Ziff Davis, Inc. (ZD) · Nov 5, 2026 · Earnings
In line — Adj. EPS $1.39 vs ~$1.20 consensus; revenue $289.3M vs ~$295M
Ziff Davis earnings beat adjusted EPS expectations, but revenue, EBITDA, margins and cash flow deteriorated across its continuing digital-media business.
Ziff Davis is now a slimmer digital-media company after selling its Connectivity business, with management focused on rebuilding growth across technology, shopping, gaming, health, cybersecurity and martech while deploying sale proceeds through buybacks and acquisitions. The prior quarter established that the post-Connectivity business could still produce adjusted earnings, but its revenue base remained under pressure.
The quarter was mixed against consensus, not a clean beat. Adjusted EPS of $1.39 exceeded published estimates around $1.20-$1.25, but revenue of $289.3 million came in below estimates around $295 million, while adjusted EBITDA was roughly in line to slightly below expectations. The company’s own description was that results were “in line with the expectations we set last quarter,” making the earnings beat more about cost structure and below-the-line items than renewed demand. 〔0〕
| Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Consensus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (Financial Highlights) | $289.3M (-5.6%) | $306.5M | ~$295M |
| Adjusted diluted EPS (Financial Highlights) | $1.39 (-0.7%) | $1.40 | ~$1.20 |
| Adjusted EBITDA (Financial Highlights) | $82.2M (-16.0%) | $97.8M | ~$82.9M |
| Operating income (Income Statement) | $(33.6)M | $11.4M | |
| Transaction-adjusted FCF (Cash Flow reconciliation) | $(10.0)M | $108.2M |
The underlying operating trend remains weak. Revenue declined in three of four continuing segments: Technology & Shopping fell 3.8%, Health & Wellness fell 9.5%, and Cybersecurity & Martech fell 4.6%; Gaming & Entertainment grew only 2.1%. Adjusted EBITDA fell 16%, and the margin dropped to 28.4% from 31.9%, showing that the pressure is reaching profitability rather than being limited to one-off revenue timing.
The GAAP loss is partly distorted, but the deterioration is not. Goodwill and long-lived-asset impairments pushed operating income to a $33.6 million loss, compared with $11.4 million of operating income a year earlier. Excluding those charges, adjusted earnings were still down slightly year over year, so the weak core trend cannot be dismissed as purely accounting noise.
Cash conversion was the clearest setback. Transaction-adjusted free cash flow was negative $10.0 million in the quarter versus positive $108.2 million a year earlier, although the comparison includes cash taxes and transaction costs related to the Connectivity sale. The company still had $1.41 billion of cash at September 30 and repurchased $265 million of stock through nine months, reducing the share count by nearly 14%, but capital returns are cushioning the per-share result while the operating base contracts.
Bottom line: Ziff Davis delivered an adjusted EPS beat, but the more important business signals were weaker revenue, falling margins and poor cash conversion. The post-Connectivity strategy is funded and financially flexible, yet this quarter did not show that the continuing portfolio has returned to durable growth.**
Q4 results, expected February 2027
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