# Ziff Davis (ZD.US)

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

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:33:20.845Z. Financial observations: FY1998–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

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

Share price: $58.44 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $98.62 per share, central $105.87 per share, high $115.52 per share. Buy at or below the central value $105.87 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:33:20.845Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 39.4% at the stated quote. About 39.4% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 3 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 3

- Years with a net loss: 0

- Operating margin variation: 0.37×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.28×

- FY2017: 0.22×

- FY2018: 0.20×

- FY2019: 0.20×

- FY2020: 0.12×

- FY2021: 0.12×

- FY2022: 0.14×

- FY2023: 0.10×

- FY2024: 0.08×

- FY2025: 0.14×

### moat: fail

- Recent gross margin fell 14.6pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 26.1%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 11.9%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 14.6 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 84.6%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 70.0%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 7.6%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 12.1%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 39.0%

- FY2017: 36.1%

- FY2018: 38.7%

- FY2019: 27.7%

- FY2020: 7.5%

- FY2021: 24.5%

- FY2022: 22.0%

- FY2023: 14.8%

- FY2024: 11.9%

- FY2025: 30.8%

### economics: fail

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- working capital as a share of revenue rose more than 10pp and ends positive

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 1.86×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $1.3B

- Net income, five-year total: $712M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 3.6 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 24.6 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 28.9%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 1.29×

- FY2022: 3.00×

- FY2023: 4.09×

- FY2024: 2.67×

- FY2025: 3.31×

### 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: 38.7% vs 14.8%

- Per-share earnings: 2.49 to 1.15 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- acquisition spending 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: -2.9%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -2.7%

- Market cap gain: -$2.5B

- Cumulative retained earnings: $677M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -2.9%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -2.7%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: -9.2%

- Per-share value change: -$1.34

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $2.49

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $1.15

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.41

- Average buyback yield: 3.9%

- Buyback history: 10 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $2.5B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $1.5B

- ROIC, first three-year median: 38.7%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 14.8%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $2.76

- FY2017: $2.49

- FY2018: $2.29

- FY2019: $4.46

- FY2020: $3.20

- FY2021: $10.38

- FY2022: $1.36

- FY2023: $0.89

- FY2024: $1.42

- FY2025: $1.15

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -9.8%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.98×

- Restructuring years, last five: 1

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 11.0%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 8.60×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 1.11×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -6.3%

- FY2017: -5.1%

- FY2018: -10.6%

- FY2019: -5.5%

- FY2020: -9.0%

- FY2021: -0.5%

- FY2022: -7.7%

- FY2023: -8.0%

- FY2024: -8.8%

- FY2025: -9.8%

## Holders

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

## Price story

Down 54% since Oct 2021 · "Earnings Miss: Ziff Davis, Inc. Missed EPS And Analysts Are Revising Their Forecasts" (finance.yahoo.com, Nov 2025) · sales +3.5%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:55.159Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to shrink 19.7% a year for ten years

- 2025-08-07: Earnings call transcript: Ziff Davis Q2 2025 earnings beat forecasts, stock surges ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-ziff-davis-q2-2025-earnings-beat-forecasts-stock-surges-93CH-4177858))

- 2025-11-09: Earnings Miss: Ziff Davis, Inc. Missed EPS And Analysts Are Revising Their Forecasts ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/earnings-miss-ziff-davis-inc-145905008.html))

- 2026-03-17: Ziff Davis Stock Soars After Selling This Business Unit For $1.2 Billion ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/m/c2cd6e80-5902-323a-8bc8-2775680f21cd/ziff-davis-stock-soars-after.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +3.5%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2016: $874M 

- FY2017: $1.1B 

- FY2018: $1.2B 

- FY2019: $1.4B 

- FY2020: $1.2B 

- FY2021: $1.4B 

- FY2022: $1.4B 

- FY2023: $1.4B 

- FY2024: $1.4B 

- FY2025: $1.5B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 70%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2016: 83.2% 

