CSGP US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call · transcribed from the recording
CoStar Group (CSGP) · Q3 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $30.27 · 2026-11-11
CoStar Group provides online real estate marketplaces, information, analytics, and 3D digital twin technology. The company serves real estate professionals and consumers across the United States, Australia, Europe, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region. Source: 10-K annual report (2026-02-26)
Results Q3 2026 vs Q2 2026 · previous quarter · published 27 Oct 2026 and 28 Jul 2026
Net income up 34.5% on the previous quarter. Management sounded about as positive as a typical company call, in its script and in answers to analysts.
1 · Numbers
+34.5%
Net income vs Q2 2026
Outlook given
Net income 74.0M vs 55.0M
Revenue +2.9%
2 · How management spoke
Typical
Less upbeat than 55% of company calls
Answers to analysts: upbeat, in line with the script.
Similar to last call.
3 · What stood out
CoStar Group raised its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to a midpoint of $830 million, which is 24% above the $672 million record.
Valuation
Is CoStar Group undervalued?
Reverse DCF. Free cash flow from the last full fiscal year (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 14.2% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $10.43 a share — the stock trades 190% above it. Today's price assumes 29.5% growth a year.
Current price
$30.27
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+29.5% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$10.43
Buy below
$7.82
Price vs fair value
Overvalued 190%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued >200%
Read between the lines
-
Guidance
The company raised its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to a midpoint of $830 million due to savings and the inclusion of Zonda, which is 24% above the $672 million record.
-
Guidance
The company expects to reach its adjusted EBITDA target of $1.25 billion in 2028 due to realized savings.
-
Figure
The company delivered a record quarterly adjusted EBITDA of $229 million, which doubled the prior year and surpassed the previous record of $193 million from Q4 2021.
Source quote
“More importantly, we delivered record quarterly adjusted EBITDA of $229 million, double the prior year and surpassing the previous record of $193 million from Q4 2021.”
-
Figure
Residential revenue grew 23 percent year-over-year to $460 million in Q3.
Source quote
“Residential revenue was $460 million in Q3, up 23 percent year-over-year.”
-
Figure
Since Q1 23, apartments.com revenue has grown by 53% while the sales team has grown by only 21% and is down this year.
Source quote
“Since Q1 23, apartments.com revenue has grown by an impressive 53%, but the sales team has only grown 21% and is down this year.”
4 more
-
Figure
The average sales price increased 58% to $429 in October following the introduction of Platinum.
Source quote
“With the introduction of Platinum, the average sales price increased 58% in October to $429.”
-
Figure
Vexcel generated roughly $140 million in revenue over the last 12 months from multi-year data contracts growing more than 30% with an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 20%.
Source quote
“Vexcel is a strong business with roughly $140 million of revenue in the last 12 months, growing more than 30% on reoccurring multi-year data contracts, and profitable with an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 20%.”
-
Guidance
The company is focusing on short-term improvements to be realized over the next 12 to 18 months to provide confidence in reconfirming their targets.
-
Figure
CSGP can now update all 6.7 million tenant locations every year instead of just a small percentage by using tenant AI agents to combine proprietary research with other sources.
Source quote
“Our tenant AI agents combined four decades of proprietary property level and ground truth from our field researchers with thousands of other sources, so we can now update all 6.7 million tenant locations every year instead of just updating a small percentage.”
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q3 2026. Ring: Q2 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“BizBuySell's Q3 net new subscription revenue grew 282% year-over-year, driven by strong supply-side demand and membership increased 23 percent to a record level.”
“Our renewal rates remained high, but with a growing multi-billion-dollar subscription base, we need to continue to grow high ROI Salesforce headcount.”
“The decline was concentrated in residential as a challenging economic environment compounded by insufficient sales capacity impacted apartments.com and homes.com bookings moderated following the sales force reduction earlier this year.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-09-30)
| Metric | Q3 2026period end 2026-09-30 | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Change | Q3 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 952.0M | 925.0M | +2.9% | 834.0M | +14.1% |
| Gross profit | 741.0M | 728.0M | +1.8% | 662.0M | +11.9% |
| Operating income | 84.0M | 76.0M | +10.5% | -51.0M | Turned profit |
| Net income | 74.0M | 55.0M | +34.5% | -31.0M | Turned profit |
| EPS | 0.18 | 0.14 | +28.6% | -0.07 | Turned profit |
| P/E today 71.0 | 63.7 | 157.3 | −93.6 | 1406.2 | −1342.5 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- With apartments.com, I would imagine it's 80 some percent is in depth advertising.
