Ziff Davis Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results

Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) ("Ziff Davis" or "the Company") today reported unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2025.

"In 2025, Ziff Davis grew Revenues, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted diluted EPS, while generating almost $290 million in Free cash flow," said Vivek Shah, CEO of Ziff Davis. "We deployed $174 million in share repurchases during the year with the conviction that our share price does not adequately reflect the intrinsic value of our businesses."

FOURTH QUARTER 2025 RESULTS

• Revenues ⁽¹⁾ decreased to $406.7 million compared to $412.8 million for Q4 2024.

• Income from operations increased 9.6% to $86.0 million compared to $78.5 million for Q4 2024.

• Net income ⁽²⁾ decreased to $0.4 million compared to $64.1 million for Q4 2024. This includes a pre-tax $58.0 million loss on sale of business and $19.7 million loss on equity method investment, net of tax in Q4 2025 compared to $3.1 million income from equity method investment, net of tax in Q4 2024.

• Net income per diluted share ⁽²⁾ decreased to $0.01 in Q4 2025 compared to $1.43 for Q4 2024.

• Adjusted EBITDA ⁽³⁾ decreased to $163.2 million compared to $171.8 million for Q4 2024.

• Adjusted net income ^{(2) (3)} decreased to $100.5 million compared to $110.2 million for Q4 2024.

• Adjusted net income per diluted share ^{(2) (3)} (or "Adjusted diluted EPS") decreased to $2.56 compared to $2.58 for Q4 2024.

• Net cash provided by operating activities increased 20.8% to $191.1 million compared to $158.2 million in Q4 2024. Free cash flow ⁽³⁾ increased 20.4% to $157.8 million compared to $131.1 million in Q4 2024.

• Ziff Davis deployed approximately $1.4 million for current and prior year acquisitions in Q4 2025 and $60.6 million related to share repurchases in Q4 2025.

FULL YEAR 2025 RESULTS

• Revenues ⁽¹⁾ increased 3.5% to $1.45 billion compared to $1.40 billion for 2024.

• Income from operations increased 61.1% to $183.1 million compared to $113.6 million for 2024. This includes a $17.6 million goodwill impairment recognized in 2025 compared to a $85.3 million goodwill impairment recognized in 2024.

• Net income ⁽²⁾ decreased to $47.4 million compared to $63.0 million for 2024. This includes a pre-tax $58.0 million loss on sale of business recognized in 2025 compared to $3.8 million loss on sale of business recognized in 2024, and a $7.9 million loss on equity method investment, net of tax in 2025 compared to $11.2 million income from equity method investment, net of tax in 2024.

• Net income per diluted share ⁽²⁾ decreased to $1.15 in 2025 compared to $1.42 for 2024.

• Adjusted EBITDA ⁽³⁾ increased 0.3% to $495.1 million compared to $493.5 million for 2024.

• Adjusted net income ^{(2) (3)} decreased to $272.5 million compared to $294.5 million for 2024.

• Adjusted diluted EPS ^{(2) (3)} increased 0.2% to $6.63 compared to $6.62 for 2024.

• Net cash provided by operating activities increased 4.3% to $407.1 million compared to $390.3 million in 2024. Free cash flow ⁽³⁾ increased 1.5% to $287.9 million compared to $283.7 million in 2024.

• Ziff Davis deployed approximately $68.7 million for current and prior year acquisitions in 2025 and $173.8 million related to share repurchases in 2025.

The following table reflects results for the three months and years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively (in millions, except per share amounts).

Notes:

ZIFF DAVIS GUIDANCE

As noted in the Company's Third Quarter 2025 earnings release, Ziff Davis has engaged outside advisors to assist in evaluating value-creating opportunities, including the potential sale of entire divisions of the Company. As this process is ongoing, the Company is deferring its fiscal 2026 guidance.

EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL AND AUDIO WEBCAST

Ziff Davis will host a live audio webcast and conference call discussing its fourth quarter and year-end 2025 financial results on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 8:30AM ET. The live webcast and call will be accessible by phone by dialing (844) 985-2014 or via www.ziffdavis.com. Following the event, the audio recording and presentation materials will be archived and made available at www.ziffdavis.com.

