Q1 2026 EverQuote Inc Earnings Call

May 4, 2026

Operator 2: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Welcome to EverQuote Q1 2026 Earnings Call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Sarah Buda with EverQuote Investor Relations.

Operator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Welcome to EverQuote Q1 2026 Earnings Call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Sarah Buda with EverQuote Investor Relations.

Speaker #1: If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Sarah Buda with EverQuote Investor Relations.

Speaker #2: Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to EverQuote's first quarter 2026 earnings call. We will be discussing the results announced in our press release issued today after market close.

Sarah Buda: Thank you. Good afternoon, welcome to EverQuote's Q1 2026 earnings call. We will be discussing the results announced in our press release issued today after market close. With me on the call this afternoon are Jayme Mendal, EverQuote's Chief Executive Officer, and Joseph Sanborn, EverQuote's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer. During this call, we may make statements related to our business that may be considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, including statements considering our financial guidance for Q2 2026. Forward-looking statements may be identified with words and phrases such as aim, expect, believe, intend, anticipate, plan, will, may, continue, upcoming, and similar words and phrases. These statements reflect our views only as of today and should not be considered our views as of any subsequent date.

Speaker #2: With me on the call this afternoon are Jamie Mendel, EverQuote's chief executive officer; and Joseph Sanborn, EverQuote's chief financial officer and chief administrative officer.

Speaker #2: During this call, we may make statements related to our business that may be considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, including statements concerning our financial guidance for the second quarter of 2026.

Speaker #2: Forward-looking statements may be identified with words and phrases such as aim, expect, believe, intend, anticipate, plan, will, may, continue, upcoming, and similar words and phrases.

Speaker #2: These statements reflect our views only as of today and should not be considered our views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Sarah Buda: We specifically disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements except as required by law. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from our expectations. For a discussion of those risks and uncertainties, please refer to our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the investor relations section of our website. Finally, during the course of today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, which include adjusted EBITDA, variable marketing dollars, and variable marketing margin, which we believe are helpful to investors.

Speaker #2: Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from our expectations. For a discussion of those risks and uncertainties, please refer to our SEC filings including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Investor Relations section of our website.

Speaker #2: Finally, during the course of today’s call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, which include adjusted EBITDA, variable marketing dollars, and variable marketing margin, which we believe are helpful to investors.

Speaker #2: A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures was included in the press release we issued after the close of market today, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website.

Sarah Buda: A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures was included in the press release we issued after the close of market today, which is available on the investor relations section of our website. With that, I will now turn the call over to Jayme.

Speaker #2: And with that, I will now turn the call over to Jamie.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Sarah. And thank you all for joining us today. We delivered excellent results in Q1, exceeding the high end of our guidance range across revenue, VMD, and adjusted EBITDA, punctuated by 30% growth in adjusted EBITDA to a record level of $29.3 million.

Jayme Mendal: Thank you, Sarah, and thank you all for joining us today. We delivered excellent results in Q1, exceeding the high end of our guidance range across revenue, VMD, and adjusted EBITDA, punctuated by 30% growth in adjusted EBITDA to a record level of $29.3 million. Our strategy is working as planned as we scale our marketplace and deepen provider relationships. When we went public in 2018, EverQuote committed to growing revenue 20% and expanding profitability, adjusted EBITDA margin, by 1 to 2 percentage points per year. For 7 years, we've delivered as promised, resulting in 4x revenue growth and over $100 million of annualized adjusted EBITDA expansion. Through disciplined execution, we have built a strong balance sheet and a highly cash-generative business.

Speaker #3: Our strategy is working as planned, as we scale our marketplace and deepen provider relationships. When we went public in 2018, EverQuote committed to growing revenue 20% and expanding profitability, y, adjusted EBITDA margin, by 1 to 2 percentage points per year.

Speaker #3: For seven years, we've delivered as promised, resulting in 4x revenue growth and over $100 million of annualized adjusted EBITDA expansion. Through disciplined execution, we have built a strong balance sheet and a highly cash-generative business.

Speaker #3: At the end of Q1, while repurchasing shares of our stock under our share repurchase plan, our cash balance is over $178 million with no debt, and for three quarters in a row, we have generated annualized adjusted EBITDA levels at or above $100 million.

Jayme Mendal: At the end of Q1, while repurchasing shares of our stock under our share repurchase plan, our cash balance is over $178 million with no debt, and for 3 quarters in a row, we have generated annualized adjusted EBITDA levels at or above $100 million. We will keep driving profitable marketplace growth through a focused execution of our strategy and by leveraging AI to drive productivity and accelerate our pace of innovation on behalf of customers. Applying our proprietary data together with AI to support the growth of insurance providers has always been, and continues to be, foundational to the value we deliver. It has enabled us to become the trusted platform of choice for the country's largest carriers and thousands of local agents to grow their business.

Speaker #3: We will keep driving profitable marketplace growth through focused execution of our strategy and by leveraging AI to drive productivity and accelerate our pace of innovation on behalf of customers.

Speaker #3: Applying our proprietary data together with AI to support the growth of insurance providers has always been and continues to be foundational to the value we deliver.

Speaker #3: It has enabled us to become the trusted platform of choice for the country's largest carriers and thousands of local agents to grow their business.

Speaker #3: We are now continuing to build on this heritage, harnessing agentic AI capabilities to drive new levels of productivity, innovation, and customer performance. We have proven our ability to drive immense productivity gains with tech and AI-enabled automation over time.

Jayme Mendal: We are now continuing to build on this heritage, harnessing agentic AI capabilities to drive new levels of productivity, innovation, and customer performance. We have proven our ability to drive immense productivity gains with tech and AI-enabled automation over time. In the 3 years from Q1 2023 to Q1 2026, we have increased revenue per employee by nearly 3x. We are now significantly ramping the build, deployment, and usage of agentic AI tools across our employee population to further enhance productivity and create additional capacity to invest in long-term growth. As examples, we are building what we call an AI cockpit for our sales and service teams to dramatically reduce time spent on repetitive tasks. We added an AI layer on our homegrown site management platform to automate and improve experimentation on our site experience.

Speaker #3: In the three years from Q1 2023 to Q1 of 2026, we have increased revenue per employee by nearly 3X. We are now significantly ramping the build, deployment, and usage of agentic AI tools across our employee population to further enhance productivity and create additional capacity to invest in long-term growth.

Speaker #3: As examples, we are building what we call an AI cockpit for our sales and service teams to dramatically reduce time spent on repetitive tasks.

Speaker #3: And we added an AI layer on our homegrown site management platform to automate and improve experimentation on our site experience. More importantly, our teams remain hungry to accelerate our pace of innovation and service of improved customer outcomes using newfound capabilities of agentic AI.

Jayme Mendal: More importantly, our teams remain hungry to accelerate our pace of innovation in service of improved customer outcomes using newfound capabilities of Agentic AI. Already today, AI benefits our customers in a number of ways. Our AI-powered traffic engine and proprietary data enable us to effectively deploy ad spend in a way that optimally aligns carriers' underwriting preferences, profitability targets, and growth goals with the right consumers based on their location, history, demographics, and other factors. Through Smart Campaigns, we have productized our AI-powered bidding capabilities, improving carriers' ability to optimize return on ad spend in our marketplace, resulting in budget increases and embedding our technology more directly in our clients' workflows. Moving forward, we are rolling out AI-powered products and features to create value for customers at an accelerating rate. For example, we have begun extending Smart Campaigns to local agents.

Speaker #3: Already today, AI benefits our customers in a number of ways. Our AI-powered traffic engine and proprietary data enable us to effectively deploy ad spend in a way that optimally aligns carriers' underwriting preferences, profitability targets, and growth goals with the right consumers based on their location, history, demographics, and other factors.

