CoStar Group vs Howard Hughes
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The short version
- CoStar Group is the larger business, with $3.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.5B for Howard Hughes, about 2.2 times as much.
- CoStar Group grew revenue faster (18.7%, against −15.8%).
- Howard Hughes kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (22.5% operating margin, against −2.2%).
- Howard Hughes turned more of its sales into free cash flow (28.3% FCF margin, against 3.8%).
- Howard Hughes earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (3.4%, against −0.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of CoStar Group’s earnings: a P/E of 188.4x against 14.3x for Howard Hughes.
| Latest fiscal year | CSGP · FY25 | HHH · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $13.7B | $4.2B |
| Revenue | $3.2B | $1.5B |
| Free cash flow | $123M | $418M |
| Net income | $7.0M | $124M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 18.7% | −15.8% |
| 5-year growth | 14.4% | — |
| Share count change | 3.2% | 12.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 78.9% | — |
| Operating margin | −2.2% | 22.5% |
| Net margin | 0.2% | 8.4% |
| FCF margin | 3.8% | 28.3% |
| Return on capital | −0.6% | 3.4% |
| Return on equity | 0.1% | 3.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$629M | $3.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −3.3x | 7.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $500M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 188.4x | 14.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | — |
Revenue
FY16
CSGP $838M
HHH —
FY17
CSGP $965M
HHH —
FY18
CSGP $1.2B
HHH —
FY19
CSGP $1.4B
HHH —
FY20
CSGP $1.7B
HHH —
FY21
CSGP $1.9B
HHH $1.4B
FY22
CSGP $2.2B
HHH $1.5B
FY23
CSGP $2.5B
HHH $909M
FY24
CSGP $2.7B
HHH $1.8B
FY25
CSGP $3.2B
HHH $1.5B
CSGP
HHH
Operating margin
FY16
CSGP 17.3%
HHH —
FY17
CSGP 18.0%
HHH —
FY18
CSGP 23.0%
HHH —
FY19
CSGP 26.0%
HHH —
FY20
CSGP 17.4%
HHH —
FY21
CSGP 22.2%
HHH 16.9%
FY22
CSGP 20.7%
HHH 28.5%
FY23
CSGP 11.5%
HHH 23.8%
FY24
CSGP 0.2%
HHH 32.0%
FY25
CSGP −2.2%
HHH 22.5%
CSGP
HHH
Free cash flow
FY16
CSGP $182M
HHH —
FY17
CSGP $210M
HHH —
FY18
CSGP $306M
HHH —
FY19
CSGP $412M
HHH —
FY20
CSGP $438M
HHH —
FY21
CSGP $346M
HHH −$320M
FY22
CSGP $444M
HHH $282M
FY23
CSGP $372M
HHH −$299M
FY24
CSGP −$186M
HHH $349M
FY25
CSGP $123M
HHH $418M
CSGP
HHH
Return on capital
FY16
CSGP 6.2%
HHH —
FY17
CSGP 9.0%
HHH —
FY18
CSGP 13.7%
HHH —
FY19
CSGP 13.8%
HHH —
FY20
CSGP 9.7%
HHH —
FY21
CSGP 11.3%
HHH —
FY22
CSGP 11.9%
HHH —
FY23
CSGP 7.0%
HHH —
FY24
CSGP 0.1%
HHH 5.8%
FY25
CSGP −0.6%
HHH 3.4%
CSGP
HHH
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.