# People (PPLI.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/PPLI

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:31:17.980Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $40.16 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 6 revenue declines in the last 10 years

- more than 5 revenue declines in ten years

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 6

- Years with a net loss: 3

- Operating margin variation: 2.78×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 0.06×

- FY2018: 0.01×

- FY2019: 0.00×

- FY2020: -0.19×

- FY2021: -0.04×

- FY2022: -0.09×

- FY2023: -0.06×

- FY2024: -0.00×

- FY2025: 0.05×

- LTM to Jun 2026: 0.01×

### moat: fail

- Years with nonpositive invested capital use equity plus debt and leases; positive earnings with no positive capital are shown above 100%.

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 6.4pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: -1.5%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -26.1%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 6.4 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 72.6%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 66.2%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 2

- Capital spending / revenue: 2.2%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 6.0%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 8.3%

- FY2018: 1.1%

- FY2019: 1.8%

- FY2020: -26.1%

- FY2021: -2.9%

- FY2022: -11.4%

- FY2023: -4.1%

- FY2024: -0.1%

- FY2025: 2.6%

- LTM to Jun 2026: 0.3%

### economics: fail

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $157M

- Net income, five-year total: -$951M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.8 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 4.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 12.9%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: $657M

- FY2022: -$871M

- FY2023: $697M

- FY2024: -$334M

- FY2025: $7.4M

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 1.1% vs -0.1%

- Per-share earnings: 0.42 to -1.30 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- acquired goodwill and intangibles (proxy) exceeds half of ten-year net income with low and deteriorating ROIC

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -0.4%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -6.3%

- Market cap gain: -$2.0B

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$933M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -0.4%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -6.3%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$1.72

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $0.42

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$1.30

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.33

- Average buyback yield: 2.5%

- Buyback history: 9 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $3.5B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: -$557M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 1.1%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -0.1%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -$2.31

- FY2017: $0.42

- FY2018: $2.38

- FY2019: $0.22

- FY2020: $2.43

- FY2021: $5.34

- FY2022: -$11.12

- FY2023: $3.08

- FY2024: -$6.49

- FY2025: -$1.30

### accounting: pass

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: -2.3%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.37×

- Restructuring years, last five: 2

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 52.7%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.48×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -6.5%

- FY2017: -12.0%

- FY2018: -1.8%

- FY2019: -5.6%

- FY2020: 1.3%

- FY2021: 3.7%

- FY2022: -10.5%

- FY2023: 0.7%

- FY2024: -9.4%

- FY2025: -2.3%

## Holders

- [Christopher Davis](https://gigainvestors.com/DAV): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

- [Samantha McLemore](https://gigainvestors.com/PTNT): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

- [Mason Hawkins](https://gigainvestors.com/SE): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 74% since Oct 2021 · sales -12.4%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:25.933Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales -12.4%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1800227/000162828026009997/iaci-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-20.

- FY2017: $3.3B 

- FY2018: $2.5B 

- FY2019: $2.5B 

- FY2020: $2.8B 

- FY2021: $3.7B 

- FY2022: $5.2B 

- FY2023: $4.4B 

- FY2024: $3.8B 

- FY2025: $2.4B 

- FY2026: $2.1B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 66.2%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1800227/000162828026009997/iaci-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-20.

- FY2016: 78.0% 

- FY2017: 80.3% 

- FY2018: 80.2% 

- FY2019: 78.2% 

- FY2020: 73.0% 

- FY2021: 65.0% 

- FY2022: 63.1% 

- FY2023: 69.2% 

- FY2024: 72.2% 

- FY2025: 66.2% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in internet content & information; annual sales are USD 2.4 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1800227/000162828026009997/iaci-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-20); FY2025: revenue 2393189000; grossProfit 1583424000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); PPLI.US: People Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media and internet company worldwide. The company publishes original and engaging digital content in the form of articles, illustrations, and videos and images; and magazines related to women and lifestyle under the media platforms and formats, such as People, Entertainment Weekly, People en Español, Allrecipes, Food & Wine, Simply Recipes, Serious Eats, EatingWell, The Spruce Eats, Liquor.com, MyRecipes, Feedfeed, Better Homes & Gardens, The Spruce, REAL SIMPLE, Southern Living, Martha Stewart, Magnolia Journal, InStyle, Byrdie and Brides, Travel + Leisure, Investopedia, Lifewire, The Spruce Pets, Midwest Living, Verywell, and Successful Farming. It also operates websites that offers general search services and information, including Ask.com, a search site with a variety of fresh and contemporary content; Reference.com that offers content across select vertical categories; Consumersearch.com, which offers content designed to simplify the product research process; and Shopping.net, a vertical shopping search site, as well as offers direct-to-consumer downloadable desktop applications. In addition, the company provides Care.com, an online destination for families to connect with caregivers for their children, aging parents, pets, and homes under the Care For Business and HomePay brands; a platform to connect healthcare professionals with job opportunities under the Vivian Health name; The Daily Beast, a website dedicated to news, commentary, culture, and entertainment that publishes original reporting and opinion; and production and producer services for feature films for sale and distribution through theatrical releases and video-on-demand services under the IAC Films name. The company was formerly known as IAC Inc. and changed its name to People Incorporated in June 2026. People Incorporated is headquartered in New York, New York.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 66.2% to 72.2% during 2023–25; it lost 1.5% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 69.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 72.2%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1800227/000162828026009997/iaci-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-20); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 66.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,-2.038343775411423],[2017,0.08295154799667782],[2018,0.011044840441126096],[2019,0.017694363354708108],[2020,-0.26117959093459375],[2021,-0.028552062924871276],[2022,-0.11384904939895739],[2023,-0.040621221641648976],[2024,-0.0008903429087092785],[2025,0.025507201511752616]]; median -0.014721202916790278. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid no dividends in 10 years; bought back USD 315 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 75523000; owner earnings 77891000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 54680000; cash acquisitions 65632000; owner earnings 313866000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.20910834559971453.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 95097000; cash acquisitions 28439000; owner earnings 57484000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.49472896806067773.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 60726000; cash acquisitions 685216000; owner earnings 404662000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 1.693304535637149.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 90210000; cash acquisitions 2699643000; owner earnings 657191000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 4.10785144653533.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 141364000; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 697339000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1800227/000162828026009997/iaci-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-20); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 19201000; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 7398000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); Dividend observations: [[2016,0],[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,0],[2020,0],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1800227/000162828026009997/iaci-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-20); FY2025: cash repurchases 315041000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 3.5% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); PPLI.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 3.4639999999999995 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 1.3 times annual sales.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-20); Closing price 40.16 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 29.886097131510923; price multiple 1.343768636743692. FY2025 cash earnings/share 0.09238607839954044. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $64.44 per share

