NYT vs PSO vs ZD Stock Comparison

New York Times, Pearson and Ziff Davis Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NYT New York Times Co
$69.18 +7.8% 1M +20.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.10B
P/E
28.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
1.26%
Publishing Communication Services
2 wins
PSO Pearson Plc
$17.33 +8.7% 1M +18.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.02B
P/E
25.6x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
2.02%
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins
ZD Ziff Davis, Inc.
$55.37 -0.6% 1M +62.8% 1Y
Market cap
$1.94B
P/E
3.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.32B
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
5 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Ziff Davis leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Ziff Davis 5, Pearson 3, New York Times 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNYTPSOZDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.10B $11.02B $1.94B NYT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 28.5x 25.6x 3.1x ZD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.5x 19.5x 10.2x ZD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.8% — -0.7% NYT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.2% — 48.6% ZD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 2.6% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — -2.6x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.26% 2.02% 0.00% PSO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +20.5% +18.5% +62.8% ZD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.9%/yr +15.9%/yr -15.5%/yr PSO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.9% 25.7% 55.7% PSO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 79/100 43/100 88/100 ZD

Percentile Scorecard

NYTPSOZD

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisNYTPSOZD
Valuation 37 #34 of 53 42 #31 of 53 98 #2 of 53
Growth 95 #3 of 44 – 86 #7 of 44
Profitability 98 #2 of 42 – 68 #14 of 42
Financial Health 90 #7 of 61 72 #18 of 61 88 #8 of 61
Shareholder Returns 76 #7 of 26 16 #22 of 26 100 #1 of 26
Overall 79 43 88
  • NYT ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • PSO ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • ZD ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodNYTPSOZDSPY
1 month +7.8%+8.7%-0.6% +0.9%
3 months -11.0%-1.8%+2.0% +5.9%
6 months -12.5%+19.9%+18.4% +8.5%
Year to date -0.3%+23.4%+57.5% +13.3%
1 year +20.5%+18.5%+62.8% +12.4%
3 years +73.1%+56.4%-5.0% +88.1%
3 years, per year +20.1%+16.1%-1.7% +23.5%
5 years +26.7%+109.3%-56.8% +68.2%
5 years, per year +4.9%+15.9%-15.5% +11.0%
10 years +526.1%+87.4%-10.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year +20.1%+6.5%-1.1% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureNYTPSOZDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.9%25.7%55.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.2%29.6%40.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.090.330.63 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.640.721.13 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.0%-32.1%-80.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.4%-5.8%-6.4% -0.9%
52-week high $85.86$18.40$59.13 $779.14
52-week low $56.09$12.06$26.51 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleNYTPSOZD
P/E now vs peer median 28.5xmedian 18.7x 25.6xmedian 18.7x 3.1xmedian 18.7x
P/S now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 0.6x 2.3xmedian 0.6x 1.5xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.7xmedian 10.6x —median 10.6x 4.2xmedian 10.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.8xmedian 8.9x 13.3xmedian 8.9x 6.1xmedian 8.9x
P/B now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 1.6x 2.2xmedian 1.6x 0.9xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.92median 0.49 —median 0.49 0.03median 0.49

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsNYTPSOZD
Revenue $2.98B – $1.32B
Gross profit $1.53B – $1.12B
Operating income $475.01M – $72.68M
Net income $392.83M – $643.49M
Free cash flow $623.02M – $316.73M
R&D $274.41M – $57.65M
EPS (diluted) $2.41 – $17.69
Cash & equivalents $232.66M $448.46M $1.61B
Total debt – $1.99B $867.64M
Shares (diluted) 163.04M 660.30M 36.38M
Enterprise value $8.59B $8.15B -$1.27B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricNYTPSOZD
P/E 28.5x 25.6x 3.1x
P/FCF 17.8x 13.3x 6.1x
P/Operating cash flow 16.9x – 4.3x
P/S 3.7x 2.3x 1.5x
P/B 5.4x 2.2x 0.9x
P/Tangible book 6.1x 2.9x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 18.7x – 4.2x
EV/EBIT 22.0x – 16.5x
EV/Revenue 3.5x – 0.9x
EV/FCF 16.8x – 3.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.9x – 2.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.92 – 0.03