Speaker #3: Through Smart Campaigns, we have productized our AI-powered bidding capabilities, improving carriers' ability to optimize return on ad spend in our marketplace. This has resulted in budget increases and embedded our technology more directly in our clients' workflows.

Speaker #3: Moving forward, we are rolling out AI-powered products and features to create value for customers at an accelerating rate. For example, we have begun extending smart campaigns to local agents.

Speaker #3: We also expect LLM-originated traffic to become a growing source across the market broadly. We believe EverQuote can provide carriers and agents with greater access to this traffic as paid advertising opens up and as we invest in content generation and technical integrations with LLM search platforms.

Jayme Mendal: We also expect LLM-originated traffic to become a growing source across the market broadly. We believe EverQuote can provide carriers and agents with greater access to this traffic as paid advertising opens up and as we invest in content generation and technical integrations with LLM search platforms. Looking ahead, we maintain a favorable outlook for Q2, reflecting continued strong execution by our team in a growth-oriented carrier environment. We are progressing as planned along our path to build a billion-dollar revenue business with an accelerating rate of innovation to support the growth of insurance carriers and agents. Over the years, we have proven our ability to listen to our customers' needs and rapidly adapt to changes in the environment to support their success and our financial performance. Agentic AI unlocks new opportunities in many sectors, including ours.

Speaker #3: Looking ahead, we maintain a favorable outlook for Q2, reflecting continued strong execution by our team in a growth-oriented carrier environment. We are progressing as planned along our path to build a billion-dollar revenue business, with an accelerating rate of innovation to support the growth of insurance carriers and agents.

Speaker #3: Over the years, we have proven our ability to listen to our customers' needs and rapidly adapt to changes in the environment to support their success and our financial performance.

Speaker #3: Agentic AI unlocks new opportunities in many sectors, including ours. As a team, we are aligned and focused as we continue to seize this opportunity to expand our product offering, broaden our competitive moat, and propel our long-term success.

Jayme Mendal: As a team, we are aligned and focused as we continue to seize this opportunity to expand our product offering, broaden our competitive moat, and propel our long-term success. I will now turn the call over to Joseph, who will discuss our financial results and outlook.

Speaker #3: I will now turn the call over to Joseph, who will discuss our financial results and outlook.

Speaker #2: Thank you, Jayme. And good afternoon, everyone. In Q1, we once again delivered impressive financial performance. Before I walk through the details of our Q1 results and Q2 outlook, let me share some key highlights.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you, Jayme, and good afternoon, everyone. In Q1, we once again delivered impressive financial performance. Before I walk through the details of our Q1 results and Q2 outlook, let me share some key highlights. We grew total revenue 15% year on year and grew adjusted EBITDA 30% year on year, while also delivering record adjusted EBITDA and operating cash flow. Let me take you to Q1. Total revenue grew 15% year over year to $190.9 million. Revenue from our auto insurance vertical increased to $172.4 million in Q1, up 13% year over year as we continued to benefit from our broad and differentiated distribution.

Speaker #2: We grew total revenue 15% year over year and grew adjusted EBITDA 30% year over year, while also delivering record adjusted EBITDA and operating cash flow.

Speaker #2: Let me take you to the first quarter. Total revenue grew 15% year over year to $190.9 million. Revenue from our auto insurance vertical increased to $172.4 million in Q1, up 13% year over year, as we continued to benefit from our broad and differentiated distribution.

Speaker #2: Revenue from our home insurance vertical grew 33% to $18.5 million in Q1, as we continue to benefit from strong execution against the operational plan we implemented last spring to bolster this vertical.

Joseph Sanborn: Revenue from our home insurance vertical grew 33% to $18.5 million in Q1 as we continue to benefit from strong execution against the operational plan we implemented last spring to bolster this vertical. Variable marketing dollars, or VMD, increased to a record $55.9 million in Q1, up 19% from the prior year period. Variable marketing margin, or VMM, was 29.3% for the quarter, up both sequentially and year on year as the new traffic channels we invested in last quarter are starting to show better profitability. Turning to operating expenses and the bottom line. This quarter, we continued to demonstrate the strong operating leverage of the business. As Jayme said, AI and data have always been cornerstones of our business and have both fueled our operational efficiencies and enhanced our revenue generation.

Speaker #2: Variable marketing dollars, or VMD, increased to a record $55.9 million in the first quarter, up 19% from the prior year period. Variable marketing margin, or VMM, was 29.3% for the quarter, up both sequentially and year on year as the new traffic channels we invested in last quarter are starting to show better profitability.

Speaker #2: Turning to operating expenses in the bottom line, this quarter we continued to demonstrate the strong operating leverage of the business. As Jamie said, AI and data have always been cornerstones of our business and have both fueled our operational efficiencies and enhanced our revenue generation.

Speaker #2: As I said in the last call, we have effectively doubled our revenues over the last two years while keeping operating expenses nearly flat. AI is positively impacting our economic model, and we are now at a scale where we expect to continue to drive strong cash flow generation and year-on-year adjusted EBITDA growth, even as we invest in the business.

Joseph Sanborn: As I said on the last call, we have effectively doubled our revenues over the last two years while keeping operating expenses nearly flat. AI is positively impacting our economic model. We are now at a scale where we expect to continue to drive strong cash flow generation and year-on-year adjusted EBITDA growth even as we invest in the business. In Q1, we grew GAAP net income to $18.7 million, up from $8 million in the prior year period. Q1 adjusted EBITDA increased 30% from the prior year period to $29.3 million, representing a 15.4% adjusted EBITDA margin. Cash operating expenses, which excludes advertising spend and certain non-cash and other one-time charges, were $26.6 million in Q1, up from Q4 as expected.

Speaker #2: In the first quarter, we grew gap-net income to $18.7 million, up from $8 million in the prior year period. Q1 adjusted EBITDA increased 30% from the prior year period to $29.3 million, representing a 15.4% adjusted EBITDA margin.

Speaker #2: Cash operating expenses, which exclude advertising spend and certain non-cash and other one-time charges, were $26.6 million in Q1, up from Q4 as expected. We delivered record operating cash flow of $29.6 million for the first quarter.

Joseph Sanborn: We delivered record operating cash flow of $29.6 million for Q1. In Q1, we repurchased approximately $19.9 million of shares under our share repurchase program. We ended the period with no debt and cash and cash equivalents of $178.5 million. To recap, we are starting the year with positive momentum driven by two primary factors. First, we continue to execute well and deliver strong performance for both carriers and agents. Second, we benefit from a strong and broadening overall demand as carriers continue to sit well below their targeted combined ratio and are seeking to grow policies in force. Turning to guidance for Q2 2026. We expect revenue to be between $185 million and $195 million, representing 21% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

Speaker #2: In Q1, we repurchased approximately $19.9 million of shares under our share repurchase program. We ended the period with no debt and cash and cash equivalents of $178.5 million.

Speaker #2: To recap, we are starting the year with positive momentum driven by two primary factors. First, we continue to execute well and deliver strong performance for both carriers and agents.

Speaker #2: And second, we benefit from a strong and broadening overall demand as carriers continue to sit well below their targeted combined ratio and are seeking to grow policies in force.

Speaker #2: Turning to guidance for the second quarter of 2026, we expect revenue to be between $185 and $195 million, representing 21% year over year growth at the midpoint.

Speaker #2: We expect VMD to be between $55 and $57 million, representing 23% year over year growth at the midpoint. And we expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $28 and $30 million, representing 32% year over year growth at the midpoint.

