Zillow’s (NASDAQ:ZG) Q1: Beats On Revenue But Stock Drops
ZG Cover Image
Zillow’s (NASDAQ:ZG) Q1: Beats On Revenue But Stock Drops

In This Article:

Online real estate marketplace Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) reported Q1 CY2025 results topping the market’s revenue expectations , with sales up 13% year on year to $598 million. Its GAAP profit of $0.03 per share was significantly above analysts’ consensus estimates.

Is now the time to buy Zillow? Find out in our full research report.

Zillow (ZG) Q1 CY2025 Highlights:

  • Revenue: $598 million vs analyst estimates of $589.9 million (13% year-on-year growth, 1.4% beat)

  • EPS (GAAP): $0.03 vs analyst estimates of -$0.02 (significant beat)

  • Adjusted EBITDA: $153 million vs analyst estimates of $138.5 million (25.6% margin, 10.5% beat)

  • Operating Margin: -1.5%, up from -8.5% in the same quarter last year

  • Free Cash Flow Margin: 11.4%, up from 7.8% in the same quarter last year

  • Market Capitalization: $16.15 billion

Company Overview

Founded by Expedia co-founders Lloyd Frink and Rich Barton, Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) is the leading U.S. online real estate marketplace.

Sales Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Over the last five years, Zillow’s demand was weak and its revenue declined by 7.6% per year. This was below our standards and suggests it’s a lower quality business.

Zillow Quarterly Revenue
Zillow Quarterly Revenue

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within consumer discretionary, a stretched historical view may miss a company riding a successful new product or trend. Zillow’s annualized revenue growth of 10.4% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, but we were still disappointed by the results.

Zillow Year-On-Year Revenue Growth
Zillow Year-On-Year Revenue Growth

This quarter, Zillow reported year-on-year revenue growth of 13%, and its $598 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.4%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 14.4% over the next 12 months, an improvement versus the last two years. This projection is above average for the sector and suggests its newer products and services will spur better top-line performance.

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Operating Margin

Zillow’s operating margin has been trending up over the last 12 months, but it still averaged negative 10% over the last two years. This is due to its large expense base and inefficient cost structure.