Q2 2026 EverQuote Inc Earnings Call

August 3, 2026

Operator 3: Thank you for joining us. Welcome to the EverQuote Q2 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 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Sara Buda, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you for joining us. Welcome to the EverQuote Q2 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 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Sara Buda, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

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

Speaker #1: Please go ahead.

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

Sara Buda: Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to EverQuote's Q2 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 CEO, and Joseph Sanborn, EverQuote's CFO 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 Q3 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. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Speaker #2: With me on the call this afternoon are Jayme Mendal, EverQuote's CEO, and Joseph Sanborn, EverQuote's CFO 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 concerning our financial guidance for the third 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.

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.

Sara Buda: 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, 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 and adjusted EBITDA margin, variable marketing dollars, and variable marketing margin, which we believe are helpful to investors. 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'll now turn the call over to Jayme.

Speaker #2: Finally, during the course of today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, which include adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin, 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.

Speaker #2: And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Jayme.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Sarah, and thank you all for joining us today. We continue to execute well and deliver strong results. In Q2, we grew revenue 25% year over year to $195.1 million and grew adjusted EBITDA 37% year over year to a record $30.1 million.

Jayme Mendal: Thank you, Sara. Thank you all for joining us today. We continue to execute well and deliver strong results. In Q2, we grew revenue 25% year over year to $195.1 million and grew adjusted EBITDA 37% year over year to a record $30.1 million. Importantly, we achieved these results while continuing to advance our strategy, unlock new growth levers, and extend our market leadership position. We continue to experience a healthy market backdrop for both auto and homeowners insurance as carriers remain profitable and hungry for growth. Against this backdrop, carriers are turning to EverQuote as a trusted partner to help them grow policies in force. In Q2, we further broadened carrier demand, including a ramp with one major carrier that returned to the marketplace as expected.

Speaker #3: Importantly, we achieved these results while continuing to advance our strategy, unlock new growth levers, and extend our market leadership position. We continue to experience a healthy market backdrop for both auto and homeowners insurance.

Speaker #3: As carriers remain profitable and hungry for growth, against this backdrop, carriers are turning to EverQuote as a trusted partner to help them grow policies in force.

Speaker #3: In Q2, we further broadened carrier demand, including a ramp with one major carrier that returned to the marketplace as expected. We also grew local agent demand for referrals to record-high levels while increasing the number of products per agent, as we advanced our One-Stop Growth Partner strategy with local agents.

Jayme Mendal: We also grew local agent demand for referrals to record high levels while increasing the number of products per agent as we advance our one-stop growth partner strategy with local agents. Both carrier and agent revenue reached record high levels in the quarter. Additionally, our home vertical continues to perform well, growing 35% year over year in Q2, also to record levels. While we execute on behalf of customers, we are also investing to extend our AI leadership position in the market. Our Smart Campaigns AI bidding solution continues to scale, supporting customers' aggressive customer acquisition goals by helping them deploy marketing budgets more effectively and efficiently. Seven of our top 10 carriers now use Smart Campaigns, and in Q2, the amount of revenue flowing through the product increased by over 100% versus the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Both carrier and agent revenue reached record high levels in the quarter. Additionally, our Home vertical continues to perform well, growing 35% year-over-year in Q2, also to record levels.

Speaker #3: While we execute on behalf of customers, we are also investing to extend our AI leadership position in the market. Our smart campaigns and AI bidding solution continue to scale, supporting customers' aggressive customer acquisition goals by helping them deploy marketing budgets more effectively and efficiently.

Speaker #3: Seven of our top 10 carriers now use smart campaigns. And in Q2, the amount of revenue flowing through the product increased by over 100% versus the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Also, in Q2, we released our agent-facing version of Smart Campaigns to the first cohort of local agents. As Smart Campaigns becomes our customers' dominant bidding approach, we are strengthening these relationships by embedding our technology into their core workflows and achieving deeper data integrations, all while helping customers achieve their growth goals.

Jayme Mendal: Also in Q2, we released our agent-facing version of Smart Campaigns to the first cohort of local agents. As Smart Campaigns becomes our customers' dominant bidding approach, we are strengthening these relationships by embedding our technology into their core workflows and achieving deeper data integrations, all while helping customers achieve their growth goals. Within our walls, use of AI for everything from coding to automating operational tasks to prototyping products has reached an inflection point as our teams integrate AI into their daily workflows to drive greater productivity and velocity. We are seeing daily active use pervasive across our corporate staff, and within engineering, we are exceeding industry benchmarks with a 25% measured increase in efficiency. On a daily basis, I am impressed by yet another creative, high-value AI-derived output from an EverQuote team member.

Speaker #3: Within our walls, use of AI for everything from coding to automating operational tasks to prototyping products has reached an inflection point, as our teams integrate AI into their daily workflows to drive greater productivity and velocity.

