GDDY — GoDaddy Inc.
Snapshot dated September 28, 2026.
GoDaddy Inc. provides a digital platform primarily focused on small businesses and independent entrepreneurs, offering tools to establish and manage an online presence. The company operates through two main segments: Applications and Commerce, which includes website building tools and e-commerce software, and Core Platform, which encompasses domain registration and hosting services. With a global footprint serving over 21 million customers, the business model relies heavily on a recurring subscription revenue structure for domains, security, and digital marketing tools. GoDaddy maintains a position as a dominant registrar in the domain name market, competing against players like Namecheap and Google Domains, while increasingly expanding into payments and point-of-sale hardware to capture more transaction-based revenue. Recently, the firm has accelerated its integration of generative AI tools across its product suite, aiming to automate website creation and customer communication for its user base.
Fair Value / Share
$188.38
Price on September 28, 2026
$97.18
Upside to fair value
93.86%
Margin of safety 48.4%
Upside is measured against what you pay; margin of safety is measured against what the business is worth.
Data by Equibles and SEC filings. Figures are as of September 28, 2026 and are not live.
Earnings Yield
Earnings Yield shows how much profit a company generates relative to its share price. EPS ÷ Stock Price.
Stock Price
$97.18
Market Cap
$12,729,355,049
Net Income (TTM)
$910,300,000
Diluted Shares
131.0 million
EPS (TTM)
$6.95
Earnings Yield
7.15%
AI Analysis
GoDaddy Inc. currently has an Earnings Yield of 7.15%, a figure derived from its EPS of $6.95 and a stock price of $97.18. This yield sits above the 4-5% return available from safe alternatives like government bonds. Mechanically, this indicates that for every dollar invested at the current price, the underlying business is generating more in current annual earnings than one would receive from a risk-free investment. A shift in this yield would require either a change in the stock price or a fluctuation in the company's net income. This measure does not capture future growth prospects, debt obligations, or the capital expenditures necessary to maintain the company’s current level of earnings.
Return on Capital
EBIT ÷ (Net Working Capital + Net Fixed Assets) — how efficiently the business turns capital into profit.
EBIT (TTM)
$1,266,700,000
Net Working Capital
-$2,288,600,000
Net Fixed Assets
$140,100,000
Invested Capital
-$2,148,500,000
Return on Capital
Capital-free operations
This business operates on negative invested capital — customers pay in advance, so the business funds itself rather than tying up capital. Combined with positive EBIT, that is the strongest possible outcome in this framework, not a missing result.
AI Analysis
GoDaddy operates with negative invested capital of -$2.1B, derived from -$2.3B in net working capital and $140.1M in net fixed assets. Despite this negative capital balance, the company generates a positive EBIT of $1.3B. This indicates that customers are effectively financing the business's operations, likely through advance payments for services, meaning the company requires no capital of its own to generate its operating profit. In this framework, this is the strongest possible outcome, signifying extreme capital efficiency where the business is self-funding rather than capital-constrained. This measure does not capture external market factors or changes in long-term customer behavior, which could shift the amount of deferred revenue and alter the capital requirement over time.
Acquirer's Multiple
Enterprise Value ÷ Operating Earnings — how many years of operating earnings it would take to buy the whole business.
| Company | Operating earnings | Enterprise value | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDDYGoDaddy Inc. | $1.3B | $15.3B | 12.1x |
| VRSNVERISIGN INC/CA | $1.2B | $27.7B | 23.9x |
Where GDDY sits: 12.1x against a peer median of 23.9x (peers: 23.9x) — 49.3% below the median.
Show the enterprise value bridge for each companyHide the enterprise value bridge
GDDY
Debt $3.8B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $67M of operating lease liabilities as of 2026-06-30. These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
VRSN
Named as a competitor: Operates the .com and .net domain registries GoDaddy resells domain names through — one of GoDaddy's closest public comparables.
Debt $2.3B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $5.9M of operating lease liabilities as of 2026-06-30. These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
Operating earnings — GDDY
AI Analysis
GoDaddy (GDDY) has an Acquirer's Multiple of 12.1x, derived from an enterprise value of $15.3B and operating earnings of $1.3B. Its competitor, VeriSign (VRSN), holds an Acquirer's Multiple of 23.9x, based on an enterprise value of $27.7B and operating earnings of $1.2B. Comparing these figures, GDDY trades at a multiple 49.3% below the median of its peer. Among these companies, GDDY represents the lowest multiple, while VRSN represents the highest. This measure reflects the market's assessment of each firm's operating earnings, but it does not account for differences in capital structure, leverage, or distinct business models that might impact how the market prices these earnings. For the gap between these multiples to close, the market would need to re-rate the companies' relative earning power or alter its expectations for future operating income growth.
FS-Score
A 10-check read on financial health, across profitability, balance-sheet stability and operating momentum.
FS-Score
7/10
Decent score — worth a deeper look before investing.
Section 1
Current Profitability
3/3
This section is Strong, as the company passed all three checks by generating positive accounting earnings and even stronger cash flow relative to its asset base.
- Return on Assets is positive at 10.89%
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets is positive at 19.61%
- The Accruals ratio of 1.83 confirms that cash flow from operations exceeds net income
A score of 3/3 indicates that earnings are currently backed by cash; this result would only weaken if net income or free cash flow turned negative.
Return on Assets (ROA > 0)
PassFree Cash Flow to Total Assets (FCFTA > 0)
PassAccruals (CFO / Net Income > 1)
PassSection 2
Stability
2/3
This section is Mixed, reflecting a reduction in total share count alongside a slight increase in long-term debt levels.
