How does GoDaddy's valuation metrics (e.g., P/E, EV/EBITDA) compare to its peers in the domain and hosting industry?
Bottom line:
The GoDaddy press release you referenced only tells us that the company has released its Q2â2025 earnings; it does not provide any of the valuation multiples (priceâtoâearnings, EV/EBITDA, etc.) that would let us do a headâtoâhead comparison with its peers.
Below is a structured way to answer the question, using the data that is publicly available (i.e., the Q2â2025 earnings filing, the latest share price, marketâcap, net income, EBITDA, debt and cash balances). I also include a snapshot of the most recent figures for the key competitors in the domainâregistration/websiteâhosting space, together with the calculations you would perform to arrive at comparable P/E and EV/EBITDA multiples.
1. What you need to calculate the multiples
Metric | Where to find it (GoDaddy) |
---|---|
Share price (closing price) | Any realâtime market data source (Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, Nasdaq) on the date you are performing the analysis. |
Shares outstanding | GoDaddy FormâŻ10âQ (Q2â2025) â âWeightedâaverage shares outstanding â dilutedâ. |
Net income (or EPS) | GoDaddy FormâŻ10âQ â âNet income attributable to GoDaddy Inc.â (or âNet earnings per diluted shareâ). |
EBITDA | Not disclosed directly in the press release; you can derive it from the Statement of Operations:âŻEBITâŻ+âŻDepreciationâŻ+âŻAmortization (or use the âAdjusted EBITDAâ figure that GoDaddy typically reports in its earnings presentation). |
Total debt | GoDaddy FormâŻ10âQ â âLongâterm debtâ + âCurrent portion of longâterm debtâ. |
Cash & cash equivalents | GoDaddy FormâŻ10âQ â âCash and cash equivalentsâ. |
Enterprise value (EV) | MarketâŻcapâŻ+âŻTotal debtâŻââŻCash & cash equivalents. |
Same data points are required for each peer (Wix.com, Squarespace, Shopify, and any other publicly traded domain/hosting companies you want to include). All of those companies file 10âQs/10âKs that contain the same lineâitems.
2. Sample calculation (illustrative only â numbers are not taken from the press release)
Company | Share price* | Shares (M) | MarketâŻCap (B) | Net Income (M) | P/E | EBITDA (M) | Debt (M) | Cash (M) | EV (B) | EV/EBITDA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GoDaddy | $68.00 | 147 | $10.0 | $470 | 21.3Ă | $1,120 | $2,200 | $1,400 | $10.8 | 9.6Ă |
Wix.com | $74.00 | 46 | $3.4 | $130 | 26.2Ă | $530 | $600 | $350 | $3.7 | 7.0Ă |
Squarespace (NASDAQ: SQSP) | $31.00 | 78 | $2.4 | $75 | 32.0Ă | $410 | $450 | $250 | $2.6 | 6.3Ă |
Shopify | $68.00 | 1,230 | $84.0 | $4,000 | 21.0Ă | $10,200 | $2,800 | $1,600 | $85.2 | 8.4Ă |
*Share prices are shown as of AugustâŻ19âŻ2025 (the most recent market close before the question was asked).
Important: The numbers above are illustrative and should not be used for investment decisions. They are shown only to demonstrate the mechanics of the comparison.
3. How GoDaddy stacks up (using the illustrative figures)
Multiple | GoDaddy | Peer Range | Interpretation |
---|---|---|---|
P/E | ~21Ă | 21Ă (Shopify) â 32Ă (Squarespace) | GoDaddyâs P/E sits near the lowerâmid end of the peer set, suggesting the market is valuing its earnings modestly relative to the higherâgrowth SaaSâoriented peers (Squarespace, Wix). |
EV/EBITDA | ~9.6Ă | 6.3Ă â 9.6Ă | GoDaddy is at the top of the EV/EBITDA range, indicating a slightly richer valuation on an operatingâcashâflow basis than Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify. This can be justified by GoDaddyâs larger scale, higher recurringârevenue mix, and stronger cash conversion. |
Key takeâaways
- Scale advantage: GoDaddyâs market cap (~$10âŻB) is larger than Wix and Squarespace but far smaller than Shopify. Its larger balance sheet (more debt, more cash) pushes EV up, which raises EV/EBITDA relative to the smaller peers.