ABOUT ZIFF DAVIS

Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZD) is a vertically focused digital media and internet company whose portfolio includes leading brands in technology, shopping, gaming and entertainment, health and wellness, connectivity, cybersecurity, and martech. For more information, visit www.ziffdavis.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those contained in Vivek Shah's quote and the "Ziff Davis Guidance" section. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These factors and uncertainties include, among other items: the Company's ability to grow advertising, licensing, and subscription revenues, profitability, and cash flows, particularly in light of an uncertain U.S. or worldwide economy, including the possibility of economic downturn or recession; the Company's ability to make interest and debt payments; the Company's ability to identify, close, and successfully transition acquisitions or divestitures; customer growth and retention; the Company's ability to create compelling content; our reliance on third-party platforms; the threat of content piracy and developments related to artificial intelligence; increased competition and rapid technological changes; variability of the Company's revenue based on changing conditions in particular industries and the economy generally; protection of the Company's proprietary technology; the risk of alleged infringement by the Company of intellectual property of others; the risk of losing critical third-party vendors or key personnel; the risks associated with fraudulent activity, system failure, or a security breach; risks related to our ability to adhere to our internal controls and procedures; the risk of adverse changes in the U.S. or international regulatory environments, including but not limited to the imposition or increase of taxes or regulatory-related fees; the risks related to supply chain disruptions, increased tariffs and trade protection measures, inflationary conditions, and rising interest rates; the risk of liability for legal and other claims; our ability to consummate a sale of one or more of our business lines pursuant to our announced review of potential value-creating opportunities; and the numerous other factors set forth in Ziff Davis' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting Ziff Davis, refer to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other reports filed by Ziff Davis from time-to-time with the SEC, each of which is available at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements provided in this press release, including those contained in Vivek Shah's quote and the "Ziff Davis Guidance" section are based on limited information available to the Company at this time, which is subject to change. Although management's expectations may change after the date of this press release, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update these statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), we use the following non-GAAP financial measures: Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted net income (loss), Adjusted net income (loss) per diluted share, Free cash flow, and Adjusted effective tax rate (collectively the "non-GAAP financial measures"). The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our recurring core business operating results or, in certain cases, may be non-cash in nature. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to our historical performance and liquidity. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making, (2) certain measures are used to determine the amount of annual incentive compensation paid to our named executive officers, and (3) they are used by the analyst community to help them analyze the health of our business.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not measures presented in accordance with GAAP, and our use of these terms may vary from that of other companies, limiting their usefulness for comparison purposes. These non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with the Company's results of operations determined in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP financial measures exclude the certain items listed below. We believe that excluding these items from the non-GAAP measures facilitates comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to peers, many of which exclude similar items. We believe that non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance. We further believe these measures are useful to investors in that they allow for greater transparency of certain line items in the Company's financial statements.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as Net income (loss) with adjustments to reflect the addition or elimination of certain items including, but not limited to:

• Interest expense, net. Interest expense is generated primarily from interest due on outstanding debt, partially offset by interest income generated from the interest earned on cash, cash equivalents, and investments;

• (Gain) loss on debt extinguishment, net. This is a non-cash expense that relates to extinguishments of long-term debt obligations. We believe this (gain) loss does not represent recurring core business operating results of the Company;

• (Gain) loss on sale of businesses. This gain or loss relates to the sales of businesses and does not represent recurring core business operating results of the Company;

• (Gain) loss on investments, net. This item includes realized gains and losses, unrealized gains and losses, and impairment charges on debt and equity investments. The amount of gain or loss depends on the share price for investments with readily determinable fair value and on observable price changes for investments without a readily determinable fair value, and does not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• Provision for credit losses on investments. This is a non-cash expense that includes changes in the provision for credit losses on investments of the Company in debt and equity instruments and does not represent recurring core business operating results of the Company;

• Other (income) loss, net. This income or expense relates to other non-operating items and does not represent recurring core business operating results of the Company;

• Income tax (benefit) expense. This benefit or expense depends on the pre-tax loss or income of the Company, statutory tax rates, tax regulations, and different tax rates in various jurisdictions in which the Company operates and which the Company does not have the control over;

