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oStar Group, a leading real estate services company, reported strong revenue gains in its latest earnings report, but also hinted at slowing momentum. The company's revenue hit $709 million for the quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $701 million. However, income was down each quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, and earnings per share fell short of investor expectations.
Despite this, CoStar Group has maintained an impressive run, with 55 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue gains. The company's Founder and CEO Andy Florance said that CoStar delivered another strong year of profitable revenue in 2024, but tempered expectations for the year ahead, forecasting slightly lower levels of revenue growth: 9% for the first quarter and 10% for the full year.
CoStar is also embarking on a stock buyback plan of up to $500 million in 2025. The company's Homes.com sales force has grown nearly six-fold to 277 employees, with plans to reach 500 by the end of the year. Traffic-wise, the Homes.com network continues to grow, with an 11% year-over-year increase in unique users in the fourth quarter.
CoStar is also looking to "win away" rental listings from rivals, particularly Zillow's recent push into rentals. The company plans to increase Apartment.com's sales staff by 23%, and Florance believes there is a large opportunity to win away properties formerly marketed on Rent.com without paying Redfin a massive sum of money.
Key numbers include:
* Revenue: $709 million in the fourth quarter, up 11% year-over-year.
* Cash and cash equivalents: $4.68 billion at the end of 2024, down from $5.22 billion at the end of 2023.
* Gross profit: $568.5 million in Q4, up from $503.8 million a year ago.
* Website traffic: The Homes.com network had 110 million average monthly unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2024, up 11% year-over-year.
CoStar also announced the acquisition of agricultural data company Ag-Analytics on February 14, which will enhance its Land.com platform.
