Zillow beats investor forecasts with double-digit revenue gains 

Despite all of the headlines Zillow faced last year involving various court cases, the company continued to outperform investor expectations in the fourth quarter.

Zillow's revenue was up 18% for Q4 of 2025 and up 16% for the full year, according to the company's latest earnings report. Zillow's quarterly revenue, which came in at $654 million, was at the upper end of Zillow's guidance and was slightly higher than what investors had projected.

The biggest boosts in revenue came from Zillow's mortgage and rental divisions, which are both the focus of lawsuits that were filed last year. Revenue from the company's mortgage division was up 39% to $57 million, while rental revenue was up 45% to $168 million.

What Zillow had to say

On lawsuits: During a Feb. 10 earnings call, investors focused many of their questions on the financial impact of ongoing litigation. CEO Jeremy Wacksman reiterated his previously spoken belief that the company's legal challenges are not expected to materially impact Zillow's long-term strategy or financial position.

When asked specifically about private listings — the focus of a Zillow ban that led to a lawsuit filed by Compass last summer — Wacksman said they remain a relatively small number of overall listings despite widespread industry attention on the issue.

"The reason it's small is the vast majority of sellers and agents don't want that," Wacksman said. "Agents don't want to limit exposure and have a home take longer to sell, or not maximize price."

Wacksman also doesn't foresee a change in strategy when it comes to Zillow Home Loans, over which Zillow is facing allegations of steering. Instead, he sees Zillow's approach as showing buyers and agents that Zillow Home Loans is a trustworthy option.

"Our long-term strategy here is based on consumer choice and building this integrated end-to-end transaction," Wacksman said. 

Anticipating a slow 2026 market: Zillow is expecting improvement in housing affordability in the year ahead. But from a budget standpoint, the company is planning for the market to remain sluggish.

"We think it (improving affordability) is a good sign that should drive a broader recovery over time. We're just not necessarily planning for it in 2026," said Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow's chief financial officer.

Continuing to outperform: Even though 2025 was a slow year for home sales nationally, traffic to Zillow's websites and apps were up 8% year-over-year in Q4 and visits were up 2%.

"We delivered strong results in the fourth quarter and throughout 2025, achieving all our reported full-year financial targets, including positive net income, while continuing to gain share in both For Sale and Rentals," Wacksman said in a news release.

"As we celebrate 20 years of Zillow, our results demonstrate our disciplined and consistent execution of our strategy," he added.

Key numbers

Revenue: $654 million in Q4, up 18% year-over-year. Residential revenue increased 8% to $418 million, mortgage revenue was up 39% to $57 million, and rentals revenue climbed 45% to $168 million.

For the full year, revenue was $2.6 billion, up 16% compared to 2024.

Cash and investments: $1.3 billion at the end of 2025, down from $1.4 billion at the end of September.

Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization): $149 million in Q4, up from $112 million a year earlier.

Net income/loss: A gain of $3 million in Q4, up from a $52 million loss a year ago. Zillow reported a net income gain of $23 million for the full year compared to a $112 million loss in 2024.

Traffic and visits: Traffic across all Zillow Group websites and apps totaled 221 million average monthly unique users in Q4, up 8% year-over-year, the company said. Visits were up 2% year-over-year to 2.1 billion.

Q1 outlook: For the first quarter, Zillow estimates revenue will be in the $700 million to $710 million range.

Notable Moves

Wacksman said during the company's Feb. 10 call with investors that he is pleased with the initial beta testing of Zillow Pro, a bundle subscription service that integrates several tools — including Follow Up Boss and My Agent — into one AI-driven experience.

The company expects to begin a nationwide rollout of Zillow Pro in the second half of 2026.

"It's an offering to help the agents — all agents, not just Zillow customers — run their whole business and help them convert all of their customers, not just Zillow customers," Wacksman said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information and comments from Zillow executives.