What Happened?
Shares of digital media company Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD) fell 12% in the morning session after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter 2025 financial results that missed Wall Street's expectations for both revenue and profit.
The digital media company's revenue for the quarter fell 1.5% year on year to $406.7 million, falling short of analyst forecasts of $414.8 million. On the profit side, adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.56, which was also below the consensus estimate of $2.70. While the company's operating margin improved from the same quarter last year, the misses on the key top and bottom-line metrics signaled soft demand. The earnings report concluded that it was a "weaker quarter" with few positives, prompting a significant negative reaction from investors.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Ziff Davis’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Ziff Davis and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock dropped 4.5% on the news that the Trump administration's announcement of new global tariffs, reignited trade policy uncertainty.
The move came swiftly after the Supreme Court ruled the previous week that the president could not use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for such duties, a decision that had initially sent markets higher. However, the administration invoked a different authority, the Trade Act of 1974, to impose a 15% global tariff for up to 150 days. The rapid reimposition of trade barriers creates significant uncertainty for companies across multiple sectors that depend on international supply chains and global trade. Investors are now weighing the potential impact of these new duties on corporate earnings and broader economic activity.
Ziff Davis is down 23.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $26.06 per share, it is trading 45.7% below its 52-week high of $48.02 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Ziff Davis’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $229.91.
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