Joseph Sanborn: We expect VMD to be between $55 and $57 million, representing 23% year over year growth at the midpoint. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $28 and $30 million, representing 32% year over year growth at the midpoint. Looking to the remainder of the year, we continue to see a healthy environment as carriers focus on growing policies in force, shift spend to digital channels, and rely on EverQuote as a partner of choice. We remain committed to our goal of achieving $1 billion in revenues over the next 2 to 3 years while generating strong cash flow and year on year adjusted EBITDA growth. At the same time, we are continuing to build on our AI capabilities by making investments in, one, developing AI-first products that can add incremental value to our customers. Two, hiring additional AI talent and upskilling our existing team.

Speaker #2: Looking to the remainder of the year, we continue to see a healthy environment as carriers focus on growing policies digital channels and rely on EverQuote as a partner of choice.

Speaker #2: We remain committed to our goal of achieving $1 billion in revenues over the next two to three years, while generating strong cash flow and year-on-year adjusted EBITDA growth.

Speaker #2: At the same time, we are continuing to build on our AI capabilities by making investments in: 1) developing AI-first products that can add incremental value to our customers; 2) hiring additional AI talent and upskilling our existing team; and 3) driving increasing efficiency by deploying agentic AI tools across every function in the company.

Joseph Sanborn: Three, driving increasing efficiency by deploying Agentic AI tools across every function in the company. To summarize at a high level. One, our continued strong financial performance reflects that our focused strategy to be a trusted growth partner for P&C insurance providers is working. Two, we are executing amidst a strong market backdrop as carriers continue to shift spend to digital channels and choose EverQuote as a partner to drive customer acquisition and help them gain market share. Three, our ongoing growth and positive outlook offers clear evidence that AI is a tailwind for our business. Four, we are building on our AI heritage to bring new value to customers and reinforce our position as an an AI beneficiary long term. Five, we remain committed to our path to $1 billion in revenue while driving strong cash flow generation and year on year adjusted EBITDA growth.

Speaker #2: To summarize at a high level, 1) our continued strong financial performance reflects that our focused strategy to be a trusted growth partner for P&C insurance providers is working.

Speaker #2: We are executing amidst a strong market backdrop as carriers continue to shift spend to digital channels and choose EverQuote as a partner to drive customer acquisition and help them gain market share.

Speaker #2: 3) Our ongoing growth and positive outlook offer clear evidence that AI is a tailwind for our business. 4) We are building on our AI heritage to bring new value to customers and reinforce our position as an AI beneficiary long-term.

Speaker #2: And, five, we remain committed to our path to $1 billion in revenue, while driving strong cash flow generation and year-on-year adjusted EBITDA growth.

Speaker #2: Jamie and I will now take your questions.

Joseph Sanborn: Jayme and I will now take your questions.

Speaker #1: We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press *1 to raise your hand.

Operator 2: We will now begin the question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Cory Carpenter with JPMorgan. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator: We will now begin the question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Cory Carpenter with JPMorgan. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #1: To withdraw your question, press *1 again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality.

Speaker #1: If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Corey Carpenter with JPMorgan.

Speaker #1: Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #3: Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. I was hoping you all could expand a bit just on what you're seeing out there from the carriers.

Cory Carpenter: Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. I was hoping you all could expand a bit just on what you're seeing out there from the carriers. I know last time we talked a few months ago, you know, carriers were a little more measured to start the year, but, you know, clearly you outperformed your initial expectations. What do you think drove that, you know, are you still expecting kind of a similar cadence through the year as you had described three months ago? Thank you.

Speaker #3: I know last time we talked a few months ago, we were off—carriers were a little more measured to start the year, but clearly, you outperformed your initial expectations.

Speaker #3: So what do you think drove that and then kind of are you still expecting kind of a similar cadence through the year as you had described three months ago?

Speaker #3: Thank you.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Corey. So the carrier underwriting environment—it's healthy. And it seems to be healthy across the board now. We're seeing 80s combined ratios in auto, we're now seeing home at similar levels for multiple quarters now.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Cory. The carrier underwriting environment is healthy, and it seems to be healthy across the board now. You know, we're seeing 80s combined ratios in auto. We're now seeing home, you know, at similar levels for multiple quarters now. We're hearing from our customers, a tone of, you know, the growth orientation pretty much across the board. We have the market back into growth mode. We have all the major carriers now live and participating in the auction. I don't know if Joseph has anything to add, but that's kind of the sentiment in the market right now.

Speaker #2: And so we're hearing from our customers a tone of growth orientation. Pretty much across the board. So we have the market back into growth mode.

Speaker #2: We have all the major carriers now live and participating in the auction. And I don't know if Joseph has anything to add, but that's the kind of the sentiment in the market right now.

Speaker #3: Yeah. So maybe I'll answer your question more specifically with regards to overperformance in Q1. What was the upside to the quarter was pretty broad based in terms of carriers showing more spend than initially said they would do.

Joseph Sanborn: Maybe I'll answer your question more specifically with regards to overperformance in Q1. You know, what was the upside to the quarter was pretty broad based in terms of carriers showing more spend than they initially said they would do. I would highlight that one carrier in particular was more than double what they said they would spend in the back half of Q1. That obviously helped us result in overperformance on the revenue side. As we look beyond Q1, I guess what I would say, reiterate what Jayme said. You know, we feel good about where we're at. You know, carriers are in growth mode.

Speaker #3: But I would highlight that one carrier in particular was more than double what they said they would spend in the back half of Q1.

Speaker #3: And so that obviously helped us result in overperformance on the revenue side. As we look beyond Q1, I guess what I would reiterate what Jamie said, we feel good about where we're at.

Speaker #3: Carriers are in growth mode. They want to grow policies in force. They want to use digital channels, and we feel well positioned to help them do that and partner with them to do that.

Joseph Sanborn: They want to grow policies in force, and they want to use digital channels, and we feel well-positioned to help them do that and partner with them to do that. We feel good about the environment broadly.

Speaker #3: And so we feel good about the environment broadly.

Cory Carpenter: Then maybe more near term, obviously, been a lot of focus on just the broader macro uncertainty, oil prices, et cetera. Has that come up at all in your conversation with carriers? Or how are you thinking about the potential that that could or could not impact their spend through the year? Thank you.

Speaker #4: And then maybe more near term—obviously, there's been a lot of focus on just the broader macro uncertainty, oil prices, etc. Has that come up at all in your conversations with carriers, or how are you thinking about the potential that that could or could not impact their spend through the year?

Speaker #4: Thank you.

Speaker #2: With respect to carrier recent carrier conversations, it has not come up. And then I guess how might it impact carriers with regards to the year?

Joseph Sanborn: With respect to recent carrier conversations, it has not come up. I guess how might it impact carriers as we progress through the year? It's always hard to speculate, but what I would say is this, which is carriers have low combined ratios. To the extent that, you know, cost of repair were to increase, you know, they have a lot of ability to absorb higher costs and claims costs, given that combined ratios are quite low and continue to be quite low. The other thing I would say is if you think about, you know, if energy prices should remain high, gas prices specifically, one impact you could see is on consumers actually driving less, and less miles driven equals less accidents.

Speaker #2: It's always hard to speculate, but what I would say is this, which is carriers have low combined ratios. So to the extent that cost of repair were to increase, they have a lot of ability to absorb higher costs and claims costs given that combined ratios are quite low and continue to be quite low.

Speaker #2: The other thing I would say is, if you think about if energy prices should remain high—gas prices specifically—one impact you could see is on consumers actually driving less, and less miles driven equals less accidents.

Speaker #2: So it could be a benefit to the carriers, potentially in their combined ratio as well, and claims costs.

Joseph Sanborn: It could be a benefit to the carriers potentially in their combined ratio as well and claims costs.