• (Income) loss from equity method investment, net of tax. This is a non-cash income or expense as it relates primarily to our investment in OCV Fund I, LP (the "OCV Fund"). We believe that gain or loss resulting from our equity method investment does not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• Depreciation and amortization. This is a non-cash expense at it relates to use and associated reduction in value of certain assets including equipment, fixtures, and certain capitalized internal-use software and website development costs, and identifiable definite-lived intangible assets of the acquired businesses;

• Share-based compensation. This is a non-cash expense as it relates to awards granted under the various share-based incentive plans of the Company. We view the economic cost of share-based awards to be the dilution to our share base;

• Transaction, integration, and other charges. This includes expenses associated with the acquisition or disposal of certain businesses, lease agreement terminations, retention bonuses, and other transaction-specific items, as well as certain other items, such as severance, adjustments to contingent consideration, third-party debt modification costs, litigation costs from discrete, complex, or unusual proceedings, and legal settlements. These expenses do not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• Lease asset impairments and other charges. These expenses are incurred in connection with impaired right-of-use ("ROU") assets of the Company. Associated expenses are comprised of insurance, utility, and other charges related to assets that are no longer in use, and partially offset by the sublease income earned. These expenses do not represent core business operating results of the Company; and

• Goodwill impairment. This is a non-cash expense that is recorded when the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value and does not represent core business operating results of the Company.

Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA by Total Revenues.

Adjusted net income (loss) is defined as Net income (loss) with adjustments to reflect the addition or elimination of certain statement of operations items including, but not limited to:

• Interest, net. This reflects the difference between the imputed and coupon interest expense associated with the 4.625% Senior Notes and a charge that the Company determined to be penalty interest associated with the 1.75% Convertible Notes, offset in part by a certain interest income earned by the Company. These net expenses do not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• (Gain) loss on debt extinguishment, net. This is a non-cash expense that relates to extinguishments of long-term debt obligations. We believe this gain or loss does not represent recurring core business operating results of the Company;

• (Gain) loss on sale of businesses. This gain or loss relates to the sales of businesses and does not represent recurring core business operating results of the Company;

• (Gain) loss on investments, net. This item includes realized gains and losses, unrealized gains and losses, and impairment charges on debt and equity investments. The amount of gain or loss depends on the share price for investments with readily determinable fair value and on observable price changes for investments without a readily determinable fair value, and does not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• Provision for credit losses on investments. This is a non-cash expense that includes changes in the provision for credit losses on investments of the Company in debt and equity instruments and does not represent recurring core business operating results of the Company;

• (Income) loss from equity method investment, net of tax. This is a non-cash income or expense as it relates primarily to our investment in the OCV Fund. We believe that gains or losses resulting from our equity method investment do not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• Amortization. Includes the amortization of patents and intangible assets that we acquired. This is a non-cash expense as it primarily relates to identifiable definite-lived intangible assets of the acquired businesses. We believe that acquired intangible assets represent cost incurred by the acquiree to build value prior to the acquisition and the amortization of this cost does not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• Share-based compensation. This is a non-cash expense as it relates to awards granted under the various share-based incentive plans of the Company. We view the economic cost of share-based awards to be the dilution to our share base;

• Transaction, integration, and other charges. This includes expenses associated with the acquisition or disposal of certain businesses, lease agreement terminations, retention bonuses, and other transaction-specific items, as well as certain other items, such as severance, adjustments to contingent consideration, third-party debt modification costs, litigation costs from discrete, complex, or unusual proceedings, and legal settlements. These expenses do not represent core business operating results of the Company;

• Lease asset impairments and other charges. These expenses are incurred in connection with impaired ROU assets of the Company. Associated expenses are comprised of insurance, utility, and other charges related to assets that are no longer in use, and partially offset by the sublease income earned. These expenses do not represent core business operating results of the Company; and

• Goodwill impairment. This is a non-cash expense that is recorded when the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value and does not represent core business operating results of the Company.

Adjusted net income (loss) per diluted share is calculated by dividing Adjusted net income (loss) by the diluted weighted average shares of common stock outstanding excluding the effect of convertible debt dilution.

Free cash flow is defined as Net cash provided by operating activities, less purchases of property and equipment, plus changes in contingent consideration (if any).

Adjusted effective tax rate is calculated based upon the GAAP effective tax rate with adjustments for the tax applicable to non-GAAP adjustments to Net income (loss), generally based upon the effective marginal tax rate of each adjustment.