Zillow Reports Q4 Earnings with Mixed Results and Guidance
Zillow Group Inc (ZG) saw its stock decline by 17.84% as it crossed below the 5-day SMA amid mixed earnings results.
Zillow reported Q4 revenue of $654 million, surpassing expectations of $650 million, but adjusted EPS of $0.39 fell short of the $0.40 consensus. The company provided Q1 revenue guidance of $700 million to $710 million, exceeding analyst estimates, but the mixed results and a rating downgrade by Mizuho amid market uncertainty have raised concerns about investor confidence.
Despite the challenges, Zillow's revenue growth of 18% year-over-year indicates its competitive strength in the residential real estate sector. The company's proactive capital management, including a share buyback, and its focus on sustainable growth through technology innovations may attract investor interest moving forward.
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- Earnings Performance: Zillow's fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $654 million slightly exceeded Wall Street expectations, yet the adjusted earnings per share of 39 cents fell short of consensus, indicating pressure on profitability.
- Future Guidance: Management has guided first-quarter revenue to a range of $700 million to $710 million, surpassing market estimates of $690 million, suggesting ongoing top-line growth potential despite challenges.
- Legal Costs and Competitive Pressure: In the near term, legal expenses and new rivals are weighing on Zillow's valuation; however, if legal spending normalizes and the housing market recovers, it could benefit the company in the long run.
- Technical Indicator Analysis: Zillow's RSI stands at 16.12, indicating the stock is in oversold territory, which may suggest a potential reversal; however, the MACD is below its signal line, reinforcing bearish sentiment, prompting traders to remain cautious.
- AI Scare Trade Impact: Shares of CBRE, JLL, and Cushman & Wakefield fell on Thursday as investors reassessed the potential disruption of commercial real estate services by rapidly improving AI tools, raising concerns about the future of high-margin advisory services that rely heavily on human labor.
- CBRE Earnings Beat: CBRE Group reported a fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.73, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.67, although its revenue of approximately $11.63 billion fell slightly short of the expected $11.71 billion, indicating resilience in profitability despite market pressures.
- Optimistic Future Guidance: The company issued FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $7.30 to $7.60, with the midpoint above Wall Street estimates, although the stock ultimately closed down about 8% after an initial rise, reflecting market uncertainty about future performance.
- Rising Legal Costs Pressure: Commentary highlighted increasing legal costs and uncertainties related to private listing networks as near-term overhangs, further exacerbating investor concerns regarding the future profitability of real estate service firms.
- Strong Performance: Zillow reported growth that outpaced the overall housing market, yet its shares continue to slide, indicating a market underestimation of its potential, which could undermine investor confidence.
- Surge in Rental Demand: The significant increase in rental usage highlights Zillow's growing ability to aggregate demand in the housing market, laying a foundation for future revenue growth.
- Platform Potential: Should Zillow successfully expand its platform to encompass both renting and buying homes, the upside for its stock could be tremendous, potentially attracting more investor interest.
- Market Misalignment: Despite Zillow's strong performance and robust market demand, the market has failed to adequately reflect these positive factors, which may lead to increased stock price volatility in the short term.
- Cloud Revenue Growth: Amazon's cloud computing segment reported a revenue of $35.6 billion in Q4, reflecting a 24% year-over-year increase that surpassed analyst expectations, showcasing the segment's robust performance and ongoing growth potential in the market.
- Operating Margin Improvement: AWS achieved a 35% operating margin, slightly widening from the previous quarter, indicating positive progress in cost control and efficiency enhancement, thereby strengthening its profitability.
- Impact of AI Technology: AWS CEO Matt Garman stated that while market fears regarding AI models potentially slowing software company growth are overblown, AI is indeed a disruptive force that will change how software is consumed and built, emphasizing the necessity for continuous innovation.
- Growing Customer Demand: Garman highlighted that customer demand for computing technology and infrastructure will continue to rise, whether through self-building, AI-based solutions, or purchasing from SaaS vendors, a trend that will drive AWS's future business expansion.
- Market Reaction Negative: Rocket Companies' stock fell 5.49% to $17.62 on Thursday, reflecting heightened investor aversion to risks in real estate intermediaries following Zillow's disappointing earnings report.
- Zillow Earnings Impact: Despite Zillow reporting fourth-quarter revenue of $654 million, exceeding expectations, its adjusted EPS of 39 cents fell short, leading to a 19% drop in its shares, which negatively affected Rocket's market performance.
- AI Tool Concerns: Investor anxiety over new AI tools potentially disrupting the real estate transaction ecosystem has further pressured Rocket and other online housing platforms, resulting in fragile market sentiment and elevated risk premiums.
- Earnings Outlook Optimistic: Rocket is set to report earnings on February 26, with an EPS estimate of 8 cents and revenue forecast of $2.28 billion, indicating that despite current pressures, the market remains optimistic about its growth prospects.
- Earnings Performance: Zillow reported fourth-quarter revenue of $654 million, exceeding Wall Street's $650 million estimate, yet adjusted earnings of 39 cents per share fell short of the 40 cents consensus, indicating pressure on profitability.
- Market Reaction: The stock plummeted over 17% on Wednesday, hitting a new 52-week low, and continued to decline by 2.45% on Thursday, reflecting investor concerns about earnings prospects amid legal costs and competitive risks.
- Legal Challenges: Zillow secured a preliminary injunction in its dispute with Compass Inc. regarding marketing strategies, which could intensify competition; however, analysts caution that legal uncertainties may cap the stock's valuation in the near term.
- Long-Term Outlook: Analysts project that Zillow could achieve approximately 50% incremental margins by 2025, with potential adjusted EBITDA margins reaching about 60% by 2027 if legal spending normalizes, but current market focus remains on legal costs and competitive threats.









