One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$14.78 our estimate vs market $1.67
89% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Douglas Elliman Inc.
DOUG · NYQ · Real Estate · Real Estate Services
Current price
$1.67
52-week range
$1.38 - $3.03
Market cap
$151.79M
Balance sheet
Healthy
-6.36x Concerning
Net cash $8.09M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Returns 15.9% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 2/10 years.
- Risk Forward P/E (18.6x) is higher than trailing (5.8x) - earnings are expected to drop.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 18.5% (peer median: 24.8%).
What this company does
Douglas Elliman Inc.
Douglas Elliman Inc. is a real estate company that helps people buy and sell homes across the U.S. and even internationally, also offering services like property management to make owning a home easier. Their main income comes from commissions earned when a property is sold, which is important because it means their success is tied to how active the housing market is.
How the company got here
Douglas Elliman started in 1911 as a small brokerage in Manhattan, founded by Douglas L. Elliman. Over the decades, it grew and changed hands several times, even operating under the Prudential name for a period. A significant turning point was its acquisition by Vector Group's subsidiary, New Valley LLC, in 2003. In 2012, the company returned to its original name, Douglas Elliman. More recently, in December 2021, it became an independent company after being spun off from Vector Group. This journey has established Douglas Elliman as a major player in the U.S. real estate services market, particularly known for its focus on luxury properties.
What it actually does
Douglas Elliman is essentially a service company that helps people buy, sell, and manage real estate. Think of them as a high-end real estate agency. They connect buyers with sellers, and their agents guide clients through the complex process of real estate transactions. Beyond just sales, they also offer services like property management, which means they can handle the day-to-day running of a property for an owner, and title and escrow services, which are crucial steps in finalizing a property sale. They also have a division focused on marketing and selling new developments, working with builders from the start of a project.
Real Estate Brokerage
This is the core of Douglas Elliman's business. It involves a large network of real estate agents who help clients buy and sell homes, apartments, and other properties. They primarily focus on the luxury market, meaning they deal with high-value properties in desirable locations, especially in major metropolitan areas like New York City, Florida, and California. The company makes money by earning a commission, which is a percentage of the sale price, from these transactions. This segment represents the largest portion of the company's revenue.
Development Marketing
Douglas Elliman's Development Marketing division works with real estate developers to help sell new properties that are still under construction or have just been built. They act as the marketing and sales arm for these new projects, essentially helping developers find buyers before or as the buildings are completed. This service is crucial for developers as it helps them secure sales early on, which can fund further construction and reduce financial risk. This segment is a smaller but important part of Douglas Elliman's overall business.
Property Management
Through its property management services, Douglas Elliman takes on the responsibilities of overseeing real estate properties on behalf of owners. This can include tasks like collecting rent, arranging for maintenance and repairs, and handling tenant relations. Essentially, they act as a landlord's representative, ensuring that the property is well-maintained and profitable for the owner. This service provides a steady stream of income for Douglas Elliman, separate from the commissions earned on property sales.
Ancillary Services
Beyond the main areas of brokerage and development marketing, Douglas Elliman offers a range of other services that support real estate transactions. These include title services, which verify ownership of a property, and escrow services, which hold funds and documents securely during a sale until all conditions are met. They also provide services related to trusts, conservatorships, and probate real estate, which are specialized areas dealing with properties in legal or estate-related situations. These services add value for clients and create additional revenue streams for the company.
What management is betting on now
Douglas Elliman's leadership is focused on strengthening its position as a leader in the luxury real estate market. They are investing heavily in technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, to improve efficiency for their agents and enhance the client experience. The company is also expanding its global reach by entering new international markets, aiming to connect with more high-net-worth clients worldwide. Management believes that by focusing on technology, talent, and strategic geographic expansion, they can create a more powerful platform for long-term growth and deliver value to shareholders, even as the real estate industry experiences changes.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$7.68M
FY2024 Q4
$-10.24M
FY2025 Q1
$-6.65M
FY2025 Q2
$-575.00K
FY2025 Q3
$4.69M
FY2025 Q4
$-14.70M
FY2026 Q1
$-19.60M
FY2026 Q2
$10.92M
Revenue
$283.45M
Net income
$-2.73M
Diluted EPS
-0.03
Operating cash flow
$11.60M
Free cash flow
$10.92M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$214.33M
Net income
$-16.28M
Diluted EPS
-0.19
Operating cash flow
$-19.34M
Free cash flow
$-19.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$245.45M
Net income
$68.57M
Diluted EPS
0.80
Operating cash flow
$-14.38M
Free cash flow
$-14.70M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$262.84M
Net income
$-24.69M
Diluted EPS
-0.29
Operating cash flow
$5.48M
Free cash flow
$4.69M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$271.37M
Net income
$-22.67M
Diluted EPS
-0.27
Operating cash flow
$642.00K
Free cash flow
$-575.00K
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$253.40M
Net income
$-5.99M
Diluted EPS
-0.07
Operating cash flow
$-5.62M
Free cash flow
$-6.65M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$243.32M
Net income
$-6.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.06
Operating cash flow
$-8.97M
Free cash flow
$-10.24M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$266.32M
Net income
$-27.18M
Diluted EPS
-0.33
Operating cash flow
$8.99M
Free cash flow
$7.68M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $14.78 vs current price $1.67
Our most-likely fair value is $14.78 a share — about 785.0% above today's price of $1.67, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $8.1M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage -6.4x.
Net debt
$-8.09M
Interest coverage
-6.36x
Douglas Elliman Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 3 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
DOUG
BASELINE
Douglas Elliman Inc.
Total debt $98.53M Interest coverage -6.36x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $4.11B Interest coverage -3.13x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $0.00 Interest coverage -15.34x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $29.60M Interest coverage -22.81x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
What you should know
The case for and against DOUG
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Returns 15.9% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 2/10 years.
-
Trades at 5.8x P/E vs peer median 167.3x (96.6% cheaper).
Risks
-
Forward P/E (18.6x) is higher than trailing (5.8x) - earnings are expected to drop.
-
Insider ownership is only 18.5% (peer median: 24.8%).
-
Operating margin compressed from -0.4% to -1.1% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
5.76x
Forward P/E
18.56x
P/B
0.91x
P/S
0.15x
EV/EBITDA
-11.53x
PEG ratio
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Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
100.0%
Operating margin
-1.1%
Net margin
2.5%
ROE
15.9%
ROA
-2.8%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.59x
Current ratio
1.52x
Quick ratio
1.36x
Total debt
$98.53M
Total cash
$106.62M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.01B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-6.5%
EPS TTM
0.29
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$-16.64M
Free CF TTM
$-17.23M
FCF margin
-1.7%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
2023-03-22