SaaS CAC & valuations buzz
Recent social threads showed sharp contrasts in CAC payback and valuation metrics — Sergey shared Q4 CAC payback benchmarks (e.g., $PLTR at 3.4 months vs a median of 18.7 months) and posted forward EV/Sales vs growth charts, while another post flagged $ZETA trading at ~2.9x P/S compared to peers at 4x+. Those spreads are fueling pitch decks and BD conversations about where to find undervalued high‑growth SaaS. (x.com, x.com)
Multiples.vc’s public‑comps page shows Zeta Global trading at a revenue multiple of ~2.9x with market cap around $4.0B and trailing revenue near $1B (March 2026). (multiples.vc) Stock trackers corroborate Zeta’s size — StockAnalysis lists Zeta’s market cap at about $4.14B and enterprise value near $4.04B, consistent with a sub‑3x revenue multiple. (stockanalysis.com) Major CRM/marketing SaaS peers sit well above that band: Salesforce’s P/S has been around ~4.3–4.5x in mid‑March 2026, while HubSpot’s P/S has been reported near ~6.7x, creating the “4x+ peers” comparison. (investing.com 1) (investing.com 2) CAC‑payback benchmarks differ materially by dataset and ARR band: Optif.ai’s 2026 study reports a B2B SaaS median payback of ~15 months with SMB 8–12 months, Mid‑Market 14–18 months and Enterprise 18–24 months. (optif.ai) Public company CAC paybacks can swing quarter‑to‑quarter — third‑party coverage cites Palantir’s payback at ~18.2 months in one quarter, ~14.7 months in other writeups, and single‑digit paybacks in other reports, illustrating company‑level volatility in reported unit economics. (investing.com) (indexbox.io) (financialcontent.com) Different valuation datasets produce divergent “fair value” baselines — Multiples.vc reports All‑SaaS medians near ~2.7x EV/NTM revenue in March 2026, while Aventis Advisors’ 2025 analysis shows public‑market medians nearer ~6.1x EV/Revenue, explaining why the same company can look cheap to some buyers and expensive to others. (multiples.vc) (aventis-advisors.com)
