Zillow Group (Z) Bernstein Insights: What's next in tech? - 4th Annual Tech, Media, Telecom Forum summary

Business performance and financial highlights

• Achieved 16% revenue growth and 25% adjusted EBITDA growth in 2025, with consistent GAAP profitability throughout the year.

• Rentals business grew 39% year-over-year, with strong cost discipline leading to a 200 basis point margin expansion.

• Expecting mid-teens revenue growth and similar margin expansion in 2026, with Rentals projected to grow another 30%.

• Fixed costs are being held flat with inflation, while product development accelerates without increasing headcount.

• Margin expansion is supported by scale, disciplined cost management, and AI-driven productivity improvements.

Strategic vision and product evolution

• Pursuing a "housing super app" strategy, integrating buy, sell, rent, mortgage, and closing services into a seamless platform.

• Deepening vertical integration with proprietary tools like ShowingTime, dotloop, and Follow Up Boss to enhance the transaction experience.

• Transitioning from a lead generation model to a transaction-based, commission-sharing model with agents to better align incentives.

• Launching and testing a proprietary LLM-powered assistant to guide users through the entire real estate transaction process.

• Zillow Pro is in beta, aiming to expand the addressable market by providing tools to agents for customers not directly transacting through the platform.

AI, data, and competitive differentiation

• Leveraging proprietary data from across the transaction funnel to create differentiated AI-powered experiences.

• AI is expected to increase consumer engagement, improve conversion rates, and enhance agent productivity.

• The brand's direct traffic and unique data assets are seen as durable moats against commoditization and AI disruption.

• AI tools are already saving agents hours per day and are expected to further boost productivity as they mature.