Speaker #4: Great. Thank you all. Very helpful.

Cory Carpenter: Great. Thank you all. Very helpful.

Speaker #2: Thank you.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you.

Speaker #3: Thanks, Corey.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Cory.

Speaker #1: The next question comes from the line of Maria Rips with Canaccord. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator 2: The next question comes from the line of Maria Ripps with Canaccord. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Maria Ripps with Canaccord. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Maria Ripps: Great. Thanks for taking my questions and congrats on the strong quarter. I just wanted to follow up on the last question. Clearly, growth has been very encouraging here. I guess, to what extent should we view the H1 strength as sort of as incremental versus sort of possible pull forward of the H2 activity?

Speaker #5: Great. Thanks for taking my questions. And congrats on the strong quarter. I just wanted to follow up on the last question. Clearly, growth has been very encouraging here.

Speaker #5: I guess to what extent should we view the first half strength as sort of as incremental versus sort of possible pull forward of the second half activity?

Speaker #2: Sure. So, obviously, as we said, we've been pleased by how the year has started. Q1 is strong, and our guide for Q2 is obviously a continuation of what we're seeing in Q1.

Joseph Sanborn: Sure. As we said, we've been pleased by how the year has started. You know, Q1 is strong, and our guide for Q2 obviously is a continuation of what we're seeing in Q1. As we look to the H2, I guess I would say this: You know, we have not guided for the H2. We're not going to do that on this call. What we have given you is a view of sort of our path beyond this, you know, the next quarter. We've given you a path to being a billion-dollar business in two to three years, and we still feel very good about that and our path to achieve that. Really, nothing has really changed in our view since our last time we discussed this.

Speaker #2: As we look to the second half of the year, I guess I would say this. We have not guided for the second half of the year.

Speaker #2: We're not going to do that in this call. What we have given you as a view of sort of our path beyond the next quarter, we've given you a path to being a billion-dollar business in two to three years, and we still feel very good about that.

Speaker #2: And our path to achieve that. And really, nothing has really changed in our views since the last time we discussed this.

Speaker #5: Got it. That's very helpful. And then I guess more broadly on LLM traffic, you talked about sort of three strategies to capture LLM traffic, which is content, integrations, and pay to ads.

Maria Ripps: Got it. That's very helpful. I guess more broadly on LLM traffic, you talked about sort of three strategies to capture LLM traffic, which is content integrations and paid ads. Now we've seen a couple of competitors out there sort of actually launching apps within ChatGPT. Sort of what are your thoughts on developing maybe similar app-level integrations with AI platforms, and how would that fit with your broader strategy?

Speaker #5: Now, we've seen a couple of competitors out there sort of actually launching apps within ChatGPT. What are your thoughts on developing maybe similar app-level integrations with AI platforms?

Speaker #5: And how would that fit with your broader strategy?

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Maria. Yeah, I would put that under the umbrella of technical integrations. You know, we've been sort of testing in these platforms for a while now. We've built several apps. We have not pushed anything to production yet. There's a number of them. You know, there's probably 15 plus apps in the insurance category right now in, you know, in ChatGPT. They're all quite similar. They kind of just take a web form experience and apply a lightweight conversational front end to it before spinning the consumer back to, like, a web-based quoting and binding experience. There's, like, a lot of friction to actually access these apps. You've got to, you know, prove it or install it. You've got to give it permissions. It's just that there's a lot of friction.

Speaker #2: under the umbrella of technical integrations. And we have built we've been sort of testing in these platforms for a while now. We've built several apps.

Speaker #2: We have not pushed anything to production yet. There's a number of them. There's probably 15-plus apps in the insurance category right now in ChatGPT.

Speaker #2: They're all quite similar. They kind of just take a web form experience and apply a lightweight conversational front-end to it before spitting the consumer back to a web-based quoting and binding experience.

Speaker #2: And there's a lot of friction to actually access these apps. So you've got to approve it or install it. You've got to give it permissions.

Speaker #2: There's just a lot of friction. And so our sense is there's very little actual traffic flowing through those at this point. We're working on something that I think will be more interesting but still the challenge is always going to be driving traffic into it.

Jayme Mendal: Our sense is there's very little actual traffic flowing through those at this point. You know, we're working on something that I think will be more interesting. Still the challenge is always going to be driving traffic into it. That's where I think the other elements of the strategy will come into play. One is, you know, paid advertising, where I think especially ChatGPT is opening up to, you know, to paid ads. We're among the largest paid advertisers in insurance, as-

Speaker #2: And that's where I think the other elements of the strategy will come into play. One is paid advertising. Where I think especially ChatGPT is opening up to paid ads.

Speaker #2: We're among the largest paid advertisers in insurance. And so, as the LLMs open up and become a more sophisticated paid advertising platform, I think that's going to give us an opportunity to drive immediate scale.

Joseph Sanborn: The LLMs open up and become a more sophisticated paid advertising platform. I think that's gonna give us an opportunity to drive immediate scale. We're also making quite a bit of investment in content and a content strategy specifically as it relates to gaining visibility in the LLMs. We have a very experienced and capable team focused on this, and we do expect to start to see some impact from their efforts materializing as the year progresses, slowly but steadily. That's our assessment right now of the landscape. You know, for us, it will be incremental traffic. Right now, we have no SEO traffic, right? We're historically, we're paid. We do expect that as this pool of traffic grows and we tap into it will represent incremental traffic for EverQuote.

Jayme Mendal: The LLMs open up and become a more sophisticated paid advertising platform. I think that's gonna give us an opportunity to drive immediate scale. We're also making quite a bit of investment in content and a content strategy specifically as it relates to gaining visibility in the LLMs. We have a very experienced and capable team focused on this, and we do expect to start to see some impact from their efforts materializing as the year progresses, slowly but steadily. That's our assessment right now of the landscape. You know, for us, it will be incremental traffic. Right now, we have no SEO traffic, right? We're historically, we're paid. We do expect that as this pool of traffic grows and we tap into it will represent incremental traffic for EverQuote.

Speaker #2: And then we're also making quite a bit of investment in content and a content strategy specifically as it relates to gaining visibility in the LLMs.

Speaker #2: And we have a very experienced and capable team focused on this. And we do expect to start to see some impact from their efforts materializing as the year progresses.

Speaker #2: Slowly but steadily. So that's kind of the that's our assessment right now of the landscape. For us, it will be incremental traffic. Right now, we have no SEO traffic, right?

Speaker #2: We're historically paid. And so we do expect that as this pool of traffic grows and we tap into it, it will represent incremental traffic forever quote.

Speaker #5: Got it. That's very helpful. Thank you.

Maria Ripps: Got it. That's very helpful. Thank you.

Speaker #3: Thanks, Brian.

Joseph Sanborn: Thanks, Maria.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Brian.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Maria.

Speaker #1: Our next question comes from the line of Navid Khan with B. Riley Securities. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator 2: Our next question comes from the line of Naved Khan with B. Riley Securities. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Naved Khan with B. Riley Securities. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Naved Khan: Great. Thank you very much. I think on the last call, you gave us a stat that 75% of the carriers were below peak levels. Where does that now stand today? How does it look, just to give us some flavor of what demand could be? The second question I had is just around the buyback. It looks like you finished the authorization that was out. Have you replenished that or the plan to kind of deploy additional capital towards more of a share buyback? Thank you.

Speaker #6: Thank you very much. I think on the last call, you gave us a stat like 75% of the carriers were below peak levels. Where does that stand today?

Speaker #6: How does it look just to give us some flavor of where demand could be? And then the second question I had is just around the buyback.

