QNST
QuinStreet, Inc.
QNST has the edge over VZ overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger fundamentals.
VZ
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ has slightly lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
QNST Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
QNST's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
VZ Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Under pressure |
VZ's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
QNST PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 11x | $19.12 | — |
| Current | 12x | $19.12 | — |
| Cheap | 13x | $21.39 | +12% |
| Fair | 42x | $67.83 | +255% |
| Expensive | 103x | $165 | +765% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
QNST has the edge over VZ in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
VZ PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 8.3x | $32.43 | -30% |
| Forward | 9x | $46.55 | — |
| Fair | 11x | $43.63 | -6.3% |
| Current | 12x | $46.55 | — |
| Expensive | 14x | $56.75 | +22% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
VZ's PE is in its fair range at 12x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 9.0x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
QNST Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for QNST, with profitability holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
VZ Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect VZ's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
QNST Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.70 | +5.8% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.61 | +794% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.40 | +1650% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.13 | +$1.14 |
| Q4 2025 | $1.08 | +$1.30 |
| Q3 2025 | $0.18 | +$0.58 |
| Q2 2025 | $0.08 | +$0.65 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.01 | +$1.56 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.22 | +$1.23 |
QNST has the edge over VZ on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
VZ Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.19 | +32% |
| Q3 2026 | $3.93 | -16% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.85 | -10% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.11 | -2.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.06 | -1.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.68 | +103% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.29 | +61% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.20 | +57% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.14 | +51% |
VZ's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $3.93 over the past year, against $5.34 in late 2021.
QNST Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $416.7M | +46% |
| Q2 2026 | $373.9M | +43% |
| Q1 2026 | $346.1M | +28% |
| Q4 2025 | $287.8M | +1.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $285.9M | +2.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $262.1M | +32% |
| Q1 2025 | $269.8M | +60% |
| Q4 2024 | $282.6M | +130% |
QNST has the edge over VZ on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5.6% | +3.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 5.1% | +3.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 3% | +1.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 0.4% | +0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 1.7% | +2.1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 1.5% | +2.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 1.8% | +5 points |
| Q4 2024 | -0.5% | +8.8 points |
QNST's operating margin was 5.6% last quarter, up 3.9 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
VZ Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $34.3B | +1.5% |
| Q2 2026 | $34.3B | -0.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $34.4B | +2.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $36.4B | +2% |
| Q3 2025 | $33.8B | +1.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $34.5B | +5.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $33.5B | +1.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $35.7B | +1.6% |
VZ's revenue has held roughly level: $34.3B last quarter, up 1.5% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 25% | +1.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | -2.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 24% | +0.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -7.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 24% | +6.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 24% | +1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 21% | +19 points |
VZ has the edge over QNST on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
QNST Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $23.1M | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $52.4M | +78% |
| Q1 2026 | $36.4M | +23% |
| Q4 2025 | $20.7M | -46% |
| Q3 2025 | $18.4M | +$32.6M |
| Q2 2025 | $29.3M | +91% |
| Q1 2025 | $29.5M | +917% |
| Q4 2024 | $38.2M | +$43.2M |
QNST has the edge over VZ on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
VZ Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11.5B | +2.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.4B | +16% |
| Q1 2026 | $8B | +2.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $9.1B | -13% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.3B | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $9B | -5.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.8B | +9.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.4B | +20% |
VZ's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $39B over the past year, up 1.5% from the year before.
QNST Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +1.2% | +687K shares |
| 1 year | +0.1% | +81K shares |
| 3 years | +8% | +4.4M shares |
| 5 years | +5.5% | +3.1M shares |
| Available history | +10% | +5.4M shares |
QNST has 59M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | $14.6M |
| Q1 2026 | $1,000 |
| Q4 2025 | $10.1M |
| Q3 2025 | $6.7M |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
QNST spent $25M buying back its own shares over the past year, about four times what it spent the year before.
VZ Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -10M shares |
| 1 year | -1.7% | -72M shares |
| 3 years | -1.3% | -55M shares |
| 5 years | +0.4% | +17M shares |
| Available history | +0.5% | +21M shares |
VZ has the edge over QNST on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $500M |
| Q2 2026 | $1B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.5B |
QNST Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -2.9x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -2.8x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -3.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -3.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -3.6x | Net Cash |
QNST has the edge over VZ on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
VZ Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.3x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.8x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 3.0x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 3.0x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.0x | Elevated |
VZ's net debt is about 3.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 2.8 years a year ago.
QNST Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 58.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 61.2 | Neutral |
QNST's weekly RSI is 59 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 61 (neutral).
VZ Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 44.6 | Neutral |
VZ's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 45 (neutral).
QNST PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | QNST | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 16x | 28% below |
| PE % | 12 | 26 | 14 pts below |
QNST is trading at 12x earnings, a 28% discount to the Communication Services sector's median of 16x.
VZ PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | VZ | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 16x | 28% below |
| PE % | 58 | 26 | 32 pts above |
VZ has the edge over QNST on valuation relative to its sector.
QNST Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $16.9 | 13% above |
| 20 week MA | $17.6 | 8.9% above |
| 50 week MA | $14.8 | 29% above |
| 100 week MA | $16.0 | 20% above |
| 200 week MA | $15.3 | 25% above |
QNST is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 25% above its 200-week average.
VZ Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $45.1 | 3.1% above |
| 20 week MA | $46.3 | 0.5% above |
| 50 week MA | $46.1 | 1.1% above |
| 100 week MA | $44.2 | 5.4% above |
| 200 week MA | $41.4 | 12% above |
VZ is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 12% above its 200-week average.
QNST Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $15.5 | $22.3 | +44% |
| 2021 | $22.3 | $18.3 | -18% |
| 2022 | $18.3 | $14.0 | -24% |
| 2023 | $14.0 | $12.8 | -8.4% |
| 2024 | $12.8 | $23.9 | +86% |
| 2025 | $23.9 | $14.4 | -39% |
| 2026 YTD | $14.4 | $19.1 | +33% |
QNST has the edge over VZ on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
VZ Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $61.5 | $58.8 | -4.4% |
| 2021 | $58.8 | $52.7 | -10% |
| 2022 | $52.7 | $38.4 | -27% |
| 2023 | $38.4 | $37.7 | -1.8% |
| 2024 | $37.7 | $39.9 | +5.9% |
| 2025 | $39.9 | $40.5 | +1.4% |
| 2026 YTD | $40.5 | $46.6 | +15% |
VZ has finished lower in four of the last six years. It's up 15% so far in 2026.