Ziff Davis (ZD) UBS’s 2025 Global Technology and AI Conference summary

Company overview and business structure

• Operates five divisions: tech and shopping, gaming and entertainment, health and wellness, connectivity, and cybersecurity/MarTech, each serving distinct global digital communities.

• Emphasizes digital, internet-based, and often global operations with a strong focus on profitability and cash flow.

• Maintains a disciplined financial model, recycling cash flow into M&A to drive growth.

• Each division is led by its own president, finance, and technology leadership, operating with a decentralized structure.

Capital allocation and value creation

• Focuses on four pillars: reinvestment in business, balance sheet strength, shareholder returns (mainly buybacks), and M&A.

• Increased allocation to stock buybacks in recent years due to perceived undervaluation in the public market.

• Deployed over $100 million to buybacks and less than $70 million to M&A in 2025, with seven acquisitions closed, mostly small in scale.

• Maintains a leverage guideline of under 3x gross debt, currently well below that level.

Segment performance and reporting changes

• Shifted from two to five reportable segments in February to provide greater transparency and unlock value.

• Health and wellness and connectivity divisions are showing strong growth and higher implied multiples.

• Cybersecurity and MarTech returned to revenue growth in the latest quarter, driven by improvements in both enterprise and consumer privacy businesses.

• Everyday Health leverages authoritative content and partnerships to connect pharma and consumer communities, supporting double-digit revenue growth and high margins.