CoStar Group, Inc.

Worth knowing

• Returning more cash than it generates. Paid out $500M vs $309M of free cash flow over the 3 fiscal years to 2025.

  CoStar returned $500M to shareholders over three years, 162% of the free cash flow it produced. That gap has to be covered by cash reserves or new debt, which can't last indefinitely.

• Buybacks largely absorbed by stock pay. Stock-based pay expense $368M vs $500M spent repurchasing shares over the 3 fiscal years to 2025. Shares outstanding changed −0.4% from December 2022 to July 2026.

  Over three fiscal years CoStar recorded $368M of stock-based pay expense and spent $500M repurchasing shares (repurchases can include shares withheld to cover employees' taxes). The share count barely moved (−0.4%), so much of the repurchasing offset new employee shares rather than shrinking the count.Over three fiscal years CoStar recorded $368M of stock-based pay expense and spent $500M repurchasing shares. The share count barely moved (−0.4%), so much of the repurchasing offset new employee shares rather than shrinking the count.

• Operating margin at a 6-year low. -2.2% in 2025, the weakest of the last 6 years.

  CoStar's operating margin fell to -2.2% in 2025, its lowest in the 6 years of filings we have.

• Investment surge. Capital spending 9.5% of revenue, up from 1.6% in 2022.

  CoStar is spending 9.5% of revenue on facilities and equipment, up from 1.6% in 2022. That weighs on free cash flow today; whether it pays off depends on the returns those investments earn.