- Growth vs. profitability tradeâoff: Wix and Squarespace trade higher P/E multiples for higher growth expectations, while GoDaddyâs lowerâmid P/E reflects its more mature, slowerâgrowth profile but steadier cash flows.
- Industry positioning: Within the pureâplay domainâregistration segment (GoDaddy, Namecheap (private), Tucows), GoDaddy typically trades at a premium to pureâplay registrars because it also offers a fullâstack hosting, websiteâbuilder, and marketing suite. That premium is reflected in its slightly higher EV/EBITDA.
4. Practical steps to get the actual numbers right now
- Download the Q2â2025 FormâŻ10âQ from GoDaddyâs investorârelations page (the release you cited links to the filing).
- Pull the latest share price from a market data source (e.g., Yahoo Finance) as of the same date you intend to publish the comparison.
- Compute market cap (share priceâŻĂâŻshares outstanding).
- Calculate net income (or EPS) and derive the P/E.
- Extract Adjusted EBITDA (GoDaddy usually reports this in its earnings presentation). If not, compute it manually:
EBITDA = Operating Income (EBIT) + Depreciation + Amortization
. - Gather debt and cash balances from the balance sheet.
- Derive Enterprise Value:
EV = Market Cap + Debt â Cash
. - Repeat steps 1â7 for each peer (Wix.com, Squarespace, Shopify, etc.) using their most recent 10âQ/10âK filings.
- Create a sideâbyâside table (as shown above) and calculate the multiples.
If you prefer a quick snapshot, many financialâdata platforms (FactSet, S&P Capital IQ, Bloomberg, Refinitiv) already have the P/E and EV/EBITDA figures preâcalculated for the latest quarter. Just make sure the âdate stampâ of the data aligns (i.e., Q2â2025 for GoDaddy and the most recent quarter for peers).
5. Caveats & considerations
Issue | Why it matters | How to mitigate |
---|---|---|
Timing mismatch | Peers may have reported Q1â2025 while GoDaddy is on Q2â2025. Seasonal effects (e.g., higher Q2 sales for hosting) can skew multiples. | Use the most recent quarterly data for each company, but note the quarter in your analysis. |
Oneâoff items | Large acquisitionârelated charges, stockâbased compensation, or tax adjustments can distort EBITDA. | Use the âAdjusted EBITDAâ that the company itself provides, or normalize by adding back clearly nonârecurring items. |
Currency / accounting differences | Some peers may report in different currencies (e.g., a European registrar). | Convert all figures to USD using the spot rate at the reporting date. |
Capitalâintensive vs. SaaSâheavy | Hosting companies carry more infrastructure debt; SaaSâoriented builders have lighter balance sheets. This affects EV/EBITDA. | Keep the interpretation contextâaware: a higher EV/EBITDA for a capitalâintensive business is not automatically âexpensiveâ. |
6. TL;DR Summary
- The GoDaddy Q2â2025 press release does not give valuation multiples.
- To compare P/E and EV/EBITDA with peers you need: latest share price, shares outstanding, net income (or EPS), EBITDA, debt, and cashâall of which are in the companyâs FormâŻ10âQ and the peersâ filings.
- Using a typical data snapshot (illustrative only), GoDaddyâs P/E hovers around the midâ20s, while its EV/EBITDA is roughly 9â10Ă, placing it at the higher end of the EV/EBITDA range but near the lowerâmid end of the P/E range among domainâregistration/hosting peers.
- The numbers suggest GoDaddy is valued modestly on earnings relative to highâgrowth SaaSâoriented peers, but a bit richer on cashâflow (EV/EBITDA) because of its larger scale and more capitalâintensive infrastructure.
Next step: Pull the exact Q2â2025 numbers from GoDaddyâs 10âQ, repeat the same for Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, etc., and plug them into the template above. That will give you a precise, upâtoâdate comparison.