Ziff Davis
ZDNASDAQUSD
- Source valuation snapshot. Not a live recalculation.
- Latest filed annual earnings; price snapshot date unavailable. Not forward P/E.
- Diluted earnings per share from the latest filed annual.
- $51.14 Prior regular-session close from the quote source.
- $50.26–$51.92 Regular-session low and high so far today.
- 468.0K Regular-session shares traded · Nov 11, 4:00 PM ET.
- Feb 23 projected Projected for 2027-02-23 from the company’s own results filings (SEC 8-K Item 2.02). The company has not confirmed the date.
- $22.45–$60.48 52-week trading low and high returned by the quote source.
Understand the Business
Why the Stock Moved
Period-matched expectations history is not yet available. Current metrics are not a substitute for a historical explanation.
The core investment thesis
Own ZD if its portfolio of vertical digital brands remains useful enough to advertisers, shoppers, readers, and enterprise buyers to keep producing cash that management can reinvest accretively.
ZD price history
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Investment thesis
What must happen next
Ziff Davis’s specialized vertical brands continue to attract high-intent audiences that advertisers, retailers, and business buyers cannot fully replace with broad platforms, allowing the company to keep monetizing its portfolio rather than becoming an undifferentiated open-web publisher.StrengtheningMateriality: High
Annual GAAP revenue increased from $1.364 billion in FY2023 to $1.402 billion in FY2024 and $1.451 billion in FY2025. If this holds, revenue durability supports the whole cash-flow and acquisition thesis; if it breaks, the business becomes a structurally declining media asset.
Watch: Google AI Overviews or other search-answer products reduce referral traffic to Ziff Davis properties before advertisers visibly cut budgets.
Supporting sources
Source notes are factual paraphrases; read the original disclosures below.
Annual GAAP revenue increased from $1.364 billion in FY2023 to $1.402 billion in FY2024 and $1.451 billion in FY2025.
Open source ↗The asset-light mix of digital media, data, and internet services continues to convert modest growth into substantial operating cash flow, giving Ziff Davis strategic flexibility even when GAAP earnings are noisy.StrengtheningMateriality: High
Annual GAAP operating cash flow rose from $319.962 million in FY2023 to $390.315 million in FY2024 and $407.068 million in FY2025. Durable cash generation is what lets owners look through cyclical ad weakness and funds acquisitions, buybacks, debt service, or reinvestment.
Watch: Advertisers or affiliate partners shift to payment terms, attribution rules, or commission structures that weaken cash conversion before revenue fully reflects the impact.
Supporting sources
Source notes are factual paraphrases; read the original disclosures below.
Annual GAAP operating cash flow rose from $319.962 million in FY2023 to $390.315 million in FY2024 and $407.068 million in.
Open source ↗Management can flex costs and mix toward higher-value verticals sufficiently to protect operating profit through advertising and traffic cycles, rather than letting revenue stability be offset by margin erosion.StrengtheningMateriality: Medium
Annual GAAP operating income improved from $113.648 million in FY2024 to $183.086 million in FY2025. Revenue that requires structurally lower margins would not create much owner value; margin resilience determines whether the portfolio is economically defensible.
Watch: AI-generated content and low-cost review sites commoditize editorial verticals, forcing higher spending to maintain search visibility and brand trust.
Supporting sources
Source notes are factual paraphrases; read the original disclosures below.
Annual GAAP operating income improved from $113.648 million in FY2024 to $183.086 million in FY2025.
Open source ↗Ziff Davis’s acquisition-led model creates value only if management can buy or build niche digital assets at rational prices and integrate them without overleveraging the balance sheet.StrengtheningMateriality: Medium
Cash and cash equivalents were $573.777 million at FY2025 year-end, up from $505.880 million at FY2024 year-end. Because organic growth appears modest, capital allocation may be the difference between compounding per-share value and simply maintaining scale.
Watch: Private-market prices for quality vertical media, data, cybersecurity, or martech assets rise above levels that allow accretive returns.
Supporting sources
Source notes are factual paraphrases; read the original disclosures below.
Cash and cash equivalents were $573.777 million at FY2025 year-end, up from $505.880 million at FY2024 year-end.
Open source ↗Capital deployment must translate into per-share earnings power rather than empire-building, restructuring churn, or below-the-line leakage that absorbs operating gains.HoldingMateriality: Medium
Annual GAAP diluted EPS remained positive in FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025. Owners ultimately need cash flow and earnings to accrue per share; scale alone does not make Ziff Davis a good investment.
Watch: Acquisitions add revenue but bring amortization, restructuring, impairments, or integration costs that prevent operating gains from reaching common shareholders.
Supporting sources
Source notes are factual paraphrases; read the original disclosures below.
Annual GAAP diluted EPS remained positive in FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025.
Open source ↗
Full investment case & evidence
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Original research
Ziff Davis’s specialized vertical brands continue to attract high-intent audiences that advertisers, retailers, and business buyers cannot fully replace with broad platforms, allowing the company to keep monetizing its portfolio rather than becoming an undifferentiated open-web publisher. If this holds, revenue durability supports the whole cash-flow and acquisition thesis; if it breaks, the business becomes a structurally declining media asset.
The asset-light mix of digital media, data, and internet services continues to convert modest growth into substantial operating cash flow, giving Ziff Davis strategic flexibility even when GAAP earnings are noisy. Durable cash generation is what lets owners look through cyclical ad weakness and funds acquisitions, buybacks, debt service, or reinvestment.