- Leverage rose slightly from 0.46 to 0.47, resulting in a failed check
- Liquidity was awarded a pass because, excluding deferred revenue, current assets cover remaining obligations 3.0 times over
- Net Dilution passed as annual weighted-average shares fell from 145.3 million to 140.6 million
The score reflects a stable share count and a specific subscription-based liability structure, though rising debt relative to assets prevented a perfect score.
Change in Leverage (↓ or unchanged)
FailChange in Liquidity (↑ Current Ratio)
PassCustomers pay in advance here: 80% of what this company owes within the year is revenue it has already collected but not yet delivered, not money it has to pay out. A current ratio below 1 is how this business model works, not a warning sign — setting that revenue aside, current assets cover the remaining obligations 3.0 times over.
Net Dilution (annual diluted weighted-average shares, this year vs last)
PassSection 3
Recent Operational Improvements
2/4
This section is Mixed, showing that while asset efficiency and cash generation are rising, profitability margins and returns have softened slightly.
- Return on Assets declined from 11.38% to 10.89%
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets improved from 15.31% to 19.61%
- Gross Margin fell slightly from 63.88% to 63.61%
- Asset Turnover increased from 0.56 to 0.62
The mixed result suggests the business is generating more revenue and cash per dollar of assets but doing so at slightly lower margins than the previous year.
Change in ROA (↑)
FailChange in FCFTA (↑)
PassChange in Gross Margin (↑)
FailChange in Asset Turnover (↑)
PassFramework conclusion
The total FS-Score of 7/10 indicates solid financial health, driven primarily by strong current profitability and cash flow generation. The mixed results in stability and operational improvements suggest that while the company is not in distress, it is experiencing minor margin compression and a slight increase in leverage. This score helps distinguish whether the company's current price reflects a fundamental deterioration or if the underlying cash-generating ability remains intact despite small shifts in efficiency.
- Accruals ratio of 1.83 indicates high-quality, cash-backed earnings
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets improved to 19.61%
- Annual weighted-average shares were reduced to 140.6 million
- Asset Turnover improved to 0.62 from 0.56 a year ago
Intrinsic Value (DCF)
A 10-year discounted cash flow, then the bridge from business value to value per share.
Reported cash flow → unlevered free cash flow
Free Cash Flow (reported)
$1.7B
+ After-Tax Interest Expense
$118.3M
= Unlevered Free Cash Flow
$1.8B
Business value (10-year DCF)
PV of Years 1–10
$13.9B
PV of Terminal Value
$13.4B
= Business Value
$27.3B
Terminal value share
49.15%
Business value → share value
Intrinsic Value (business)
$27.3B
+ Cash & Equivalents
$1.2B
− Debt
$3.8B
= Shareholders' Value
$24.7B
÷ Diluted Shares
131.0 million
= Fair Value / Share
$188.38
Divided by 131.0 million diluted shares — the weighted-average diluted count from the most recent quarterly income statement, for the quarter ended 2026-06-30.
Risk bucket → discount rate
mid (12%)
Year-1 FCF
$1.8B
Trailing twelve months.
FY2023 $1B · FY2024 $1.3B · FY2025 $1.6B
Growth rate (yrs 1–10)
8%
Terminal growth (after yr 10)
3%
AI Analysis
The valuation framework applies a mid-risk discount rate of 12% to GoDaddy, reflecting a business model characterized by predictable subscription revenue streams tempered by sector-wide competitive pressures and the company's existing leverage. The growth rate is set at 8.00%, which assumes that the strong historical cash flow compounding will moderate over the ten-year forecast window. The analysis uses a fixed Year-1 FCF of $1.8B, an unlevered figure representing the firm's trailing-twelve-month performance. The terminal growth rate of 3% is a fixed assumption applied consistently across all valuations rather than a specific business judgment. To arrive at the fair value per share of $188.38, the intrinsic value of the business was adjusted by adding cash and subtracting debt, then divided by 131.0 million shares. Given the current price of $97.18, the upside to fair value is 93.86%. The valuation also reflects a margin of safety of 48.4%, which represents the buffer built into the estimate to account for potential inaccuracies in the projection. The final result is most sensitive to the 8.00% growth rate assumption; even a minor change to this long-term growth expectation would materially shift the intrinsic value calculation and the resulting fair value per share.
Overall Verdict
How the five signals above stack up together, then the full synthesis.
Earnings Yield
7.15% vs ~4-5% bond-yield benchmark
Return on Capital
Capital-free operations — negative invested capital, positive EBIT
Acquirer's Multiple
12.1x against a peer median of 23.9x (peers: 23.9x) — 49.3% below the median.
FS-Score
7/10 — Solid but mixed
Intrinsic Value
93.86% upside to fair value
The framework evaluates GoDaddy Inc. through a combination of operational performance and valuation metrics. Return on Capital is classified as green because the company maintains capital-free operations with negative invested capital and positive EBIT, while the FS-Score of 7/10 provides a yellow signal, indicating mixed but solid operational health. These quality measures are set against valuation data: Earnings Yield is green at 7.15%, and the Acquirer's Multiple is green at 12.1x, which sits 49.3% below the peer median of 23.9x. Additionally, the intrinsic value calculation yields a green signal, showing a 93.86% upside to fair value, with a margin of safety of 48.4%. The framework shows alignment between the company's operational efficiency and its current pricing metrics, as there is no tension between the quality and valuation checks. The overall picture would shift most significantly if the FS-Score declined, as a lower score would signal a weakening in the operational consistency that currently complements the positive valuation readings.
Comments
Notes from readers on GDDY — one each. Comments stay with the company, so they carry across to a later snapshot, and each one shows the date it was written.
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