Speaker #6: It looks like you finished the authorization that was out. Have you replenished that, or do you plan to deploy additional capital towards more of a share buyback?

Speaker #6: Thank you.

Speaker #2: Sure. So thanks for the question, Navid, and welcome to our call. So first, in terms of carrier demand, the stat we give is sort of percentage of top 25 carriers.

Joseph Sanborn: Sure. Thanks for the question, Naved Khan, and welcome to our call. You know, first in terms of carrier demand, the stat we give is sort of percentage of top 25 carriers, around 80% now, are below peak quarterly spend. I guess I would sort of fine-tune that a bit and remind folks that when you look at our marketplace, in any given quarter, you wouldn't expect all carriers to get back to peak quarterly spend, right? As we look at this quarter going into Q2, we're seeing recovery, particularly in one of our top five carriers that wasn't on the platform, you know, until Q1, as someone who was a top five carrier for us prior to the downturn.

Speaker #2: Around 80% now. If not, are below peak quarterly spend. I guess I would sort of fine-tune that a bit and remind folks that when you look at our marketplace, in any given quarter, you wouldn't expect all carriers to get back to peak quarterly spend, right?

Speaker #2: We've had as we look at this quarter going into Q2, we're seeing recovery, particularly in one of our top five carriers. It wasn't on the platform.

Speaker #2: Until Q1, as someone was a top five carrier for us prior to the downturn. So as I think about the concentration dynamic in the room from our side, so we're pleased with that.

Joseph Sanborn: That's how I'd think about, you know, the concentration dynamic on the room prop side. We're pleased with that. With regards to the buyback, what I would say is we purchased about 19, just under $20 million purchase of shares in Q1. That represents shares purchased to date under the authorization, about 7.5% dilution is offset in dilution. As we look at buybacks, we'll obviously continue to be using our buyback plan. As we talk about more broadly about capital allocation, I'll repeat what I've said in sort of our prior calls, which is there's sort of 3 uses for capital in our mind. First and foremost is a fortress balance sheet.

Speaker #2: And then with regards to the buyback, what I would say is we purchased about 19 just under $20 million purchase of shares in Q1.

Speaker #2: That represents shares purchased to date under the authorization, about 7.5% dilution is being 7, 7.5% is offset in dilution. And as we look at buybacks, we'll obviously continue to be using our buyback plan.

Speaker #2: And as we talk about more broadly about capital allocation, I'll repeat what I've said in sort of our prior calls, which is there's sort of three uses for capital in our mind.

Speaker #2: First and foremost is a fortress balance sheet. We believe strongly in the importance of having a strong balance sheet, and we have no debt.

Joseph Sanborn: We believe strongly in the importance of having a strong balance sheet, and we have no debt, and we're gonna continue to have that as a hallmark of our capital allocation strategy. Second is buyback plans. As I said, we've done a fair amount of those, and we see that as another way to bring value back to shareholders. The third, of course, is M&A. As we think about M&A, we've talked about this in the past, which is we do not see M&A as required to hit our path to $1 billion in revenues. We see that as being an organic strategy. We see an opportunity in this market to really build the leading player helping P&C carriers and agents grow their business successfully.

Speaker #2: And we're going to continue to have that as a hallmark of our capital allocation strategy. Second is buyback plans. As I said, we've done a fair amount of those, and we see that as another way to bring value back to shareholders.

Speaker #2: And the third, of course, is M&A. And as we think about M&A, we've talked about this in the past, which is we do not see M&A as required to hit our path to $1 billion in revenues.

Speaker #2: We see that as being an organic strategy. But we see an opportunity in this market to really build the leading player at helping P&C carriers and agents grow their business successfully.

Speaker #2: And M&A could play a part in helping us accelerate some of the things we'd be naturally building internally. Whether that is additional products for carriers and agents, whether it's helping expand into our non-auto verticals, which bring additional sources of traffic, or AI talent, all those could be part of our M&A strategy.

Joseph Sanborn: M&A could play a part in helping us, you know, accelerate some of the things we'd be naturally building internally. Whether that is additional products for carriers and agents, whether it's helping expand into our non-auto verticals, whether it's bringing additional sources of traffic or AI talent, all those could be part of our M&A strategy.

Speaker #6: Thank you.

Naved Khan: Thank you.

Speaker #2: Thank you.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you. Thanks, Naved.

Speaker #3: Thanks, Navid.

Speaker #1: The next question comes from the line of Ralph Shacker with William Blair. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator 2: The next question comes from the line of Ralph Schackart with William Blair. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Ralph Schackart with William Blair. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Ralph Schackart: Good evening. Thanks for taking the question. Two, if I could, please. First, maybe just switching gears to the consumer side. Can you maybe talk about the shopping levels or sort of some of the search traffic you're seeing given elevated insurance costs? Are you still seeing, you know, high intent there? Then two, Joseph, maybe on VMD, I know you don't guide full year, but just kinda thinking about the linearity for the balance for the year. Is it reasonable assuming that these levels could persist for the remainder of the year? I know you talked about new traffic channels providing better profitability. Just any more color you could add there would be great. Thank you.

Speaker #7: Good evening. Thanks for taking the question. Two, if I could, please. First, maybe just switching gears to the consumer side. Can you maybe talk about the shopping levels or sort of some of the search traffic you're seeing given elevated insurance costs?

Speaker #7: Are you still seeing high intent there? And then two, Joseph, maybe in VMD, I know you don't guide full year, but just kind of thinking about the linearity for the balance of the year, is it reasonable to see that these levels could persist for the remainder of the year?

Speaker #7: I know you talked about new traffic channels providing better profitability. If you could add any more color, that would be great. Thank you.

Speaker #2: I'll take the first question, Ralph. So as it relates to shopping activity, we expected it to start to normalize this year as the rate cycle somewhat settled down.

Joseph Sanborn: I'll take the first question, Ralph. As it relates to shopping activity, you know, we expected it to start to normalize this year as the rate cycle somewhat settled down. That's what we're seeing. You know, we have continued to see year-on-year growth in our search traffic, but we're seeing some normalization in the overall traffic levels. That's with a much more, you know, competitive advertising environment from the insurers. Within the marketplace, you know, that normalizing volume is being met by also much higher value per referral going out the door, which has been a favorable dynamic for us.

Jayme Mendal: I'll take the first question, Ralph. As it relates to shopping activity, you know, we expected it to start to normalize this year as the rate cycle somewhat settled down. That's what we're seeing. You know, we have continued to see year-on-year growth in our search traffic, but we're seeing some normalization in the overall traffic levels. That's with a much more, you know, competitive advertising environment from the insurers. Within the marketplace, you know, that normalizing volume is being met by also much higher value per referral going out the door, which has been a favorable dynamic for us.

Speaker #2: And that's what we're seeing. We have continued to see year-over-year growth in our search traffic, but we're seeing some normalization in the overall traffic levels.

Speaker #2: But that's with a much more competitive advertising environment from the insurers. And so within the marketplace, that normalizing volume is being met by also much higher value per referral going out the door.

Speaker #2: Which has been a favorable dynamic for us. And as demand continues to grow from the advertisers, we continue to drive growth ourselves beyond what's happening in the ambient environment by launching and scaling some of these new traffic channels and programs, which we've done successfully over the last quarter and will continue to do over the course of this year.

Joseph Sanborn: You know, as demand continues to grow from the advertisers, you know, we continue to drive growth ourselves beyond what's happening in the ambient environment by launching and scaling some of these new traffic channels and programs, which we've done successfully over the last quarter and will continue to do over the course of this year. With regards to VMM, I guess I would, I would touch on the thing that I know you know well, Ralph, from hearing from us, is we don't run the business day-to-day basis to drive VMM, we drive VMD. But we were pleased in Q1 that VMM margin was at over 29%. I think it reflected the strategy we talked about in our November call going into the Q4.