Speaker #3: We are seeing daily active use pervasive across our corporate staff, and within engineering, we are exceeding industry benchmarks, with a 25% measured increase in efficiency.

Speaker #3: On a daily basis, I am impressed by yet another creative, high-value AI-derived output from an EverQuote team member. To name just a few, recent examples include AI agents designed to emulate human shopper personas and identify friction points in our web experiences.

Jayme Mendal: To name just a few, recent examples include AI agents designed to emulate human shopper personas and identify friction points in our web experiences, as well as upgrades to our AI traffic bidding platform, which put us on a path to increasingly agentic traffic operations. This trend of delivering innovative products at a faster pace will only increase from here. As evidenced by our financial results, our consistent strong execution on behalf of customers has made us a trusted growth partner of choice for the largest carriers and thousands of local agents. We continue to integrate AI across our operations and our products and are emerging as an AI leader within our industry. From this position of strength, we see an opportunity to do more to support customers while unlocking new growth vectors for the business. Initially, we will focus on two areas.

Speaker #3: As well as upgrades to our AI traffic bidding platform, which put us on a path to increasingly agentic traffic operations. This trend of delivering innovative products at a faster pace will only increase from here.

Speaker #3: As evidenced by our financial results, our consistent, strong execution on behalf of customers has made us a trusted growth partner of choice for the largest carriers and thousands of local agents.

Speaker #3: We continue to integrate AI across our operations and our products. And we are emerging as an AI leader within our industry. From this position of strength, we see an opportunity to do more to support customers while unlocking new growth vectors for the business.

Speaker #3: Initially, we will focus on two areas: one, amplifying visibility with consumers through new products that are purpose-built for AI search and agentic commerce; and two, building AI-native growth solutions for carriers and agents, which will allow them to derive benefits of AI without having to build and manage as much of the technology in-house.

Jayme Mendal: One, amplifying visibility with consumers through new products that are purpose-built for AI search and agentic commerce. Two, building AI native growth solutions for carriers and agents, which allow them to derive benefits of AI without having to build and manage as much of the technology in-house. With our rich AI heritage and deep customer relationships, we are uniquely positioned to lead the P&C distribution sector through its transition into the AI era. We look forward to sharing more details of these newer developments in the coming months. I have never been more excited about where we are and where we are going. We have a unique blend of talent, market leadership, ability to innovate, trusted customer relationships, and financial strength. This positions us to build on recent progress, expand our competitive moat, and create a multibillion-dollar market leader with durable long-term growth.

Speaker #3: With our rich AI heritage and deep customer relationships, we are uniquely positioned to lead the P&C distribution sector through its transition into the AI era.

Speaker #3: We look forward to sharing more details about these developments in the coming months. I have never been more excited about where we are and where we are going.

Speaker #3: We have a unique blend of talent, market leadership, ability to innovate, trusted customer relationships, and financial strength. This positions us to build on recent progress, expand our competitive moat, and create a multibillion-dollar market leader with durable, long-term growth.

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

Jayme Mendal: I will now turn the call over to Joseph, who will discuss our financial results and outlook.

Speaker #4: Thank you, Jayme, and good afternoon, everyone. Q2 marked another positive quarter for EverQuote, with strong revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth. We grew revenue 25% and adjusted EBITDA 37% year over year.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you, Jayme, and good afternoon, everyone. Q2 marked another positive quarter for EverQuote, with strong revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth. We grew revenue 25% and adjusted EBITDA 37% year-over-year. We also drove record variable marketing dollars, or VMD, and record adjusted EBITDA, while at the same time generating strong cash flow. Let's turn to the details of Q2. Total revenue grew 25% year-over-year to $195.1 million. Revenue from our auto insurance vertical increased to $172.1 million in Q2, up 23% year-over-year. We continue to benefit from our broad and differentiated distribution with growth across carriers and agents, including a large carrier ramping, as Jayme mentioned. We also are delivering on the operational plan we've discussed to scale beyond the auto vertical.

Speaker #4: We also drove record variable marketing dollars, or VMD, and record adjusted EBITDA, while at the same time generating strong cash flow. Now, let's turn to the details of the second quarter.

Speaker #4: Total revenue grew 25% year over year to $195.1 million. Revenue from our auto insurance vertical increased to $172.1 million in Q2, up 23% year over year.

Speaker #4: We continued to benefit from our broad and differentiated distribution, with growth across carriers and agents, including a large carrier ramping, as Jayme mentioned. We are also delivering on the operational plan we've discussed to scale beyond the auto vertical.

Speaker #4: In Q2, revenue from our home insurance vertical grew 35% to a record $23 million, as we capitalized on strong monetization across high-quality traffic sources and secured increased budget from key carriers.