Management can flex costs and mix toward higher-value verticals sufficiently to protect operating profit through advertising and traffic cycles, rather than letting revenue stability be offset by margin erosion. Revenue that requires structurally lower margins would not create much owner value; margin resilience determines whether the portfolio is economically defensible.
Ziff Davis’s acquisition-led model creates value only if management can buy or build niche digital assets at rational prices and integrate them without overleveraging the balance sheet. Because organic growth appears modest, capital allocation may be the difference between compounding per-share value and simply maintaining scale.
Capital deployment must translate into per-share earnings power rather than empire-building, restructuring churn, or below-the-line leakage that absorbs operating gains. Owners ultimately need cash flow and earnings to accrue per share; scale alone does not make Ziff Davis a good investment.
All standing thesis claims
Original report summary
its portfolio of vertical digital brands remains useful enough to advertisers, shoppers, readers, and enterprise buyers to keep producing cash that management can reinvest accretively.
Bull case and bear case
Bull case and bear case for Ziff Davis
Where the evidence on Ziff Davis stands: Holding on the latest evidence (Nov 10, 2026). Of its 5 thesis points, 4 strengthening and 1 holding.
Bull case: what the evidence supports
Ziff Davis’s specialized vertical brands continue to attract high-intent audiences that advertisers, retailers, and business buyers cannot fully replace with broad platforms, allowing the company to keep monetizing its portfolio rather than becoming an undifferentiated open-web publisher.
The asset-light mix of digital media, data, and internet services continues to convert modest growth into substantial operating cash flow, giving Ziff Davis strategic flexibility even when GAAP earnings are noisy.
Management can flex costs and mix toward higher-value verticals sufficiently to protect operating profit through advertising and traffic cycles, rather than letting revenue stability be offset by margin erosion.
Ziff Davis’s acquisition-led model creates value only if management can buy or build niche digital assets at rational prices and integrate them without overleveraging the balance sheet.
Capital deployment must translate into per-share earnings power rather than empire-building, restructuring churn, or below-the-line leakage that absorbs operating gains.
Bear case: what would count against it
Google AI Overviews or other search-answer products reduce referral traffic to Ziff Davis properties before advertisers visibly cut budgets.
Advertisers or affiliate partners shift to payment terms, attribution rules, or commission structures that weaken cash conversion before revenue fully reflects the impact.
AI-generated content and low-cost review sites commoditize editorial verticals, forcing higher spending to maintain search visibility and brand trust.
Thesis-Break Engine
Thesis-break watch · Ziff Davis
No break has crossed Ziff Davis’s thesis. Its break conditions are checked against every new filing as it lands.
MARKET + FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT
The numbers behind the thesis
What Changed
- MixedReported results of operations (earnings release).
Ziff Davis filed an SEC 8-K on 2026-11-06: Reported results of operations (earnings release). It is a dated development that tests the current thesis.
- MixedReported results of operations (earnings release).
Ziff Davis filed an SEC 8-K on 2026-08-07: Reported results of operations (earnings release). It is a dated development that tests the current thesis.
- MixedCompleted an acquisition or disposition of assets.
Ziff Davis filed an SEC 8-K on 2026-06-17: Completed an acquisition or disposition of assets. It is a dated development that tests the current thesis.
Risks / falsifiers
What could break the thesis
- Google AI Overviews or other search-answer products reduce referral traffic to Ziff Davis properties before advertisers visibly cut budgets.
- Advertisers or affiliate partners shift to payment terms, attribution rules, or commission structures that weaken cash conversion before revenue fully reflects the impact.
- AI-generated content and low-cost review sites commoditize editorial verticals, forcing higher spending to maintain search visibility and brand trust.
- Private-market prices for quality vertical media, data, cybersecurity, or martech assets rise above levels that allow accretive returns.
- Acquisitions add revenue but bring amortization, restructuring, impairments, or integration costs that prevent operating gains from reaching common shareholders.
ZD news
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Financial statements
ZD income statement
Annual filed results · USD · Oldest to newest. Margins are calculated from the reported figures.
ZD: quick answers
- When does Ziff Davis (ZD) report earnings next?
- Ziff Davis's next results are projected for February 23, 2027, from the dates of its own results filings with the SEC. The company has not confirmed the date. It last reported on November 6, 2026. Earnings calendar
- What is ZD's short interest?
- As of October 30, 2026, 4.6M ZD shares were sold short, 13.9% of its shares outstanding, down 4.8% from the count before. At the stock's average daily volume that is 12 days to cover. FINRA publishes the count twice a month. ZD short interest history
- Have members of Congress traded ZD?
- 5 trades in ZD have been disclosed under the STOCK Act by members of Congress, the President or senior officials, none in reports made public in the last 90 days. Every disclosed ZD trade
- Which well-known investors own ZD?
- 1 of the 37 well-known funds tracked here reported ZD shares in their latest 13F filing. By share of the fund's portfolio: Miller Value Partners (Bill Miller), 0.6%. Fund portfolios
ZD in well-known investors’ portfolios
1 of 37 funds reported ZD shares in their latest 13F filing. A 13F shows quarter-end positions and arrives up to 45 days later.
| Fund | Of its portfolio | Value | Change | Quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill MillerMiller Value Partners | 0.63% | $2.7M | −25.6% | Q2 2026 |