Jayme Mendal: You know, as demand continues to grow from the advertisers, you know, we continue to drive growth ourselves beyond what's happening in the ambient environment by launching and scaling some of these new traffic channels and programs, which we've done successfully over the last quarter and will continue to do over the course of this year.

Speaker #6: And then with regards to VMM, I guess I would touch on the thing that I know you know well, Ralph, I'm hearing from us is we don't run the business day-to-day basis to drive VMM.

Joseph Sanborn: With regards to VMM, I guess I would, I would touch on the thing that I know you know well, Ralph, from hearing from us, is we don't run the business day-to-day basis to drive VMM, we drive VMD. But we were pleased in Q1 that VMM margin was at over 29%. I think it reflected the strategy we talked about in our November call going into the Q4.

Speaker #6: We drive VMD. But we were pleased in Q1 that VMM margin was at over 29%. I think it reflected the strategy we talked about in November call going into the fourth quarter.

Speaker #6: We have investments in new channels. Those investments in channels paid off, and we're driving better, and they're scaling at a better profitability than they were in Q4 when they initially were scaling.

Joseph Sanborn: We had investments in new channels. Those investments in channels paid off, and they were driving better, and they're scaling at a better profitability than they were in Q4 when they initially were scaling. We're pleased with that. As we look into the balance of the year, we sort of have this view of sort of high 20s, you know, 27%, 28%, sometimes they'll tip into 29%. I think it's important to realize, you know, not only do we not run the business day-to-day for VMM margin, there's also the element of what we control and what we don't control, right? The advertising costs that we purchase, where it's a competitive market for advertising that can ebb and flow quarter to quarter.

Speaker #6: So we're pleased with that. As we look into the balance of the year, we sort of have this view of sort of high 20s—27, 28 percent, sometimes it'll tip into 29%.

Speaker #6: I think it's important to realize not only do we not run the business day-to-day for VMM margin, there's also a dynamic of what we control and what we don't control, right?

Speaker #6: So the advertising cost that we purchase for it's a competitive market for advertising that can ebb and flow quarter to quarter. What we control is how we the efficiency with how we acquire that advertising and are using our traffic, bidding engine to help us acquire that most efficiently.

Joseph Sanborn: You know, what we control is how we, the efficiency with how we acquire that advertising and our using our traffic bidding engine to help us acquire that most efficiently. The context I'd remind you is when we look at our business, if you go back when we were, you know, $250, $260 million business in auto, you know, our VMM margin was in the high twenties. Here we are, we're three times that size, and our VMM is in the high twenties. The advertising environment has certainly gotten more competitive, but at the same time, we are actually continuing to drive efficiencies in the business. We think high twenties is a reasonable place to think about it. You know, 27%, 28%, you know, maybe ticking to 29% occasionally for the rest of the year.

Speaker #6: The context that reminds you is when we look at our business, you go back when we were 250, 260 million dollars business in auto, our VMM margin was in the high 20s.

Speaker #6: Here we are with three times that size, and our VMM is in the high 20s. The advertising environment has certainly gotten more competitive, but at the same time, we are actually continuing to drive efficiencies in the business.

Speaker #6: So we think high 20 is a reasonable place to think about it—27, 28 percent, maybe taking a 29 on occasion—for the rest of the year.

Speaker #7: That's great. Thanks, Joseph. Thanks, Janik.

Ralph Schackart: That's great. Thanks, Joseph. Thanks, Jayme Mendal.

Ralph Schackart: That's great. Thanks, Joseph. Thanks, Jayme.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you. Thanks, Rob.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you. Thanks, Ralph.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Ralph.

Speaker #1: The next question comes from the line of Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator 2: The next question comes from the line of Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #6: Hey, great. Thanks for taking my questions. It kind of seems just given the guys giving the outlook, we've reached a pretty I'd call it maybe stable where competition around marketing seems pretty stable.

Jed Kelly: Hey, great. Thanks for taking my questions. It kind of seems just given the guidance, given the outlook, you know, we've reached a pretty, I'd call it maybe stable, where we're like competition around marketing seems pretty stable. If you look at the VMM margins, you know, they're kind of going up. Can you just talk about that environment? How should we think about higher gas prices and, you know, higher used car prices and higher prices and just how is that impacting people's ability to shop for insurance? Thanks.

Speaker #6: If you look at the VMM margins, they're kind of going up. So can you just talk about that environment? And then, how should we think about higher gas prices and higher used car prices—and just higher prices in general—and how that's impacting people's ability to shop for insurance?

Speaker #6: Thanks.

Speaker #2: Sure. Thanks, Jed. So the first question, just to make sure I understood it, was, Jed, were you asking about the consumer side or what's happening in the sort of on the provider side in the advertising dynamic?

Joseph Sanborn: Sure. Thanks, Jed. The first question, just to make sure I understood it, was Jed, were you asking about the consumer side or what's happening in the sort of on the provider side and the advertising dynamic?

Speaker #6: In the marketplace, right? In your marketplace, it seems that VMM margins are operating back in the high 20s. Right? So it seems like you're kind of reaching a Goldilocks period, where there's decent stability in terms of traffic acquisition costs for you guys.

Jed Kelly: In your marketplace, right? Like, in your marketplace, it seems that, you know, VMM margins are, you know, operating back in the high twenties, right? It seems like you're kind of reaching like a Goldilocks period of where it's like decent stability in terms of traffic acquisition costs for you guys. I mean, is that the right way to look at it when I kind of look at, like, what some of your other competitors have said and, you know, where like VMM margins are going?

Speaker #6: I mean, is that the right way to look at it when I kind of look at what some of your other competitors have said and where VMM margins are going?

Speaker #2: I would say we have a very healthy marketplace dynamic right now from our perspective, where demand on the provider side is very strong. And that's kind of across the board.

Joseph Sanborn: I would say we have a very healthy marketplace dynamic right now from our perspective, where demand on the provider side is very strong, and that's kind of across the board, carriers, agents, auto, home. You know, we've been doing our best to sort of keep pace with the demand by investing in, you know, growing our existing traffic channels and sort of launching and scaling new channels and programs. We're at a relatively stable place right now. As Joseph mentioned, I mean, it's consistent with our historical levels of VMM, so there's nothing like out of the ordinary about it. It's just a healthy marketplace dynamic. Yeah.

Speaker #2: Carriers, agents, auto, home. And we've been doing our best to sort of keep pace with the demand by investing in growing our existing traffic channels and sort of launching and scaling new channels and programs.

Speaker #2: So we're at a relatively stable place right now. As Joseph mentioned, I mean, it's consistent with our historical levels of VMM. So there's nothing out of the ordinary about it.

Speaker #2: But it's just a healthy marketplace dynamic.

Speaker #6: Yeah. And I guess the second piece I would say with regards to sort of the environment, I think if I have a question right, Jed, is consumer, how is consumer shopping behaviors given higher gas prices, potentially higher used car price, higher used car price, etc.?

Jayme Mendal: I guess the second piece I would say with regards to sort of the environment, I think if I have a question right, Jed, is consumer shopping behaviors, behavior given higher gas prices, potentially higher used car price, et cetera? I guess what I'd say is this, is that, you know, shopping levels have been elevated for some time. They're starting to normalize a bit from these elevated levels. I guess what I think about the environment for what does it mean for our business or the macro environment, I'd say on the one hand, you could say if there are higher used car prices or higher repair costs, that could impact claims costs for carriers. That being said, carriers are quite healthy with combined ratios that are, you know, still quite low.