- 2016-11: $67.36 per share

- 2016-12: $64.79 per share

- 2017-01: $68.81 per share

- 2017-02: $73.94 per share

- 2017-03: $73.72 per share

- 2017-04: $83.01 per share

- 2017-05: $106.34 per share

- 2017-06: $103.24 per share

- 2017-07: $104.63 per share

- 2017-08: $113.51 per share

- 2017-09: $117.58 per share

- 2017-10: $129.05 per share

- 2017-11: $127.27 per share

- 2017-12: $122.28 per share

- 2018-01: $144.97 per share

- 2018-02: $148.91 per share

- 2018-03: $156.38 per share

- 2018-04: $162.14 per share

- 2018-05: $155.14 per share

- 2018-06: $152.49 per share

- 2018-07: $147.25 per share

- 2018-08: $197.20 per share

- 2018-09: $216.72 per share

- 2018-10: $196.59 per share

- 2018-11: $177.96 per share

- 2018-12: $183.04 per share

- 2019-01: $211.28 per share

- 2019-02: $213.05 per share

- 2019-03: $210.11 per share

- 2019-04: $224.84 per share

- 2019-05: $220.85 per share

- 2019-06: $217.53 per share

- 2019-07: $239.05 per share

- 2019-08: $254.64 per share

- 2019-09: $217.97 per share

- 2019-10: $227.25 per share

- 2019-11: $222.70 per share

- 2019-12: $249.11 per share

- 2020-01: $243.59 per share

- 2020-02: $203.94 per share

- 2020-03: $179.23 per share

- 2020-04: $223.48 per share

- 2020-05: $270.37 per share

- 2020-06: $323.40 per share

- 2020-07: $132.42 per share

- 2020-08: $132.99 per share

- 2020-09: $119.78 per share

- 2020-10: $120.72 per share

- 2020-11: $141.99 per share

- 2020-12: $189.35 per share

- 2021-01: $209.95 per share

- 2021-02: $244.83 per share

- 2021-03: $216.31 per share

- 2021-04: $253.47 per share

- 2021-05: $159.47 per share

- 2021-06: $154.17 per share

- 2021-07: $137.29 per share

- 2021-08: $132.05 per share

- 2021-09: $130.29 per share

- 2021-10: $152.37 per share

- 2021-11: $133.65 per share

- 2021-12: $130.71 per share

- 2022-01: $136.54 per share

- 2022-02: $114.76 per share

- 2022-03: $100.28 per share

- 2022-04: $82.88 per share

- 2022-05: $85.30 per share

- 2022-06: $75.97 per share

- 2022-07: $68.50 per share

- 2022-08: $64.27 per share

- 2022-09: $55.38 per share

- 2022-10: $48.68 per share

- 2022-11: $51.89 per share

- 2022-12: $44.40 per share

- 2023-01: $56.50 per share

- 2023-02: $51.94 per share

- 2023-03: $51.60 per share

- 2023-04: $51.77 per share

- 2023-05: $55.84 per share

- 2023-06: $62.80 per share

- 2023-07: $69.60 per share

- 2023-08: $55.33 per share

- 2023-09: $50.39 per share

- 2023-10: $42.55 per share

- 2023-11: $47.83 per share

- 2023-12: $52.38 per share

- 2024-01: $50.21 per share

- 2024-02: $56.80 per share

- 2024-03: $53.34 per share

- 2024-04: $47.56 per share

- 2024-05: $49.79 per share

- 2024-06: $46.85 per share

- 2024-07: $52.81 per share

- 2024-08: $52.78 per share

- 2024-09: $53.82 per share

- 2024-10: $47.95 per share

- 2024-11: $47.33 per share

- 2024-12: $43.14 per share

- 2025-01: $42.33 per share

- 2025-02: $46.22 per share

- 2025-03: $45.94 per share

- 2025-04: $34.94 per share

- 2025-05: $35.96 per share

- 2025-06: $37.34 per share

- 2025-07: $39.30 per share

- 2025-08: $36.62 per share

- 2025-09: $34.07 per share

- 2025-10: $32.22 per share

- 2025-11: $35.07 per share

- 2025-12: $39.10 per share

- 2026-01: $36.95 per share

- 2026-02: $38.32 per share

- 2026-03: $40.03 per share

- 2026-04: $44.56 per share

- 2026-05: $44.89 per share

- 2026-06: $46.16 per share

- 2026-07: $41.57 per share

- 2026-08: $38.28 per share

- 2026-09: $41.96 per share

- 2026-10: $40.16 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

Prior published observations retained from 2026-10-15T06:37:02.593Z where newer inputs omit a numeric field or fiscal period.

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1800227/000162828026009997/iaci-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-20.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.