QNSTQuinStreet, Inc.
Is the business good?
A genuinely good business: earnings fully cash-backed (4.7×) and margins widening.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash.
Positive operating leverage, operating profit is growing faster than sales, so margins widen as the business scales.
A balanced mix of margins, efficiency, and leverage. ROE 18% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is QNST?
QuinStreet, Inc. earns 11% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so the business is worth more the bigger it gets.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 1.6 points above what the capital costs: growth creates value
- Operating margin
- 2.7%
Operating margin · Advertising Agencies median 5.9% · 12 months to Q4 2026
- Cash conversion
- 4.69×
Cash conversion · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- R&D as % of revenue
- 2.9%
R&D as % of revenue
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2021 | 2.4% |
| FY2022 | −0.81% |
| FY2023 | −3.6% |
| FY2024 | −4.6% |
| FY2025 | 0.57% |
| FY2026 | 2.7% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q4 2026
- 11%
- Operating margin12 months to Q4 2026
- 2.7%
- Net margin12 months to Q4 2026
- 6.3%
- Free cash flow margin
- 9.9%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 2.9%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $1.29B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $128M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $81M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 11%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Customers and suppliers
Who buys from QNST and who it buys from, as the companies report it.
- Client one21%
Share of revenue · FY2026 10-K
- Top 20 clients58%
Combined share of revenue · FY2026 10-K
None disclosed.
A company has to disclose every customer behind 10% or more of its revenue. Each share comes from the latest annual report of the company that states it and shows on both companies’ pages; QNST’s own figures are from its FY2026 10-K. Smaller customers and suppliers go unreported.