- FY2017: 84.6% 

- FY2018: 83.3% 

- FY2019: 82.7% 

- FY2020: 84.6% 

- FY2021: 86.7% 

- FY2022: 86.7% 

- FY2023: 86.4% 

- FY2024: 85.7% 

- FY2025: 70.0% 

## Owner memo

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

### How it makes money

Operates in advertising agencies; annual sales are USD 1.5 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: revenue 1451268000; grossProfit 1016099000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); ZD.US: Ziff Davis, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media and internet company in the United States and internationally. It offers online resources for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news, buying guides, and research papers under the PCMag and CNET brands; Mashable for publishing technology and culture content; Spiceworks provides digital content of IT products and services; RetailMeNot, a savings destination platform; VoucherCodes; Offers.com, a coupon and deals website; and event based properties, includes BlackFriday.com, TheBlackFriday.com, BestBlackFriday.com, and DealsofAmerica.com. It also offers gaming and entertainment platforms under the IGN Entertainment and Humble Bundle brands; and information on internet connectivity under the Speedtest, Ookla, Ekahau, Downdetector, and RootMetrics brands. The company also offers digital content and information services for health and wellness consumers under the Everyday Health, DailyOM, Lose It!, Castle Connolly, and Migraine Again brands; pregnancy and parenting content under the BabyCenter, Mom 2.0, Emma's Diary, Medpage Today, and What to Expect brands. In addition, it offers PRIME Education, a medical education program for healthcare professionals; and Health eCareers, a digital portal for healthcare professionals. Further, it provides endpoint and email security, security awareness training, secure backup and file sharing, and virtual private network solutions under the IPVanish, VIPRE, Livedrive, Inspired eLearning, and SugarSync brands; and email marketing and delivery solutions, search engine optimization tools, and voice and text communication services under the Campaigner, iContact, SMTP, Kickbox, Full Contact, MOZ Pro, MOZ Local, Stat Analytics, eVoice, and Line2 brands. The company was formerly known as j2 Global, Inc. and changed its name to Ziff Davis, Inc. in October 2021. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 70% to 86.4% during 2023–25; it earns 26.1% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 86.4%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 85.7%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 70%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.3900592021624252],[2017,0.360903391483157],[2018,0.3871490133216799],[2019,0.27654516165735465],[2020,0.07548799693753169],[2021,0.24474716479993447],[2022,0.219553343429953],[2023,0.14771826008870242],[2024,0.1192453780454536],[2025,0.30795189761677755]]; median 0.26064616322864453. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Can it raise prices

Kept about a 87% gross margin through 2022 cost inflation.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); Gross margin observations: [[2021,0.8672618904767484],[2022,0.8673282544822167],[2023,0.8638957558055993]]; range within 2 percentage points.

### Where the cash goes

Reinvests 42.9% of cash earnings; paid dividends in 6 of 10 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 29067000; cash acquisitions 580691000; owner earnings 245463000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 2.3656966630408656.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 41839000; cash acquisitions 174951000; owner earnings 259627000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.6738551845532245.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 57048000; cash acquisitions 312430000; owner earnings 258813000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 1.2071650187587177.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 70634000; cash acquisitions 415343000; owner earnings 380204000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 1.0924214369128151.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 95670000; cash acquisitions 482227000; owner earnings 283735000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 1.6995682591150192.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 113818000; cash acquisitions 141146000; owner earnings 641199000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.22012822852187855.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 106154000; cash acquisitions 104094000; owner earnings 191003000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.5449862044051664.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 108729000; cash acquisitions 9492000; owner earnings 169740000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.055920820077766.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 106635000; cash acquisitions 217570000; owner earnings 168328000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 1.2925360011406302.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 119198000; cash acquisitions 67340000; owner earnings 156847000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.429335594560304.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Dividend observations: [[2016,65835000],[2017,73469000],[2018,81679000],[2019,43533000],[2020,1619000],[2021,9232000000],[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/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: cash repurchases 173792000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 3.7% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); ZD.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 3.6799999999999997 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-15.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits shrink 19.7% yearly over ten years; actual growth was 0.1%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate -0.283342228217523. Price 58.44; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share 3.762993182537059 → FY2025 3.8163666939393477. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