- New The way CoStar is now capturing corporate America using its proprietary property data and its ground truth inspection of the properties.
- CoStar is generating strong margin expansion while simultaneously investing aggressively in high-potential future revenue drivers.
- Land.com revenue grew 8% year-over-year, and annualized net new bookings increased 22%, driven by 44% growth in...
- On the Market has delivered 29 consecutive months of positive net new bookings.
Faded since Q2 2026
- Fading CoStar expects to deliver the highest full year adjusted EBITDA in CoStar Group's history in '26, and it is confirming its...
- Fading CoStar's perceived competitors sell are basically lead brokers, which is very different.
- Fading No one else is providing marketing listings the way CoStar does.
- Fading There is not a material cost differential between the folks in a centralized and in the field.
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first. Summaries are generated from each filing and its attachment; every figure is checked against the source.
- Material agreement; Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group entered into an agreement to acquire Vexcel Group for approximately $730 million in cash, following Vexcel's reported revenue of over $140 million in the last twelve months, up over 30% year over year.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group completed the acquisition of Zonda for $800 million in cash, noting that Zonda generated approximately $170 million in revenue in 2025.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group reported revenue of $925 million for the second quarter of 2026, up 18% from $781 million in the same period of the previous year.
- Director or officer change; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group appointed Robin Rossmann as Chief Financial Officer effective July 31, 2026, following his role in reducing European costs by 25% and eliminating approximately $51 million in costs over the past two years.
- Director or officer change; Shareholder vote results; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group stockholders approved all director nominees with votes ranging from 93.92% to 99.50% and approved the advisory say-on-pay proposal with 71.38% of the votes.
- Material agreement; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group, Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zonda for $800 million in cash, with the transaction expected to close in the second half of 2026.
- Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group reported revenue of $897 million for the first quarter of 2026, up 23% from $732 million in the first quarter of 2025.
- Director or officer change; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
CoStar Group, Inc. appointed Nana Banerjee as a new independent member of its Board of Directors, expanding the Board to nine members.
Balance sheet & ownership
From SEC filings; short interest is FINRA data via Yahoo. Collected 2026-10-29.
Cash & runway
Cash & equivalents
$500.0M
2026-09-30
Short-term investments
$1.2M
total $501.2M
Implied runway
—
operating cash flow positive over the TTM window
Dilution
weighted-average basic shares, per quarter. Change: -4.4% YoY, -0.6% QoQ.
| Quarter | Shares |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | 410.5M |
| Q2 2025 | 419.6M |
| Q3 2025 | 419.9M |
| Q1 2026 | 413.0M |
| Q2 2026 | 404.1M |
| Q3 2026 | 401.6M |
Shares outstanding: 402.3M (2026-10-26)
Insider transactions
Form 4 open-market trades (codes S/P), trailing 12 months. 49 filings parsed.
Sold by insiders
12.4K shares
$534.3K · 4 transactions
Bought by insiders
232.4K shares
$8.5M · 7 transactions
Net direction
net buying
Catalyst calendar
management-stated targets — from the latest earnings call; plans, not promises.
-
2028
adjusted EBITDA target
Source quote
“This time is no different, and we remain firmly committed to our adjusted EBITDA target of $1.25 billion in 2028.”
-
next 12 to 18 months
realize the additional $200 million in cost efficiency
Source quote
“That's incremental to the $150 million we expect to save this year, which we expect to realize the additional $200 million over the next 12 to 18 months while continuing to invest in future revenue drivers.”
-
within the next two weeks
publicly announce the appointment of a new, highly qualified CHRO
Source quote
“We expect to publicly announce the appointment of a new, highly qualified CHRO within the next two weeks.”
-
2027
re-accelerate Salesforce growth
Source quote
“We expect to re-accelerate Salesforce growth in 2027 to serve our growing customer base and reach our prospect opportunities.”
-
by year-end
returning to Q4 2025 levels
Source quote
“We anticipate returning to Q4 2025 levels by year-end.”