VALU vs ZD vs DJCO Stock Comparison

Value Line, Ziff Davis and Daily Journal Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
VALU Value Line Inc
$41.64 +3.2% 1M +12.3% 1Y
Market cap
$397.70M
P/E
20.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$32.89M
Div. yield
0.03%
Publishing Communication Services
2 wins
ZD Ziff Davis, Inc.
$55.95 -0.7% 1M +65.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.99B
P/E
3.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.32B
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
4 wins
DJCO Daily Journal Corp
$628.67 -4.4% 1M +48.8% 1Y
Market cap
$858.46M
P/E
22.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$98.33M
Div. yield
–
Publishing Communication Services
3 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Ziff Davis leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Ziff Davis 4, Daily Journal 3, Value Line 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVALUZDDJCOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $397.70M $1.99B $858.46M ZD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.1x 3.1x 22.8x ZD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 10.3x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -5.5% -0.7% +24.2% DJCO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 60.3% 48.6% 38.3% VALU
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 2.6% 3.0% DJCO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -2.6x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +12.3% +65.9% +48.8% ZD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.9%/yr -15.3%/yr +12.9%/yr DJCO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 34.7% 55.7% 45.0% VALU
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 89/100 71/100 ZD

Percentile Scorecard

VALUZDDJCO

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

AxisVALUZDDJCO
Valuation 31 #37 of 53 96 #3 of 53 21 #42 of 53
Growth 26 #33 of 44 86 #7 of 44 79 #10 of 44
Profitability 76 #11 of 42 73 #12 of 42 85 #7 of 42
Financial Health 93 #5 of 61 88 #8 of 61 98 #2 of 61
Shareholder Returns 28 #19 of 26 100 #1 of 26 –
Overall 51 89 71
  • VALU ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • ZD ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • DJCO 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

PeriodVALUZDDJCOSPY
1 month +3.2%-0.7%-4.4% +0.7%
3 months +19.7%+6.3%+5.7% +3.7%
6 months +18.3%+22.3%+18.9% +7.1%
Year to date +8.4%+59.2%+29.0% +12.8%
1 year +12.3%+65.9%+48.8% +11.9%
3 years +7.9%-5.2%+113.8% +85.2%
3 years, per year +2.6%-1.8%+28.9% +22.8%
5 years +20.9%-56.4%+83.2% +67.6%
5 years, per year +3.9%-15.3%+12.9% +10.9%
10 years +131.3%-9.2%+196.5% +262.0%
10 years, per year +8.7%-1.0%+11.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureVALUZDDJCOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 34.7%55.7%45.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.7%40.8%49.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.080.620.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.361.181.09 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -68.3%-80.1%-40.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.3%-5.4%-7.1% -1.2%
52-week high $44.44$59.13$677.05 $779.14
52-week low $32.00$26.51$382.57 $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.

MultipleVALUZDDJCO
P/E now vs peer median 19.7xmedian 18.7x 3.2xmedian 18.7x 23.0xmedian 18.7x
P/S now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 0.6x 1.5xmedian 0.6x 8.8xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 69.7xmedian 10.6x 4.3xmedian 10.6x —median 10.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.0xmedian 9.0x 6.2xmedian 9.0x —median 9.0x
P/B now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.6x 0.9xmedian 1.6x 2.6xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.49 0.03median 0.49 50.95median 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 monthsVALUZDDJCO
Revenue $32.89M $1.32B $98.33M
Gross profit – $1.12B $97.73M
Operating income $3.56M $72.68M $13.57M
Net income $19.83M $643.49M $37.71M
Free cash flow $17.73M $316.73M –
R&D – $57.65M –
EPS (diluted) – $17.69 $27.37
Cash & equivalents $16.02M $1.61B $31.13M
Total debt – $867.64M $830.00K
Shares (diluted) – 36.38M 1.38M
Enterprise value $145.01M -$1.21B -$1.05B

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
MetricVALUZDDJCO
P/E 19.7x 3.2x 23.0x
P/FCF 22.0x 6.2x –
P/Operating cash flow 22.0x 4.4x –
P/S 11.9x 1.5x 8.8x
P/B 3.6x 0.9x 2.6x
P/Tangible book 3.6x 1.0x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 69.7x 4.3x –
EV/EBIT 94.8x 16.8x 31.7x
EV/Revenue 10.3x 0.9x 4.4x
EV/FCF 19.1x 3.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow 19.1x 2.7x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.03 50.95

