry average 4.79 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
| Supplier Power | Not covered on this page | See Benefitfocus Inc's dedicated suppliers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Buyer Power | Not covered on this page | See Benefitfocus Inc's dedicated customers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Threat of Substitutes | - | No systematic data source for cross-product substitution exists in this system; not estimated |
Note: this is a partial, data-grounded application of the framework, not a complete strategic assessment. Rivalry and barriers-to-entry readings are mechanical translations of the HHI and capital-intensity figures shown elsewhere on this page, not independent judgments.
Benefitfocus Inc's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
A CSIMarket composite, not a standard field: each axis is an equal-weighted average of three factors already shown elsewhere on this page (industry growth, industry profitability and rivalry for attractiveness; relative market share, profitability and growth vs industry for strength). Disclosed as a designed methodology, not a precision measurement.
Benefitfocus Inc falls in the Low attractiveness / Low strength cell: Harvest / Divest.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Benefitfocus Inc's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Operating margin 22.2 points above the industry median.
Weaknesses
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is decelerating (-9.8% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
Opportunities
- Industry revenue growing at a healthy 11.6% median pace.
Threats
- Tracked peer group's revenue run-rate is broadly decelerating (-25.2% annualized).
Methodology: mechanical, rule-based SWOT. Each bullet reuses a figure already sourced and cited elsewhere on this page; nothing here is generated narrative or independent analyst judgment.
Benefitfocus Inc's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | 0.50 | 1.54 | - |
| Palantir Technologies Inc | 1.40 | 6.94 | - |
| Oracle Corporation | 0.72 | 1.12 | 2.83 |
| Accenture Plc | 0.51 | 1.38 | 0.16 |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | 0.07 | 1.05 | 1.08 |
| Mckesson Corporation | 0.07 | 0.88 | - |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Benefitfocus Inc's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | Q3 2022 | -9.4 % | - |
| Palantir Technologies Inc | Q2 2026 | +93.0 % | +224.4 % |
| Oracle Corporation | Q3 2026 | +24.0 % | +62.6 % |
| Accenture Plc | Q2 2026 | +5.6 % | +6.3 % |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | Q2 2026 | +6.8 % | +7.5 % |
| Mckesson Corporation | Q2 2026 | +7.7 % | +24.2 % |
| PEERS TOTAL | +9.3 % | +28.8 % |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Benefitfocus Inc's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | Q3 2022 | -4.4 % | -25.8 % |
| Palantir Technologies Inc | Q2 2026 | +54.6 % | +90.6 % |
| Oracle Corporation | Q3 2026 | - | +235.2 % |
| Accenture Plc | Q2 2026 | +5.7 % | +10.1 % |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | Q2 2026 | +2,340.2 % | +39.3 % |
| Mckesson Corporation | Q2 2026 | +7.6 % | -19.6 % |
Benefitfocus Inc's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | - | - | - |
| Palantir Technologies Inc | 31.17% | 34.61% | 37.17% |
| Oracle Corporation | 7.73% | 9.84% | 44.45% |
| Accenture Plc | 11.69% | 18.04% | 24.02% |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | 7.50% | 33.58% | 70.78% |
| Mckesson Corporation | 6.43% | 35.05% | - |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Benefitfocus Inc's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Benefitfocus Inc | - | 1.44 |
| Palantir Technologies Inc | 160.24 | 78.22 |
| Oracle Corporation | 20.79 | 5.43 |
| Accenture Plc | 13.95 | 1.47 |
| Automatic Data Processing Inc | 23.97 | 4.81 |
| Mckesson Corporation | 23.01 | 0.25 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 26.39 | 2.24 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.