ZD
Ziff Davis, Inc.
ZD's fundamentals are weak, but it looks cheap: trading at 3.0x earnings, less than half its usual 26x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
ZD Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Strong |
ZD's profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its cash flow is stable, but its revenue is under pressure.
ZD PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 3.1x | $51.69 | — |
| Forward | 9x | $51.69 | — |
| Cheap | 12x | $199 | +285% |
| Fair | 26x | $438 | +748% |
| Expensive | 44x | $751 | +1352% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ZD's PE is in its cheap range at 3.0x. On analysts' estimates for next year's earnings, today's price would be 9.0x.
ZD Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly deteriorating | |
| Growth | |
| Decline | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect ZD's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, but its revenue to decline.
ZD Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.76 | -66% |
| Q3 2026 | $16.96 | +547% |
| Q2 2026 | $17.72 | +1007% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.18 | -33% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.15 | -19% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.62 | +110% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.60 | -5.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.75 | +37% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.42 | +60% |
ZD earned $16.96 per share over the past year, about six times what it earned the year before.
ZD Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $289.3M | -20% |
| Q2 2026 | $286.7M | -19% |
| Q1 2026 | $267.6M | -19% |
| Q4 2025 | $406.7M | -1.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $363.7M | +2.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $352.2M | +9.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $328.6M | +4.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $412.8M | +5.9% |
ZD's revenue has slid since its 2020 peak: $289M last quarter, down 20% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -12% | -19 points |
| Q2 2026 | -16% | -25 points |
| Q1 2026 | 1.1% | -9.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 21% | +2.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 7.8% | +16 points |
| Q2 2025 | 9.5% | +0.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 11% | -0.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | -1.7 points |
ZD's operating margin was −12% last quarter, down 19 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
ZD Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$100.1M | -193% |
| Q2 2026 | $54M | +100% |
| Q1 2026 | -$3.2M | +$1.8M |
| Q4 2025 | $157.8M | +20% |
| Q3 2025 | $108.2M | +35% |
| Q2 2025 | $26.9M | +7.5% |
| Q1 2025 | -$5M | -111% |
| Q4 2024 | $131.1M | +99% |
ZD usually generates cash, though not every quarter: the latest was −$100M, but it generated $108M over the past year.
ZD Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -7.2% | -2.6M shares |
| 1 year | -17% | -6.8M shares |
| 3 years | -27% | -12.3M shares |
| 5 years | -31% | -14.8M shares |
| Available history | -32% | -15.7M shares |
ZD has 34M diluted shares, down 17% from a year ago, with $326M in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $92M |
| Q2 2026 | $121.5M |
| Q1 2026 | $51.6M |
| Q4 2025 | $60.6M |
| Q3 2025 | $44.4M |
| Q2 2025 | $33.9M |
| Q1 2025 | $34.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $1.2M |
ZD spent $326M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 185% from the year before.
ZD Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -2.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -2.6x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.1x | Healthy |
ZD has more cash than debt.
ZD Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 49.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 33.8 | Neutral |
ZD's weekly RSI is 50 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (neutral).
ZD PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | ZD | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 3.1x | 16x | 82% below |
| PE % | 1 | 26 | 25 pts below |
ZD is trading at 3.0x earnings, a 82% discount to the Communication Services sector's median of 16x.
ZD Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $54.9 | 5.9% below |
| 20 week MA | $54.7 | 5.4% below |
| 50 week MA | $45.9 | 13% above |
| 100 week MA | $42.1 | 23% above |
| 200 week MA | $52.4 | 1.3% below |
ZD's trend is mixed: it's above two of its five weekly moving averages, and 1.3% below its 200-week average.
ZD Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $81.8 | $84.9 | +3.8% |
| 2021 | $84.9 | $111.0 | +31% |
| 2022 | $111.0 | $78.0 | -30% |
| 2023 | $78.0 | $67.2 | -14% |
| 2024 | $67.2 | $55.4 | -18% |
| 2025 | $55.4 | $35.9 | -35% |
| 2026 YTD | $35.9 | $51.7 | +44% |
ZD has finished four years in a row lower, and it's up 44% so far in 2026.