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVALUZDDJCO
Revenue growth (1Y) -5.5% -0.7% 24.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.9% -1.2% 15.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -2.1% 24.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -1.8% 15.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -36.8% -6.2% 103.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -32.7% -27.1% 25.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.7% 873.6% -61.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.4% 89.4% 0.4%
EPS growth (1Y) – 1,055% -61.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 106.0% 0.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -15.7% 31.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.3% 14.5% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -15.0% 35.9% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.3% 18.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVALUZDDJCO
Gross margin – 84.9% 99.4%
EBITDA margin 14.7% 21.5% –
Operating margin 10.8% 5.5% 13.8%
Pretax margin 40.5% -1.9% 48.7%
Net margin 60.3% 48.6% 38.3%
FCF margin 53.9% 23.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 53.9% 33.8% –
Return on equity 5.5% 33.5% 10.5%
Return on assets 3.9% 17.9% 7.5%
Return on invested capital – 2.6% 3.0%
Return on capital employed 2.7% 2.7% 2.9%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.4x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.9x 0.7x –
Stock comp / revenue – 3.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVALUZDDJCO
Debt / assets – 21.7% 0.2%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – -2.6x –
Debt / FCF – 2.7x –
Liabilities / assets 28.5% 44.0% 28.4%
Equity / assets 71.5% 56.0% 71.6%
Interest coverage – – 12.1x
Current ratio 4.1x 2.2x 11.6x
Quick ratio 2.4x 2.1x 11.4x
Cash ratio 2.4x 1.7x 11.0x
Altman Z-score 7.35 2.05 6.25

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVALUZDDJCO
Dividend yield 3.3% – –
Net buyback yield 0.2% 14.1% –
Shareholder yield 3.6% 14.1% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 62.8% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 70.2% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 7.9% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.6% – –

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.

ConsensusVALUZDDJCO
Forward P/E – 10.3xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year – $5.44FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY – -17.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +4.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year – $1.15BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY – -20.6%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after – +0.6% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVALUZDDJCO
Held by institutions 5.6% 100.0% 78.1%
Institutions holding 53 267 132
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.8% -2.6% -2.1%
Institutions buying 16 116 65
Institutions selling 18 106 35
Buyers to sellers 0.89 1.09 1.86

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.

VALUZDDJCO
VALU 1.00 0.01 0.21
ZD 0.01 1.00 0.20
DJCO 0.21 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VALU, ZD and DJCO?

Ziff Davis (ZD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Value Line (VALU) $397.70M, Ziff Davis (ZD) $1.99B, Daily Journal (DJCO) $858.46M.

Which stock is cheaper, VALU, ZD and DJCO?

Ziff Davis (ZD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Value Line (VALU) 20.1x, Ziff Davis (ZD) 3.1x, Daily Journal (DJCO) 22.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Daily Journal (DJCO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Value Line (VALU) -5.5%, Ziff Davis (ZD) -0.7%, Daily Journal (DJCO) +24.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Value Line (VALU) has the highest net margin (Value Line (VALU) 60.3%, Ziff Davis (ZD) 48.6%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 38.3%). On return on invested capital, Daily Journal (DJCO) leads (Ziff Davis (ZD) 2.6%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 3.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ziff Davis (ZD) returned the most: Value Line (VALU) +12.3%, Ziff Davis (ZD) +65.9%, Daily Journal (DJCO) +48.8%. Over five years, Daily Journal (DJCO) compounded fastest (Value Line (VALU) +3.9%/yr, Ziff Davis (ZD) -15.3%/yr, Daily Journal (DJCO) +12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Value Line (VALU) 0.03%, Ziff Davis (ZD) 0.00%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 0.00%. Ziff Davis (ZD) and Daily Journal (DJCO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Value Line (VALU) has been the steadiest (Value Line (VALU) 34.7%, Ziff Davis (ZD) 55.7%, Daily Journal (DJCO) 45.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, VALU, ZD and DJCO?

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 4. 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.