The Trade Desk vs Ziff Davis
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put The Trade Desk and Ziff Davis side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- The Trade Desk is the larger business, with $2.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.5B for Ziff Davis, about 2.0 times as much.
- The Trade Desk grew revenue faster (18.5%, against 3.5%).
- The Trade Desk kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.4% operating margin, against 12.6%).
- The Trade Desk turned more of its sales into free cash flow (27.5% FCF margin, against 19.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of The Trade Desk’s earnings: a P/E of 15.4x against 3.3x for Ziff Davis.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 8 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
The Trade Desk
TTD
6/8
Revenue growth5-year growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on equity
Ziff Davis
ZD
2/8
Gross marginShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | TTD FY25 | ZD FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $6.0B | $2.1B |
| Revenue | $2.9B | $1.5B |
| Free cash flow | $796M | $288M |
| Net income | $443M | $47.4M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 18.5% | 3.5% |
| 5-year growth | 28.2% | 4.6% |
| Share count change | −1.7% | −7.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 78.6% | 85.8% |
| Operating margin | 20.4% | 12.6% |
| Net margin | 15.3% | 3.3% |
| FCF margin | 27.5% | 19.8% |
| Return on capital | — | 6.0% |
| Return on equity | 16.3% | 2.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | — | $260M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 0.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.4B | $174M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 15.4x | 3.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | — | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.