TacticScaleWhat Ziff Davis Does & How It Makes Money (ZD)
Updated October 2026 · reflects Ziff Davis's latest reported financials
Digital media and internet company owning tech, deals, health, and gaming brands. It earns money mainly from advertising and performance marketing (such as affiliate commissions from deals and product reviews) across its media brands, plus subscription and licensing revenue from its software, connectivity data, and health and professional services.
How Ziff Davis makes money
It earns money mainly from advertising and performance marketing (such as affiliate commissions from deals and product reviews) across its media brands, plus subscription and licensing revenue from its software, connectivity data, and health and professional services.
What Ziff Davis does
Ziff Davis is a New York-based digital media and internet company, formerly known as j2 Global until it changed its name in October 2021. It owns a wide range of online brands grouped around a few themes: technology (PCMag, CNET, Mashable, Spiceworks), shopping and deals (RetailMeNot, Offers.com, VoucherCodes, BlackFriday.com), gaming and entertainment (IGN, Humble Bundle), connectivity (Speedtest, Ookla, Downdetector, RootMetrics), and health and parenting (Everyday Health, BabyCenter, What to Expect, Lose It!, Medpage Today). Beyond media, the company runs software and subscription businesses. These include cybersecurity and privacy tools (IPVanish, VIPRE, SugarSync, Livedrive) and marketing and communication tools (Campaigner, iContact, MOZ Pro, eVoice, Line2). It also serves healthcare professionals through PRIME Education and Health eCareers. This mix makes Ziff Davis a diversified portfolio of digital properties, not a single-product company.
Products & services
- PCMag & CNET
- IGN Entertainment
- RetailMeNot
- Speedtest by Ookla
- Everyday Health & BabyCenter
- IPVanish VPN
What is Ziff Davis worth?
On an owner-earnings DCF, Ziff Davis's most-likely value is about $143 versus a recent price near $57 (153% below fair value). But TacticScale only calls a stock undervalued when the price sits below its conservative no-growth floor (~$97) with a margin of safety — so the honest verdict here is “Deeply discounted.” Fair value earns its keep only at the extremes, not in the wide middle.
On the financials alone, $57 is below even the no-growth floor ($97); the market's discount — expectations and sentiment beyond the numbers — is pricing in ≈ -6.5%/yr. A bargain only if that pessimism is overdone.
⚠ Capital-intensive — this business reinvests heavily, so free cash flow runs well below its earnings. Fair value here is built on free cash flow, which understates owner earnings for reinvestment-heavy companies — read it as conservative.
Analysis, not advice. Fair value is a margin-of-safety estimate from a deterministic owner-earnings DCF, not a price target or recommendation. See the full breakdown →
Related companies
Zhejiang Daily Digital Culture (600633.SS) · People (PPLI) · Gen Digital (GEN) · Zhewen Interactive (600986.SS) · Genimous Technology (000676.SZ)