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A digital media and internet company behind familiar sites and tools like CNET, PCMag, IGN, and the Speedtest app that measures your internet connection. Its roots go back to a Chicago publishing house founded in 1927 by William Ziff and Bernard Davis, which began with hobbyist magazines like Amazing Stories. The modern company grew from j2 Global, which bought the Ziff Davis name in 2012 and later renamed itself after that original publisher.
Ziff Davis closed the $1.2B Connectivity sale, recording an $860.6M gain, while a $54.8M Health & Wellness goodwill impairment drove a continuing-operations loss.
The Connectivity sale closed, flooding the balance sheet with cash but removing a business from . from what remains fell 2.7% to $286.7M and a $54.8M in Health & Wellness pushed continuing operations to an operating loss of $44.7M. The company is now a smaller, cash-rich entity with $1.6B on hand, but its core segments are contracting and writing down assets.
Key takeaways
The sale of the Connectivity business closed on June 17, 2026 for $1.2B in cash, generating a pre-tax gain of $860.6M and contributing $601.5M in from , which is the primary driver of the quarter's $624.5M reported net income.
A $54.8M non-cash was recorded in the Health & Wellness after declining results and reduced forecasts in one reporting unit, pushing consolidated from to a loss of $44.7M.
Section summaries
Management's Discussion and Analysis
Q2 2026 revenue fell 2.7% to $286.7M; a $54.8M Health & Wellness goodwill impairment drove a net loss from continuing operations.
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Consolidated decreased 2.7% to $286.7M, driven by an $11.5M decline in advertising and performance marketing across Technology & Shopping, Gaming & Entertainment, and Health & Wellness.
Consolidated from fell 2.7% to $286.7M, driven by an $11.5M decline in advertising and performance marketing across Technology & Shopping, Gaming & Entertainment, and Health & Wellness.
Direct costs rose 12.4% to $45.7M due to higher cloud computing, software, and campaign fulfillment costs, while sales and marketing expenses fell 3.8% to $122.2M.
Cash and equivalents rose to $1.6B following the Connectivity sale, and the company repurchased 3.8M shares for $168.6M during the first half of 2026.
Cybersecurity & Martech grew 9.3% to $13.4M, aided by a $4.3M decline in indirect tax expense from the expiration of certain statutes of limitations.
What changed
The Connectivity sale flagged in Q1 2026 closed, delivering the $1.2B in cash and removing the 's earnings from ; the remaining segments must now carry the income statement alone.
The risk at two Technology & Shopping reporting units with $321.9M in and zero fair-value cushion, flagged repeatedly since FY 2024, did not materialize this quarter — instead, a new $54.8M struck Health & Wellness, a that had been the company's primary growth engine.
Health & Wellness , which fell 49.2% in Q1 2026, deteriorated further: the recorded a and management cited declining results and reduced forecasts, suggesting the Q1 cost pressures were not a one-quarter event.
The $149.1M in debt maturing in 2026, flagged in every recent filing, remains outstanding; the company now holds $1.6B in cash and equivalents, giving it ample capacity to retire the debt but no disclosure yet on whether it will do so or at what rate any refinancing would occur.
The TDS Gift Cards working-capital drag that had swung from quarter to quarter is no longer discussed, as the Connectivity sale and reclassification appear to have removed that dynamic from .
What to watch
Whether the $1.6B in cash is deployed for debt retirement, share repurchases, or acquisitions — and whether the remaining segments can generate without the Connectivity earnings that are now gone.
Whether the Health & Wellness reporting unit that triggered the $54.8M faces further write-downs, and whether the two Technology & Shopping units with $321.9M in and zero fair-value cushion remain at risk.
Whether advertising and performance marketing stabilizes after the $11.5M decline this quarter, or whether traffic pressures on affiliate commerce and programmatic display continue to erode the top line.
The outcome of the lawsuits against OpenAI and Google, and whether generative AI materially reduces traffic or as the company has warned it could.
A $54.8M non-cash was recorded in the Health & Wellness following declining results and reduced forecasts in one reporting unit.
Direct costs rose 12.4% to $45.7M due to higher cloud computing, software, and campaign fulfillment costs, while sales and marketing expenses fell 3.8% to $122.2M.
The sale of the Connectivity business closed on June 17, 2026 for $1.2B in cash, generating a pre-tax gain of $860.6M and significantly boosting from .
Cash and equivalents surged to $1.6B following the Connectivity sale; the company repurchased 3.8M shares for $168.6M during the first half of 2026.
Cybersecurity & Martech grew 9.3% to $13.4M, helped by a $4.3M decline in indirect tax expense from the expiration of certain statutes of limitations.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest rate risk is limited to cash investments and potential variable-rate draws; foreign currency risk arises from international subsidiaries but remains unhedged.
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Cash equivalents of $1.6B are in short-term instruments with maturities of three months or less, limiting interest rate sensitivity.
Outstanding of $867.6M carries fixed rates, but refinancing risk exists as $149.1M matures in 2026 and rates have risen since issuance.
The bears variable interest, but no draws were made during the six months ended June 30, 2026.
Foreign currency exposure stems primarily from intercompany debt and investments in subsidiaries using the Canadian Dollar, British Pound, Euro, and Nordic currencies.
The company does not use derivative instruments for hedging interest rate or foreign currency risk, though it may do so in the future.
Foreign exchange gains (losses) from continuing operations swung from a $2.4M gain in Q2 2025 to a $0.9M loss in Q2 2026.
On April 24, 2025, the Company and certain of its subsidiaries filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging copyright infringement, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and unjust enrichment as a re…
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On April 24, 2025, the Company and certain of its subsidiaries filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging copyright infringement, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and unjust enrichment as a result of OpenAI’s unlawful and unauthorized copying and use of the Company’s content. The Company is seeking monetary, injunctive and other relief. On May 14, 2025, the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation consolidated our case with others pending against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York. Although we intend to pursue all of our legal remedies in the litigation, there is no guarantee that we will be successful.
On February 6, 2026, the Company filed a lawsuit against Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging violations of antitrust laws, unlawful deceptive acts or practices, common law fraud and unjust enrichment, related to publisher ad servers and ad exchanges. The Company is seeking monetary relief, injunctive relief and other relief.
The Company intends to vigorously pursue all of its legal remedies in these litigations, but there is no guarantee that it will be successful in its efforts.
See also our discussion under the caption “Litigation” in Note 9 — Commitments and Contingencies in Item 1 of Part I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which is incorporated herein by reference.