One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$14.81 our estimate vs market $1.60
89% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Douglas Elliman Inc.
DOUG · NYQ · Real Estate · Real Estate Services
Current price
$1.60
52-week range
$1.53 - $3.19
Market cap
$145.42M
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
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 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 (17.8x) is higher than trailing (5.5x) - earnings are expected to drop.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from -0.4% to -1.1% over 3 years.
What this company does
Douglas Elliman Inc.
Douglas Elliman is a real estate company that helps people buy and sell homes, focusing heavily on luxury properties. The company makes most of its money by earning a commission (a percentage of the home's sale price) each time one of its agents closes a deal. Because its revenue is tied to these transactions, its success is closely linked to the overall health and activity of the housing market.
How the company got here
Founded in 1911 by Douglas L. Elliman, the company started in a basement on Madison Avenue in Manhattan with the idea that New Yorkers would prefer to live in luxury apartments sold and managed by a single company. After a series of ownership changes, it became part of the Vector Group. In December 2021, Douglas Elliman was spun off and became an independent, publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Today, it is one of the largest residential real estate brokerage firms in the United States, known for its focus on high-end properties.
What it actually does
Douglas Elliman primarily helps people buy and sell luxury homes. Think of them as the real estate agents for very expensive properties in major cities and vacation spots. Their agents, who are independent contractors, earn a commission (a percentage of the sale price) when a deal closes. The company also offers services that support these transactions, like property management and assistance with titles and mortgages.
Real Estate Brokerage
This is the company's main business and where most of its money comes from. When you see a Douglas Elliman sign in front of a high-end home, this is the part of the company at work. Agents affiliated with the company represent buyers and sellers in real estate transactions. The company makes money by taking a share of the commission (the fee paid when a property is sold) earned by its agents. This segment is focused on luxury markets like New York City, Florida, and California, where home prices are very high.
Development Marketing
This division works with real estate developers who are building new luxury properties, like condominium towers. The team provides advice on planning, marketing, and selling these new developments from the very beginning of the project. Instead of selling one existing home at a time, this group is responsible for selling out an entire new building, which can take several years. This provides a pipeline of future sales for the company's agents.
Ancillary Services
To support its main brokerage business, the company offers a handful of related services. This includes things like title insurance (which protects a new owner against claims to the property's ownership) and escrow services (where a neutral third party holds funds during a transaction). While this is a much smaller part of the company's revenue, it allows them to earn a little more from each real estate deal their agents are involved in.
What management is betting on now
The company is focused on strengthening its position in the luxury real estate market and expanding internationally. They are also investing in technology, including artificial intelligence tools, to make their agents more efficient and improve the experience for their clients. Management is also focused on financial discipline, aiming to grow the business while carefully managing costs. Another key area is growing their related businesses, like mortgage and title services, to capture more of the spending around a home sale.
How the company got here
Founded in 1911 by Douglas L. Elliman, the company started in a basement on Madison Avenue in Manhattan with the idea that New Yorkers would prefer to live in luxury apartments sold and managed by a single company. After a series of ownership changes, it became part of the Vector Group. In December 2021, Douglas Elliman was spun off and became an independent, publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Today, it is one of the largest residential real estate brokerage firms in the United States, known for its focus on high-end properties.
What it actually does
Douglas Elliman primarily helps people buy and sell luxury homes. Think of them as the real estate agents for very expensive properties in major cities and vacation spots. Their agents, who are independent contractors, earn a commission (a percentage of the sale price) when a deal closes. The company also offers services that support these transactions, like property management and assistance with titles and mortgages.
Real Estate Brokerage
This is the company's main business and where most of its money comes from. When you see a Douglas Elliman sign in front of a high-end home, this is the part of the company at work. Agents affiliated with the company represent buyers and sellers in real estate transactions. The company makes money by taking a share of the commission (the fee paid when a property is sold) earned by its agents. This segment is focused on luxury markets like New York City, Florida, and California, where home prices are very high.
Development Marketing
This division works with real estate developers who are building new luxury properties, like condominium towers. The team provides advice on planning, marketing, and selling these new developments from the very beginning of the project. Instead of selling one existing home at a time, this group is responsible for selling out an entire new building, which can take several years. This provides a pipeline of future sales for the company's agents.
Ancillary Services
To support its main brokerage business, the company offers a handful of related services. This includes things like title insurance (which protects a new owner against claims to the property's ownership) and escrow services (where a neutral third party holds funds during a transaction). While this is a much smaller part of the company's revenue, it allows them to earn a little more from each real estate deal their agents are involved in.
What management is betting on now
The company is focused on strengthening its position in the luxury real estate market and expanding internationally. They are also investing in technology, including artificial intelligence tools, to make their agents more efficient and improve the experience for their clients. Management is also focused on financial discipline, aiming to grow the business while carefully managing costs. Another key area is growing their related businesses, like mortgage and title services, to capture more of the spending around a home sale.
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 $14.81 vs current price $1.60
Our most-likely fair value is $14.81 a share — about 825.9% above today's price of $1.60, 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
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Returns 15.9% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 2/10 years.
-
Trades at 5.5x P/E vs peer median 168.8x (96.7% cheaper).
Risks
-
Forward P/E (17.8x) is higher than trailing (5.5x) - earnings are expected to drop.
-
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)
5.52x
Forward P/E
17.78x
P/B
0.87x
P/S
0.14x
EV/EBITDA
-11.68x
PEG ratio
—
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
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
2023-03-22