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

- 2016-10: $61.85 per share

- 2016-11: $63.90 per share

- 2016-12: $71.10 per share

- 2017-01: $72.85 per share

- 2017-02: $70.77 per share

- 2017-03: $72.94 per share

- 2017-04: $78.44 per share

- 2017-05: $73.55 per share

- 2017-06: $73.96 per share

- 2017-07: $73.56 per share

- 2017-08: $65.44 per share

- 2017-09: $64.22 per share

- 2017-10: $64.44 per share

- 2017-11: $65.59 per share

- 2017-12: $65.22 per share

- 2018-01: $69.53 per share

- 2018-02: $64.34 per share

- 2018-03: $68.60 per share

- 2018-04: $69.00 per share

- 2018-05: $73.40 per share

- 2018-06: $75.28 per share

- 2018-07: $73.75 per share

- 2018-08: $71.77 per share

- 2018-09: $72.02 per share

- 2018-10: $63.31 per share

- 2018-11: $64.16 per share

- 2018-12: $60.31 per share

- 2019-01: $65.33 per share

- 2019-02: $73.89 per share

- 2019-03: $75.27 per share

- 2019-04: $76.16 per share

- 2019-05: $73.27 per share

- 2019-06: $77.27 per share

- 2019-07: $77.44 per share

- 2019-08: $73.54 per share

- 2019-09: $78.94 per share

- 2019-10: $82.54 per share

- 2019-11: $84.33 per share

- 2019-12: $81.46 per share

- 2020-01: $83.32 per share

- 2020-02: $75.91 per share

- 2020-03: $65.06 per share

- 2020-04: $70.09 per share

- 2020-05: $68.06 per share

- 2020-06: $54.94 per share

- 2020-07: $49.30 per share

- 2020-08: $60.84 per share

- 2020-09: $60.17 per share

- 2020-10: $59.00 per share

- 2020-11: $77.89 per share

- 2020-12: $84.91 per share

- 2021-01: $89.22 per share

- 2021-02: $96.81 per share

- 2021-03: $104.19 per share

- 2021-04: $105.18 per share

- 2021-05: $108.24 per share

- 2021-06: $119.56 per share

- 2021-07: $122.80 per share

- 2021-08: $119.69 per share

- 2021-09: $118.75 per share

- 2021-10: $128.27 per share

- 2021-11: $113.87 per share

- 2021-12: $110.86 per share

- 2022-01: $105.06 per share

- 2022-02: $100.60 per share

- 2022-03: $96.78 per share

- 2022-04: $88.36 per share

- 2022-05: $76.34 per share

- 2022-06: $74.53 per share

- 2022-07: $81.89 per share

- 2022-08: $77.28 per share

- 2022-09: $68.48 per share

- 2022-10: $77.39 per share

- 2022-11: $92.26 per share

- 2022-12: $79.10 per share

- 2023-01: $89.48 per share

- 2023-02: $78.98 per share

- 2023-03: $78.05 per share

- 2023-04: $73.14 per share

- 2023-05: $59.04 per share

- 2023-06: $70.06 per share

- 2023-07: $72.52 per share

- 2023-08: $66.65 per share

- 2023-09: $63.69 per share

- 2023-10: $60.46 per share

- 2023-11: $63.82 per share

- 2023-12: $67.19 per share

- 2024-01: $67.40 per share

- 2024-02: $68.76 per share

- 2024-03: $63.04 per share

- 2024-04: $50.11 per share

- 2024-05: $57.61 per share

- 2024-06: $55.05 per share

- 2024-07: $47.88 per share

- 2024-08: $48.87 per share

- 2024-09: $48.66 per share

- 2024-10: $46.27 per share

- 2024-11: $58.85 per share

- 2024-12: $54.34 per share

- 2025-01: $53.89 per share

- 2025-02: $41.06 per share

- 2025-03: $37.58 per share

- 2025-04: $29.53 per share

- 2025-05: $32.44 per share

- 2025-06: $30.27 per share

- 2025-07: $31.12 per share

- 2025-08: $38.21 per share

- 2025-09: $38.10 per share

- 2025-10: $33.90 per share

- 2025-11: $32.82 per share

- 2025-12: $35.15 per share

- 2026-01: $38.22 per share

- 2026-02: $27.08 per share

- 2026-03: $41.96 per share

- 2026-04: $45.76 per share

- 2026-05: $45.07 per share

- 2026-06: $52.37 per share

- 2026-07: $53.08 per share

- 2026-08: $55.15 per share

- 2026-09: $56.69 per share

- 2026-10: $58.44 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $67.91 per share, central $98.18 per share, high $115.06 per share

- FY2017: low $67.16 per share, central $75.61 per share, high $86.86 per share

- FY2018: low $90.77 per share, central $130.90 per share, high $153.29 per share

- FY2019: low $123.79 per share, central $175.45 per share, high $204.27 per share

- FY2020: low $90.71 per share, central $130.83 per share, high $153.20 per share

- FY2021: low $97.93 per share, central $108.85 per share, high $123.39 per share

- FY2022: low $93.69 per share, central $104.61 per share, high $119.14 per share

- FY2023: low $94.44 per share, central $105.27 per share, high $119.69 per share

- FY2024: low $57.99 per share, central $64.50 per share, high $73.18 per share

- FY2025: low $62.09 per share, central $68.72 per share, high $77.53 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

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084048/000108404826000005/zd-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-24.

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.