Speaker #6: And I guess what I'd say is this, is that shopping levels have been elevated for some time. They're starting to normalize a bit from these elevated levels.

Speaker #6: I guess what I think about the environment for what does it mean for our business, for the macro environment, I'd say on the one hand, you could say if there are higher used car prices or higher repair costs, that could impact claims costs for carriers.

Speaker #6: That being said, carriers are quite healthy with combined ratios that are still quite low. So their ability to absorb higher claims costs, they have significant cushion, so to speak, to absorb that should they need to.

Joseph Sanborn: Their ability to absorb higher claims costs, you know, they have significant cushion, so to speak, to absorb that should they need to. The flip side of high gas prices is consumers, particularly when you start to get over certain milestone levels, $4 a gallon, you know, you start to see consumers actually driving less. When they drive, there's less miles driven, there's less accidents. It's an interesting dynamic in our business where, you know, there's these dynamics on an environment we're in right now, in the macro environment. Consumers, you know, may be actually driving less. That benefits the carriers. There's also a dynamic where consumers still are shopping 'cause auto insurance is a top five expenditure and they see opportunities to continue to save.

Jayme Mendal: Their ability to absorb higher claims costs, you know, they have significant cushion, so to speak, to absorb that should they need to. The flip side of high gas prices is consumers, particularly when you start to get over certain milestone levels, $4 a gallon, you know, you start to see consumers actually driving less. When they drive, there's less miles driven, there's less accidents. It's an interesting dynamic in our business where, you know, there's these dynamics on an environment we're in right now, in the macro environment. Consumers, you know, may be actually driving less. That benefits the carriers. There's also a dynamic where consumers still are shopping 'cause auto insurance is a top five expenditure and they see opportunities to continue to save.

Speaker #6: The flip side is, with high gas prices, consumers—particularly when you start to get over certain milestone levels, like $4 a gallon—you start to see consumers actually driving less. When they drive less, when there's less miles driven, there's less accidents.

Speaker #6: So, it's an interesting dynamic in our business where there's these dynamics in the environment we're in right now, and the macro environment. Consumers may be actually driving less, and that benefits carriers.

Speaker #6: And there's also a dynamic where consumers still are shopping because auto insurance is a top five expenditure and they see opportunities to continue to save.

Speaker #2: Got it. And I guess I probably asked this every quarter, but obviously saw the repurchase you're building up a pretty nice war chest with the cash.

Jed Kelly: Got it. you know, I guess I probably ask this every quarter.

Joseph Sanborn: Sure.

Jayme Mendal: Sure.

Jed Kelly: -the repurchase. You know, you're building up a pretty nice war chest with the cash. You know, can you just talk about how you think about your capital allocation for acquisitions and some of the opportunities out there? Thank you.

Speaker #2: Can you just talk about how you think about your capital allocation for acquisitions and some of the opportunities out there? Thank you.

Speaker #6: Sure. So, as I mentioned to Naveed, we think about capital allocation as—obviously, a fortress balance sheet is critical in our business. We think that is particularly important for us and something that differentiates us from some of the other companies out there.

Joseph Sanborn: Sure. As I mentioned to Naveed, we think about capital allocation as, obviously, fortress balance sheet is critical in our business. You know, we think that is particularly important for us and something that differentiates from some of the other companies out there. The second, buybacks. We did another $20 million in Q1. You know, buyback's another portion of how we give return back to shareholders. The third is on M&A. When we think about M&A, what I would say is this: You know, our path to $1 billion remains one where we need no M&A to drive that growth. I think that's purely organic. That being said, we have a strategy to be, you know, to really, you know, emerge as the leader helping P&C carriers and agents grow their business.

Speaker #6: Second, buybacks. We did another $20 million in Q1. Buybacks are another portion of how we give return back to shareholders. And the third is on M&A.

Speaker #6: And when we think about M&A, what I would say is this: our path to a billion remains one where we need no M&A to drive that growth.

Speaker #6: I think that's purely organic. That being said, we have a strategy to be to really be the emerges the leader helping P&C carriers and agents grow their business.

Speaker #6: And we think we're well positioned to do that. It might be opportunities to accelerate our strategy by through acquisitions. Acquisitions could take a couple of forms.

Joseph Sanborn: We think we're well-positioned to do that. There might be opportunities to accelerate our strategy through acquisitions. Acquisitions could take a couple forms. They could be additional products.

Speaker #6: They could be additional products for our carrier partners, our agents. We've talked about our product strategy with our agents. We're doing the same thing on the carrier side.

Jayme Mendal: For our carrier partners, our agents. We've talked about our product strategy with our agents. We're doing the same thing on the carrier side. We think about verticals, you know, 90% auto, 10% home. We're bullish on home. You know, might we think about other verticals? Might we think about technology we could bring in additional data or additional AI talent that could help accelerate some of our AI initiatives? All those are things we'd consider in our M&A strategy. We've been spending more time to think about our M&A strategy, you know, at this point in 2026 certainly than we were at this point in 2025.

Joseph Sanborn: For our carrier partners, our agents. We've talked about our product strategy with our agents. We're doing the same thing on the carrier side. We think about verticals, you know, 90% auto, 10% home. We're bullish on home. You know, might we think about other verticals? Might we think about technology we could bring in additional data or additional AI talent that could help accelerate some of our AI initiatives? All those are things we'd consider in our M&A strategy. We've been spending more time to think about our M&A strategy, you know, at this point in 2026 certainly than we were at this point in 2025.

Speaker #6: We think about verticals. 90% auto, 10% home. We're bullish on home. Might we think about other verticals? Might we think about technology we could bring and additional data or additional AI talent that could help accelerate some of our AI initiatives?

Speaker #6: All those are things we'd consider in our M&A strategy. And we've been spending more time and thinking about our M&A strategy at this point in 2026, certainly than we were at this point in 2025.

Speaker #6: Thank you. And for a quarter.

Jed Kelly: Thank you, and great quarter.

Speaker #2: Thank you.

Jayme Mendal: Thank you.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Jed.

Joseph Sanborn: Thanks, Jed Kelly.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Jed Kelly.

Speaker #1: The next question comes from the line of Jason Cryer with Craig-Hallum. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator 2: The next question comes from the line of Jason Kreyer with Craig-Hallum. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Jason Kreyer with Craig-Hallum. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #7: Thank you. Spent the last few years in a hard market, premium growth, and kind of came into late 2025 and into '26 being a bit of a change, right?

Jason Kreyer: Thank you. Spent the last few years in, you know, a hard market for premium growth and kind of came into 2025 and into 2026 expecting a bit of a change, right? Like a soft market.

Speaker #7: A softing market.

Speaker #6: Jason, you're breaking up. We're having a hard time hearing you.

Jayme Mendal: Jason, you're breaking up. We're having a hard time hearing you.

Speaker #7: A really high level. So any improvement?

Jason Kreyer: Really high level. Any improvement?

Speaker #6: That's better. Thank you.

Jayme Mendal: That's better. Thank you.

Speaker #7: Here, how about that?

Jason Kreyer: Here, how about that?

Speaker #6: Much better. Yep.

Jayme Mendal: Much better. Yep.

Speaker #7: Okay. Sorry about that. So just as we transition from a softer market or a harder market to a softer market, and you've gone through executing the last couple of quarters, just curious if there's any learnings as far as however, quote, "competes" in a new market and how you've gone through that transition.

Jason Kreyer: Okay, sorry about that. Just as we transition from a, you know, softer market or a harder market to a softer market, you've gone through executing the last couple of quarters, just curious if there's any learnings as far as how EverQuote competes in a new market and how you've gone through that transition?

