Can Workday Stock Get Back To Where It Was?
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Workday (WDAY) shares peaked in February 2024, and the close on October 30, 2026 left the stock more than a third below that level. It is natural to keep measuring the shares against that old price, treating the peak as where Workday belongs and today’s price as the exception. How big a climb would it take to get back there?
Workday Stock Needs A 55% Gain To Get Back
Workday stock currently trades 35.6% below its February 2024 high, meaning the shares need a 55.3% gain from today’s price to reclaim that level. Even if the climb took three years, it would require an annual return of 15.8%. That is the bar you set for the stock when you wait for the old high.
Has Workday Stock Ever Gained 55% In Three Years?
Yes. Over the last ten years, the stock gained 55.3% or more in 34.6% of all rolling three-year periods measured from every single trading day. That climb fits within Workday’s own record, but the shares fell short of it in most of those stretches.
What Has Waiting Cost Workday Holders?
The wait has already lasted 2.7 years. During that span, Workday stock is down 35.6% before dividends, while the S&P 500 is up 49.5%, also before dividends. A holder waiting out the decline has absorbed the drop in Workday’s price and missed the market’s gain over the same years.
Is Workday The Same Business It Was Then?
Workday operates as a larger business today than it did at its high in February 2024.
| Workday | At the high, February 2024 | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Share price | $307.21 | $197.82 |
| Business figures: twelve months ended | 2024-01-31 | 2026-07-31 |
| Revenue, twelve months | $7.26 billion | $10.2 billion |
| Operating margin | 2.5% | 12.0% |
| Net income, twelve months | $1.38 billion | $1.25 billion |
Share prices are split-adjusted closes on February 26, 2024 and October 30, 2026. Business figures are as reported, for the twelve months to the latest fiscal quarter in our data on or before each date. The February 2024 column covers the year to January 2024, which Workday filed on March 8, 2024, after the high.
Workday runs a platform for HR, finance, and IT, with subscription services bringing in 92.5% of its revenue in fiscal 2026. Revenue over the twelve months to July 2026 is up 39.9% from the twelve months to January 2024.
Profit from running the business grew faster than sales, and the operating margin climbed from 2.5% to 12.0% over the same span. Net income is a little lower than it was then. Both totals include tax benefits, about $1.05 billion in the quarter to January 2024 and $305 million in the quarter to July 2026.
Workday is a bigger company today and maintains a wider operating margin, yet its stock is lower. The question worth asking about Workday is not when its stock gets back to that price, but whether 4.8 times its sales over the past twelve months, against 3.2 for the S&P 500, is a fair price for the business it is today. That price follows an August 13, 2026 Reuters report that Silver Lake was in talks to buy Workday, which lifted the shares 17.8% that day.
How To Act On WDAY?
Now you know Workday better. Our purpose is to inform you so you can decide for yourself, and acting on one stock, in either direction, carries its own risk.
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