AppLovin vs Ziff Davis
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The short version
- AppLovin is the larger business, with $5.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.5B for Ziff Davis, about 3.8 times as much.
- AppLovin grew revenue faster (70.0%, against 3.5%).
- AppLovin kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (75.8% operating margin, against 12.6%).
- AppLovin earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (98.2%, against 6.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of AppLovin’s earnings: a P/E of 20.0x against 3.3x for Ziff Davis.
| Latest fiscal year | APP · FY25 | ZD · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $87.7B | $2.1B |
| Revenue | $5.5B | $1.5B |
| Free cash flow | — | $288M |
| Net income | $3.3B | $47.4M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 70.0% | 3.5% |
| 5-year growth | 30.5% | 4.6% |
| Share count change | −1.7% | −7.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 87.9% | 85.8% |
| Operating margin | 75.8% | 12.6% |
| Net margin | 60.8% | 3.3% |
| FCF margin | — | 19.8% |
| Return on capital | 98.2% | 6.0% |
| Return on equity | 206.8% | 2.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.1B | $260M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.3x | 0.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.2B | $174M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.0x | 3.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 9 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
APP —
ZD $874M
FY17
APP —
ZD $1.1B
FY18
APP —
ZD $1.2B
FY19
APP $994M
ZD $1.1B
FY20
APP $1.5B
ZD $1.2B
FY21
APP $2.8B
ZD $1.4B
FY22
APP $2.8B
ZD $1.4B
FY23
APP $1.8B
ZD $1.4B
FY24
APP $3.2B
ZD $1.4B
FY25
APP $5.5B
ZD $1.5B
APP
ZD
Operating margin
FY16
APP —
ZD 27.8%
FY17
APP —
ZD 22.0%
FY18
APP —
ZD 20.2%
FY19
APP 19.6%
ZD 8.4%
FY20
APP −4.3%
ZD 11.9%
FY21
APP 5.4%
ZD 11.8%
FY22
APP −1.7%
ZD 14.3%
FY23
APP 41.9%
ZD 9.7%
FY24
APP 59.3%
ZD 8.1%
FY25
APP 75.8%
ZD 12.6%
APP
ZD
Free cash flow
FY16
APP —
ZD $258M
FY17
APP —
ZD $225M
FY18
APP —
ZD $345M
FY19
APP $195M
ZD $342M
FY20
APP $220M
ZD $388M
FY21
APP $360M
ZD $403M
FY22
APP $412M
ZD $230M
FY23
APP $1.1B
ZD $211M
FY24
APP $2.1B
ZD $284M
FY25
APP —
ZD $288M
APP
ZD
Return on capital
FY16
APP —
ZD 13.8%
FY17
APP —
ZD 11.2%
FY18
APP —
ZD 10.4%
FY19
APP —
ZD 3.3%
FY20
APP —
ZD 2.9%
FY21
APP 4.5%
ZD 7.1%
FY22
APP −0.9%
ZD 5.2%
FY23
APP 16.8%
ZD 4.2%
FY24
APP 45.3%
ZD 2.9%
FY25
APP 98.2%
ZD 6.0%
APP
ZD
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.