CSGP vs Z Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
CSGP (CoStar Group) and Z (Zillow) are complementary real estate information companies that are now becoming competitors — CoStar is the unquestioned leader in commercial real estate data and a leader in apartment rentals, while Zillow dominates residential for-sale consumer search. CoStar's Homes.com investment is a direct attack on Zillow's home turf, creating a potential duopoly or disruption scenario in residential real estate portals.
CSGP vs Z is commercial real estate data monopoly expanding into residential (CoStar's Homes.com as a potential Zillow competitor backed by CoStar's subscription revenue base) versus established residential marketplace defending its traffic leadership (Zillow's audience scale and Premier Agent advertising model against CoStar's Homes.com challenge) — established domain expansion versus defending marketplace leadership.
Z holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. Z leads on both 1-year return (-52.45%) and forward P/E (10.64x vs 18.26x for CSGP), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for Z (+88.41%) than for CSGP (+48.75%).
- →Want the irreplaceable commercial real estate information platform plus potential residential market expansion through Homes.com — CoStar's data franchise provides a cash-generating base to fund the Homes.com competition
- →Value CoStar's proven track record of building market-leading real estate information platforms through data investment and acquisition (CoStar, LoopNet, Apartments.com, Homes.com)
- →Accept near-term margin compression from massive Homes.com investment for the potential to participate in residential real estate marketplace growth if Homes.com succeeds
- →Want the dominant residential real estate consumer audience and marketplace with brand recognition that makes Zillow the default for most Americans searching for homes to buy or rent
- →Value Zillow's advertising model as inherently more capital-light than CoStar's physical data collection and Homes.com investment costs
- →Believe Zillow's audience depth and brand will prove durable against CoStar's Homes.com investment, potentially surviving a competitive challenge that does not significantly erode Zillow's traffic leadership
| Metric | CSGP | Z |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 36.9 | 26.8 |
| AI rank | #1461 | #2553 |
| Latest close | $30.12 | $32.11 |
| 1M return | -10.89% | -10.81% |
| 6M return | -53.54% | -53.31% |
| 1Y return | -62.30% | -52.45% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CSGP | Z |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $3.79K (-62.1%) started 2025-06-18 | $4.75K (-52.5%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $3.34K (-66.6%) started 2021-06-21 | $2.77K (-72.3%) started 2021-06-18 |
| 10Y ago | $14.34K (+43.4%) started 2016-06-20 | $9.24K (-7.6%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CSGP | Z |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $13.41B | $7.35B |
| Trailing P/E | 469.14 | 128.44 |
| Forward P/E | 18.26 | 10.64 |
| Price/Sales | N/A | 2.73 |
| EV/Revenue | 3.92 | 2.69 |
| Analyst target | $48.85 | $60.50 |
| Target upside | +48.75% | +88.41% |
| Metric | CSGP | Z |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 22.50% | 18.40% |
| Earnings growth | -25.90% | 533.30% |
| EPS growth | -25.90% | +533.30% |
| FCF margin | +5.93% | +10.60% |
| Operating margin | 0.33% | N/A |
| Profit margin | 0.73% | 2.27% |
| ROIC proxy | 0.30% | 1.33% |
| Return on equity | 0.30% | 1.33% |
| Dividend yield | N/A | 0.00% |
| Beta | 0.72 | 1.94 |
| Debt/equity | 14.53 | 9.73 |
| Current ratio | 2.20 | 2.29 |
| Quick ratio | 1.94 | 1.68 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | CSGP | Z |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -62.15% | -52.45% |
| CAGR | -62.20% | -52.47% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -2.42 | -1.56 | |
| Max drawdown | 68.89% | 64.56% | |
| Max daily drop | 15.45% | 16.54% | |
| Max wkly drop | 21.88% | 20.96% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -66.57% | -72.31% |
| CAGR | -19.71% | -22.65% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.59 | -0.32 | |
| Max drawdown | 69.80% | 78.29% | |
| Max daily drop | 15.45% | 24.92% | |
| Max wkly drop | 21.88% | 36.26% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +43.37% | -7.62% |
| CAGR | +3.67% | -0.79% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.14 | 0.16 | |
| Max drawdown | 69.80% | 86.51% | |
| Max daily drop | 15.45% | 26.92% | |
| Max wkly drop | 21.88% | 39.72% |
| Category | CSGP | Z |
|---|---|---|
| Company | CoStar Group, Inc. | Zillow Group, Inc. |
| Sector | Real Estate | Technology - Real Estate Marketplace |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | CoStar Group is the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics, and online marketplaces — operating CoStar (commercial property data and analytics for brokers and investors), LoopNet (commercial property listings marketplace), Apartments.com (residential apartment rental marketplace), and Homes.com (entering residential for-sale market). CoStar is also investing aggressively to compete with Zillow in residential real estate. | Zillow is the most-visited U.S. residential real estate website — a marketplace connecting home buyers, sellers, and renters with real estate professionals. Zillow's primary revenue comes from Premier Agent (agent advertising), rentals listings, and mortgage origination. After exiting iBuying, Zillow is focused on becoming the super app for residential real estate transactions. |
| Investor focus | Investors track CoStar's commercial real estate subscription revenue growth, Apartments.com marketplace revenue, Homes.com investment and potential market share gains against Zillow, overall revenue growth rates given CoStar's massive investment in Homes.com advertising and technology, and management's track record of successful marketplace acquisitions. | Investors track Zillow's Premier Agent revenue (most cyclical), rentals growth, mortgage origination scale, unique visitor engagement and share of real estate search traffic, and the competitive threat from CoStar's Homes.com investment eroding Zillow's traffic advantages. |
- →Commercial real estate information monopoly — CoStar has built an essentially irreplaceable database of commercial property information through decades of data collection by thousands of field researchers; commercial real estate professionals have no viable alternative
- →Apartments.com marketplace leadership — through acquisitions (Apartments.com, ForRent, Apartment Finder), CoStar built the leading apartment rental marketplace, generating strong advertising revenue from apartment operators
- →Homes.com opportunity — CoStar is investing hundreds of millions in Homes.com to compete with Zillow; if successful, CoStar could become a residential real estate duopoly partner with Zillow
- →Dominant residential consumer audience — Zillow's brand recognition and massive monthly traffic (hundreds of millions of visits) makes it the de facto first stop for residential real estate search in the U.S.
- →Rentals revenue diversification — Zillow's growing rentals segment serves apartment seekers and landlords, providing revenue stream less cyclical than home purchase transaction advertising
- →Mortgage and transaction integration — Zillow Home Loans and transaction coordination services represent a path to capturing more of the transaction revenue beyond just advertising
- →Homes.com investment is enormous and unproven — CoStar is spending hundreds of millions annually on Homes.com advertising and technology; the residential real estate marketplace is Zillow's home turf and the investment could fail to generate sufficient returns
- →Commercial real estate market softness — high interest rates have challenged commercial real estate transactions and valuations, pressuring broker budgets for CoStar subscriptions in a downturn
- →Competition from alternatives — Crexi, RealPage, and MSCI/RCA compete in commercial real estate data; Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin compete in residential
- →CoStar's Homes.com investment represents a significant competitive threat — if CoStar succeeds in building Homes.com into a major residential destination, Zillow's traffic and advertising revenue could be challenged
- →Premier Agent revenue cyclicality — when home transaction volume falls (as in high mortgage rate environments), agents reduce advertising, compressing Zillow's revenue despite consumer demand for the site
- →Revenue model transformation — Zillow's ambition to move from advertising to integrated transaction services requires significant product, technology, and partnership development
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