In the fast-paced theater of Wall Street, few acts are as definitive as the final closing bell for a publicly traded company. For Dayforce Inc. (formerly Ceridian), that curtain has officially fallen. As of February 4, 2026, the ticker symbol DAY has been retired from the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange, marking the conclusion of its journey as a public entity and the beginning of a new chapter under the stewardship of software investment giant Thoma Bravo. The completion of this $12.3 billion all-cash acquisition is not merely a transactional footnote; it is a significant event in the Human Capital Management (HCM) sector that warrants a comprehensive post-mortem analysis. For investors who held the stock, the story ends with a definitive payout of $70.00 per share. However, for the broader market, the implications of this deal—rooted in artificial intelligence validation and private equity valuations—are just beginning to unfold.
To understand the magnitude of this exit, one must look at the technical footprint the stock left in its final days of trading. The data provides a fascinating case study in how equity behaves during the consummation of a major acquisition. leading up to the delisting, Dayforce maintained a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 63.92. In a typical trading environment, an RSI approaching 70 suggests an asset is becoming overbought. However, in an arbitrage scenario—where a buyout price is fixed—this high RSI represents the market's ironclad confidence that the deal would close without regulatory hiccups. The stock’s final Analysis Score of 78 and a recent price change of 1.36% reflect the final narrowing of the spread between the market price and the $70 takeover offer. Essentially, the technical indicators ceased to measure market sentiment regarding future earnings and instead measured the certainty of the transaction. The stock didn't just drift into the sunset; it held a rigid, high-value formation right until the moment trading was halted.
The context of this acquisition cannot be overstated. Thoma Bravo, a firm renowned for its aggressive and strategic plays in the software space, did not spend over $12 billion simply to acquire a payroll processor. They acquired a platform positioned at the bleeding edge of the AI-driven HR technology revolution. Just days after the acquisition closed, on February 10, 2026, it was revealed that Dayforce achieved ISO 42001 certification and NIST AI RMF attestation. This is a critical detail that likely drove the premium valuation. In an era where "AI" is often thrown around as a buzzword, achieving recognized international standards for trustworthy artificial intelligence validates the underlying technology. It suggests that Thoma Bravo sees Dayforce not just as a cash-flow generator, but as a foundational asset in the next generation of automated, intelligent workforce management.
From a fundamental perspective, the company’s performance leading up to the sale justified the interest, though it also highlighted the friction of public markets. In its final reported quarter (Q3 2025), Dayforce delivered revenue of $481.6M, a 9.45% increase year-over-year. While respectable, this single-digit to low-double-digit growth can often be punished by public market investors who demand exponential scalability. This creates the classic arbitrage opportunity for private equity: take a solid company with steady growth and a high-quality product private, remove the quarterly earnings pressure, and accelerate high-cost/high-reward initiatives—in this case, AI integration. The pre-deal metrics, including a negative P/E ratio, painted a picture of a company investing heavily in growth at the expense of current profitability, a narrative that is often better nurtured in a private environment.
The transaction also triggered a flurry of activity among institutional and insider players before the door closed. We observed significant pre-close maneuvering, such as Versor Investments increasing their stake by over 1,400% to capture the arbitrage spread. Conversely, insiders, including the COO, executed sales near the $70 strike price in late 2025. This behavior is textbook for a finalized deal: institutions pile in to capture the final few percentage points of safe yield (the difference between the trading price and the buyout price), while insiders liquidate to diversify their holdings before their equity converts to cash. The removal of Dayforce from the S&P 500 Growth index on February 8, 2026, was the final administrative step in this transition, forcing index funds to reallocate capital elsewhere in the sector.
So, what is the "investment" perspective on a stock that no longer trades? The value lies in understanding the sector rotation and valuation benchmarks established by this deal. The $70 per share cash payout has released billions of dollars of liquidity back into the portfolios of former Dayforce shareholders. The burning question for these investors is: where does this capital go next? The HCM sector remains vibrant, and the removal of a major player like Dayforce increases the "scarcity value" of remaining public competitors. Investors may look to peers like ADP, Paycom, or Workday, asking if they too are undervalued relative to the premiums private equity is willing to pay. If Thoma Bravo believes the sector is ripe for an AI transformation worth paying billions for, it validates the long-term thesis for the entire industry.
However, the transition from public to private is not without its retrospective risks and lessons. The deal highlights the disconnect that often exists between public market valuations and private market assessments. For a long time, Dayforce traded with a beta of 1.16, indicating it was slightly more volatile than the broader market. Investors who held through the volatility were rewarded with the acquisition premium, but those who sold early on fears of profitability (due to the negative P/E) missed the windfall. This serves as a reminder that in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) world, strategic value often trumps short-term accounting metrics. The "Sell" rating from Weiss Ratings in late December 2025, contrasted against the consummated deal at $70 in February 2026, perfectly illustrates the limitations of algorithmic rating systems in the face of M&A realities.
Furthermore, the "privatization" of Dayforce brings up an important discussion about market access. As companies with the most promising AI technologies are snapped up by private equity, retail investors are increasingly losing access to high-growth assets. Dayforce's new mandate—to accelerate growth without the scrutiny of public shareholders—means the potential upside of their ISO-certified AI tools will now accrue solely to Thoma Bravo and its limited partners. For the public investor, the lesson is to identify companies with similar characteristics: strong recurring revenue, sticky customer bases, and under-appreciated technological assets that make them prime targets for similar buyouts.
Looking at the risks that were on the table, the primary concern for arbitrage investors was regulatory approval. The deal was announced in August 2025 and approved in November, but the gap until the February 2026 close represented a period of "deal risk." In this case, the risk did not materialize, and the 1.36% recent price change was essentially the market breathing a sigh of relief as the funds were cleared for transfer. Now, the risks shift entirely to the operational side for Thoma Bravo. They must manage the integration of Dayforce’s culture into their portfolio and justify the leverage used to buy the company. But for the former shareholder, these are no longer concerns.
In conclusion, the delisting of Dayforce is a bittersweet moment for the public markets. It removes a high-quality asset from the board but provides a definitive, profitable conclusion for shareholders. The $70.00 cash settlement represents a victory for those who recognized the company's intrinsic value. Moving forward, investors should view this transaction as a signal flare. It highlights the immense appetite for AI-integrated enterprise software and suggests that the consolidation wave in the HCM sector is far from over. While you can no longer buy shares of Dayforce, the capital released from this sale should be deployed with the same thesis in mind: look for the technology leaders that the private equity giants are eyeing next. The ticker DAY has gone dark, but the trends it represented are burning brighter than ever.