One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$94.52 our estimate vs market $16.52
Wall Street consensus: $22.80 (-75.9% lower than our fair-value estimate)
83% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
QuinStreet, Inc.
QNST · NMS · Communication Services · Advertising Agencies
Current price
$16.52
52-week range
$10.29 - $22.29
Market cap
$945.33M
Balance sheet
Healthy
8.06x Adequate
Net cash $50.66M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 110.9% last year.
- Reward Returns 28.6% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 3.3% (peer median: 5.8%).
What this company does
QuinStreet, Inc.
QuinStreet helps other businesses find new customers online by showing ads and connecting interested people to services like insurance or education. Their main money source is from these marketing services, and understanding how efficiently they do this, looking at their margins (the percentage of money left after paying for services and operations), helps show if they are making a good profit from each customer they bring in.
How the company got here
QuinStreet was founded in 1999 with the idea of using the internet to more efficiently connect consumers with businesses looking for customers. It started by focusing on industries where people make important decisions, like education and financial services. Over the years, the company grew by acquiring other online marketing businesses and developing its own platforms. A key turning point was the strategic acquisition of Modernize in 2020, which significantly expanded its presence in the home services sector, creating a second major growth area alongside its established financial services business.
What it actually does
QuinStreet is essentially an online advertising company that specializes in 'performance marketing.' This means instead of just showing ads, they focus on delivering actual results for their clients, like getting someone to click a link, fill out a form (a 'lead'), make a phone call, or even become a customer. They operate online marketplaces where consumers who are actively researching products or services, like insurance or home repair, are matched with companies that can provide those services. QuinStreet makes money by charging these companies for these qualified connections.
Financial Services
This is one of QuinStreet's core business areas, where they help connect consumers with financial products and services. Think of it like this: when you're looking for car insurance, a credit card, or a personal loan, you might end up on one of QuinStreet's websites. They gather information about what you're looking for and then match you with financial companies that offer those specific products. The financial companies then pay QuinStreet for sending them potential customers who are actively looking to buy.
Home Services
This segment focuses on connecting homeowners with companies that provide various home improvement and repair services. When someone needs to find a contractor for a new roof, windows, or an HVAC system, QuinStreet's platforms help them find and connect with service providers. QuinStreet then gets paid by these home service companies for delivering qualified leads – homeowners who have expressed interest in their services. This business line has grown significantly, especially after the acquisition of Modernize, becoming a major part of QuinStreet's overall revenue.
What management is betting on now
QuinStreet's management is focused on growing its two main business lines: financial services and home services. They are heavily investing in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to make their matching process even more precise and efficient. This AI helps them better understand what consumers need and connect them with the right companies, while also improving how they acquire and manage online traffic. The company is also looking to grow through strategic acquisitions, like the purchase of HomeBuddy, to further expand its reach and capabilities in its key markets.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2025 Q1
$-14.14M
FY2025 Q2
$38.23M
FY2025 Q3
$29.47M
FY2025 Q4
$29.35M
FY2026 Q1
$18.43M
FY2026 Q2
$20.73M
FY2026 Q3
$36.40M
FY2026 Q4
$52.35M
Revenue
$373.88M
Net income
$19.11M
Diluted EPS
0.32
Operating cash flow
$53.15M
Free cash flow
$52.35M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$346.14M
Net income
$7.36M
Diluted EPS
0.13
Operating cash flow
$36.93M
Free cash flow
$36.40M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$287.85M
Net income
$50.23M
Diluted EPS
0.87
Operating cash flow
$21.62M
Free cash flow
$20.73M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$285.85M
Net income
$4.54M
Diluted EPS
0.08
Operating cash flow
$19.60M
Free cash flow
$18.43M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$262.05M
Net income
$3.21M
Diluted EPS
0.05
Operating cash flow
$29.90M
Free cash flow
$29.35M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$269.84M
Net income
$4.42M
Diluted EPS
0.08
Operating cash flow
$30.11M
Free cash flow
$29.47M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$282.60M
Net income
$-1.55M
Diluted EPS
-0.03
Operating cash flow
$38.68M
Free cash flow
$38.23M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$279.22M
Net income
$-1.37M
Diluted EPS
-0.02
Operating cash flow
$-13.71M
Free cash flow
$-14.14M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $94.52 vs current price $16.52
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $22.80 (-75.9% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $94.52 a share — about 472.2% above today's price of $16.52, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $50.7M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 8.1x.
Net debt
$-50.66M
Interest coverage
8.06x
QuinStreet, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 8.1 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
QNST
BASELINE
QuinStreet, Inc.
Total debt $77.66M Interest coverage 8.06x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $1.94M Interest coverage 18.63x +131% vs QNST Carries about 2.3x more debt cushion than QNST.
Total debt $12.20M Interest coverage 108.67x +1,248% vs QNST Carries about 13.5x more debt cushion than QNST.
Total debt $157.40M Interest coverage 9.38x +16% vs QNST Carries about 1.2x more debt cushion than QNST.
Total debt $356.09M Interest coverage 0.58x -93% vs QNST Carries about 13.9x less debt cushion than QNST.
Total debt $22.09M Interest coverage -20.30x -100% vs QNST This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with QNST.
What you should know
The case for and against QNST
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 110.9% last year.
-
Returns 28.6% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 3.3% (peer median: 5.8%).
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)
11.80x
Forward P/E
8.82x
P/B
2.89x
P/S
0.73x
EV/EBITDA
15.24x
PEG ratio
1.13x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
11.3%
Operating margin
5.1%
Net margin
6.3%
ROE
28.6%
ROA
4.7%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.24x
Current ratio
1.22x
Quick ratio
1.19x
Total debt
$77.66M
Total cash
$128.31M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.29B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
22.3%
EPS TTM
1.40
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$131.30M
Free CF TTM
$127.91M
FCF margin
9.9%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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