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNYTPSOZD
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.8% – -0.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.0% – -1.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.8% – -2.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.9% – -1.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 22.3% – -6.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 27.8% – -27.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 22.6% – 873.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 30.6% – 89.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 23.6% – 1,055%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.1% – 106.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.4% – 31.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 37.3% – 14.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.9% – 35.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 40.3% – 18.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNYTPSOZD
Gross margin 51.4% – 84.9%
EBITDA margin 18.8% – 21.5%
Operating margin 16.0% – 5.5%
Pretax margin 16.8% – -1.9%
Net margin 13.2% – 48.6%
FCF margin 20.9% – 23.9%
Operating cash flow margin 22.1% – 33.8%
Return on equity 19.4% – 33.5%
Return on assets 13.4% – 17.9%
Return on invested capital – – 2.6%
Return on capital employed 20.9% – 2.7%
Asset turnover 1.0x – 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x – 0.7x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% – 3.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNYTPSOZD
Debt / assets – 22.9% 21.7%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA – – -2.6x
Debt / FCF – – 2.7x
Liabilities / assets 31.4% 43.3% 44.0%
Equity / assets 68.6% 56.7% 56.0%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 1.6x 2.0x 2.2x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.3x 2.1x
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.4x 1.7x
Altman Z-score 10.03 – 2.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNYTPSOZD
Dividend yield 1.3% 2.0% –
Net buyback yield 1.6% – 14.2%
Shareholder yield 2.8% 2.0% 14.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 32.1% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 20.3% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 33.6% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 26.0% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusNYTPSOZD
Forward P/E 25.5xFY2026 19.5xFY2026 10.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.71FY2026 $0.89FY2026 $5.44FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.2%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 -17.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.8% +23.6% +4.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.24BFY2026 $5.14BFY2026 $1.15BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +6.8%FY2026 -20.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.7% +6.6% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNYTPSOZD
Held by institutions 100.0% 4.1% 100.0%
Institutions holding 630 213 267
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% +3.0% -2.6%
Institutions buying 313 138 116
Institutions selling 223 36 106
Buyers to sellers 1.40 3.83 1.09

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

NYTPSOZD
NYT 1.00 0.22 0.09
PSO 0.22 1.00 0.20
ZD 0.09 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NYT, PSO and ZD?

New York Times (NYT) is the largest by market capitalisation: New York Times (NYT) $11.10B, Pearson (PSO) $11.02B, Ziff Davis (ZD) $1.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, NYT, PSO and ZD?

Ziff Davis (ZD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (New York Times (NYT) 28.5x, Pearson (PSO) 25.6x, Ziff Davis (ZD) 3.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ziff Davis (ZD) is cheapest (New York Times (NYT) 25.5x, Pearson (PSO) 19.5x, Ziff Davis (ZD) 10.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

New York Times (NYT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: New York Times (NYT) +10.8%, Ziff Davis (ZD) -0.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ziff Davis (ZD) has the highest net margin (New York Times (NYT) 13.2%, Ziff Davis (ZD) 48.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ziff Davis (ZD) returned the most: New York Times (NYT) +20.5%, Pearson (PSO) +18.5%, Ziff Davis (ZD) +62.8%. Over five years, Pearson (PSO) compounded fastest (New York Times (NYT) +4.9%/yr, Pearson (PSO) +15.9%/yr, Ziff Davis (ZD) -15.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Pearson (PSO) has the highest dividend yield: New York Times (NYT) 1.26%, Pearson (PSO) 2.02%, Ziff Davis (ZD) 0.00%. Ziff Davis (ZD) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Pearson (PSO) has been the steadiest (New York Times (NYT) 31.9%, Pearson (PSO) 25.7%, Ziff Davis (ZD) 55.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NYT, PSO and ZD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ziff Davis (ZD) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.