Speaker #2: I think our strategy generally lends itself well to the transition into the market. I mean, we manage very effectively through the hard market. But our stated strategy is to become the one-stop shop for agents and carriers to grow their business.

Jayme Mendal: I think our strategy generally lends itself well to the, you know, the transition into the new market. I mean, we managed very effectively through the hard market. You know, our stated strategy is to become, you know, the one-stop shop for agents and carriers to grow their business. Now when they're in a period where they're really focused on growth, they tend to be more open-minded to embracing and testing new products, new features. Over the last couple of years, we've developed quite a few new products and features that, you know, take advantage of our data, that apply sort of AI machine learning to really help agents and carriers grow.

Speaker #2: And now when they're in a period where they're really focused on growth, they tend to be more open-minded to embracing and testing new products, new features, and over the last couple of years, we've developed quite a few new products and features that take advantage of our data that apply sort of AI, machine learning to really help agents and carriers grow.

Speaker #2: And we're starting to see an increasing rate of adoption of some of these products and features because the carriers and the agents really need to grow to hit some aggressive growth targets.

Jayme Mendal: We're starting to see, you know, an increasing rate of adoption of some of these products and features because the carriers and the agents really need to grow to hit some aggressive growth targets.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Jamie. That's a good dovetail to what my follow-up question. Just on the adoption curve of these AI-enabled solutions, do you feel you're now at a critical mass with those products that you brought to market?

Jason Kreyer: Thanks, Jayme. That's a good dovetail to what my follow-up question. Just on, like, the adoption curve of these AI-enabled solutions, like, do you feel you're now at a critical mass with those products that you've brought to market?

Speaker #2: Yeah. I do. I mean, for us, generally speaking, it's like it's an exciting time for us. I think there's few companies in our market that are better equipped to benefit from some of the new agentic AI capabilities than we are.

Jayme Mendal: Yeah, I do. I mean, for us, you know, generally speaking, it's like it's an exciting time for us. You know, I think there's few companies in our market that are better equipped to benefit from some of the new Agentic AI capabilities than we are. You know, we've been applying AI and our proprietary data to acquire traffic, to streamline insurance shopping, to help providers grow for years now. You know, before it was machine learning and Reinforcement Learning, and more recently it's some more of the GenAI tools and now Agentic AI tools that are really powerful tools in the toolkit. We're seeing the carriers and agents, many of them really need our help.

Speaker #2: We've been applying AI in our proprietary data to acquire traffic, to streamline insurance shopping, to help providers grow for years now. And before it was machine learning and reinforcement learning and more recently it's some more of the Gen AI tools and now agentic AI tools that are really powerful tools in the toolkit.

Speaker #2: And we're seeing the carriers and agents many of them really need our help. They need our help to access the benefits of these tools probably much sooner than they'd be able to do on their own.

Jayme Mendal: They need our help to access the benefits of these tools much, probably much sooner than they'd be able to do on their own. This year is definitely marking acceleration in Agentic AI adoption and usage at EverQuote in probably two ways. One is more internal. That's, you know, how we apply it to our operations. The second is how we apply it to add value for our customers through our products. Both of those have really, I think accelerated this year. You know, internally in engineering, we've been using generative AI for years now to improve productivity, well, actually through Copilot. In the last six months, you know, the capabilities of agentic coding have reached a point where we're able to rethink our entire software development life cycle to be agentic first.

Speaker #2: And so this year is definitely marking acceleration in agentic AI adoption and usage at every quote and probably in two ways. One is more internal.

Speaker #2: So that's how we apply it to our operations. And the second is how we apply it to add value for our customers through our products.

Speaker #2: But both of those have really, I think, accelerated this year. Internally, in engineering, we've been using generative AI for years now to improve productivity.

Speaker #2: Largely through Copilots. But in the last six months, we're now the capabilities of agentic coding have reached a point where we're able to rethink our entire software development lifecycle to be agentic first.

Speaker #2: And that's going to unlock a lot of gains in our ability to ship more value to customers faster than ever before. And then beyond engineering, as Joseph was mentioning, we're starting to integrate now AI tools and agents throughout our operations whether that's in our site experience and how we're experimenting on it.

Jayme Mendal: That's going to unlock a lot of gains in our ability to ship more value to customers faster than ever before. You know, beyond engineering, as Joseph was mentioning, we're starting to integrate now AI tools and agents throughout our operations, whether that's, you know, in our site experience and how we're experimenting on it. We've got tools to streamline, debug carrier integrations. We've got applications in, you know, legal, design, you name it. Operationally, it's really starting to drive increasing productivity. With respect to customers, you know, the adoption has been great. I mean, we've talked about Smart Campaigns quite a bit in the context of carriers. We're continuing to improve the performance of those models and get more adoption with carriers.

Speaker #2: We've got tools to streamline debug carrier integrations. We've got applications in legal, design, you name it. So, operationally, it's really starting to drive increasing productivity.

Speaker #2: And then with respect to customers, the adoption has been great. I mean, we've talked about smart campaigns quite a bit in the context of carriers.

Speaker #2: We're continuing to improve the performance of those models and get more adoption with carriers. But we're also extending smart campaigns now to agents for the first time, for local agents.

Jayme Mendal: We're also extending Smart Campaigns now to agents for the first time, to local agents. We've got a product that's focused on, you know, our next generation proprietary traffic bidding platform, which is introducing more like advanced Reinforcement Learning into traffic bidding. We talked a bit earlier about LLM-based traffic and AI search engine optimization. All this stuff is really coming together this year, and we're excited. I mean, we're excited for things to begin to really accelerate in the impact both internally to our productivity as well as for our customers.

Speaker #2: We've got a product that's focused on our next-generation proprietary traffic bidding platform, which is introducing more advanced reinforcement learning into traffic bidding. We talked a bit earlier about LLM-based traffic and AI search engine optimization.

Speaker #2: So all this stuff is really coming together this year and we're excited. I mean, we're excited to for things to begin to really accelerate in the impact both internally to our productivity as well as for our customers.

Speaker #6: That's great. Thank you, Jayme. Thank you, Joseph.

Jason Kreyer: That's great. Thank you, Jayme. Ciao, ciao.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Jason.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Jason.

Operator 2: We have reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to management for closing remarks.

Operator: We have reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to management for closing remarks.

Speaker #1: We have reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to management for closing remarks.

Speaker #6: Thank you. Well, thanks to all for joining us. It was an excellent quarter for us—continuing to grow, we produced record adjusted EBITDA, and we're executing.

Jayme Mendal: Thank you. Well, thanks for all for joining us. You know, it was an excellent quarter for us, continuing to grow. We produced record-adjusted EBITDA, and we're executing our strategy. We're accelerating our marketplace flywheel. We're deepening our customer relationships, and we're really progressing through 2026 from a position of strength. We feel we're really well-positioned to further embed AI into both our operations and our products to usher the insurance market into an AI native future. We look forward to sharing more along the way. Thanks, evening.

Speaker #6: We're executing our strategy. We're accelerating our marketplace flywheel. We're deepening our customer relationships. And we're really progressing through 2026 from a position of strength.

Speaker #6: We feel we’re really well positioned to further embed AI into both our operations and our products to usher the insurance market into an AI-native future.

Speaker #6: And we look forward to sharing more along the way. Have a nice evening.

Operator 2: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

More EVER earnings call transcripts

Browse all earnings call transcripts

Q1 2026 EverQuote Inc Earnings Call

Request TrialDemo

Event Details

EverQuote

EVER

Earnings

Q1 2026 EverQuote Inc Earnings Call

Monday, May 4th, 2026 at 8:30 PM

Open Event Documents

Search Transcript

Enter a search term to find quotes

EverQuote

Earnings