CoStar Group, Inc. is a commercial real estate information and marketing services company. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. CoStar provides a range of services including market research and analysis, property data, advertising and marketing solutions, and real-time market data and analytics to the commercial real estate industry.
The company’s clients include commercial real estate brokers, property owners and developers, lenders, and government agencies. It operates through several brands, including CoStar, LoopNet, Apartments.com, BizBuySell, LandsofAmerica, and others. These brands offer a wide range of products and services to the commercial real estate industry, including property listings, property data and analytics, market research and analysis, and marketing and advertising solutions.
as of February 5, 2023
Trading at 15x sales and 52x forward earnings makes it very difficult to like CoStar as an investment just yet despite the 81% gross margins and a 5 year growth rate above 20%. The company can continue to grow as long as more operators want data on real estate and commercial assets. That pool is likely to keep expanding regardless of the short term hiccups due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With that said, it’s already the leading player and has a sizable market cap ($31 billion) to justify.