Joseph Sanborn: In Q2, revenue from our home insurance vertical grew 35% to a record $23 million as we capitalized on strong monetization across high-quality traffic sources and secured increased budget from key carriers. VMD increased to $56.9 million in Q2, up 25% from the prior year period. Variable marketing margin, or VMM, was 29.2% for Q2. Turning to operating expenses and the bottom line. In Q2, we grew GAAP net income to $19.2 million, up from $14.7 million in the prior year period. Q2 adjusted EBITDA increased 37% from the prior year period to $30.1 million, representing a 15.4% adjusted EBITDA margin. Cash operating expenses, which excludes advertising spend and certain non-cash and other charges, were $26.8 million in Q2, up slightly from Q1 as expected. We delivered strong operating cash flow of $24.3 million for Q2.

Speaker #4: VMD increased to $56.9 million in the second quarter, up 25% from the prior-year period. Variable marketing margin, or VMM, was 29.2% for the quarter.

Speaker #4: Turning to operating expenses and the bottom line, in the second quarter, we grew GAAP net income to $19.2 million, up from $14.7 million in the prior year period.

Speaker #4: Q2 adjusted EBITDA increased 37% from the prior year period to $30.1 million, representing a 15.4% adjusted EBITDA margin. Cash operating expenses, which exclude advertising spend and certain non-cash and other charges, were $26.8 million in Q2, up slightly from Q1 as expected.

Speaker #4: We delivered strong operating cash flow of $24.3 million for the second quarter. In Q2, we repurchased 578,000 shares, totaling approximately $9 million, under our share repurchase program.

Joseph Sanborn: In Q2, we repurchased 578,000 shares totaling approximately $9 million under our share repurchase program. In aggregate, under this program, we have repurchased 2.5 million shares totaling $50 million. We are pleased with the results and expect our board will revisit authorizing a new program later this year as part of our ongoing review of capital allocation. We ended the period with no debt and cash and cash equivalents of $192 million. In summary, our Q2 results reflect continued strong execution. We diversified our revenue across additional carriers in the quarter, further scaled our home vertical, and expanded our AI capabilities to drive innovation for our customers and deliver efficiencies within our own operations. Turning to guidance for Q3 2026. We expect revenue to be between $198 to 208 million, representing 17% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

Speaker #4: In aggregate, under this program, we have repurchased 2.5 million shares totaling $50 million. We are pleased with the results and expect our board will revisit authorizing a new program later this year as part of our ongoing review of capital allocation.

Speaker #4: We ended the period with no debt and cash and cash equivalents of $192 million. In summary, our Q2 results reflect continued strong execution. We diversified our revenue across additional carriers in the quarter, further scaled our home vertical, and expanded our AI capabilities to drive innovation for our customers and deliver efficiencies within our own operations.

Speaker #4: Turning to guidance for the third quarter of 2026, we expect revenue to be between $198 million and $208 million, representing 17% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

Speaker #4: We expect VMD to be between $56 million and $59 million, representing 15% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. And we expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $28 million and $31 million, representing 18% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

Joseph Sanborn: We expect VMD to be between $56 to 59 million, representing 15% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $28 to 31 million, representing 18% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. Looking to the remainder of the year, we are seeing a healthy environment as carriers focus on growing policies in force and as they choose EverQuote to achieve their goals. We are executing well and remain confident in our ability to achieve $1 billion in annual revenues on the timeline we initially communicated to investors last November, while also generating strong cash flow. We expect to reach this goal by, first, driving better performance to gain share. Second, obtaining bigger scale as we bring more provider budget and traffic onto our platform. Third, delivering a broader portfolio of solutions to our clients. Finally, achieving greater operating efficiency through investments in AI automation.

Speaker #4: Looking to the remainder of the year, we are seeing a healthy environment as carriers focus on growing policies and forces, and as they choose EverQuote to achieve their goals.

Speaker #4: We are executing well and remain confident in our ability to achieve $1 billion in annual revenue on the timeline we initially communicated to investors last November, while also generating strong cash flow.

Speaker #4: We expect to reach this goal by, first, driving better performance to gain share; second, obtaining bigger scale as we bring more provider budget and traffic onto our platform; third, delivering a broader portfolio of solutions to our clients; and finally, achieving greater operating efficiency through investments in AI automation.

Speaker #4: As Jayme mentioned, we are increasing our focus on how to build upon our existing success and pursue incremental opportunities to propel our business beyond our $1 billion revenue target by delivering new AI-first products that add incremental value to our customers.

Joseph Sanborn: As Jayme mentioned, we are increasing our focus on how to build upon our existing success and pursue incremental opportunities to propel our business beyond our $1 billion revenue target by delivering new AI-first products that add incremental value to our customers. Consistent with our prior commentary, we are making target investments in the second half of this year to develop and bring these new solutions to market. Additionally, we are pursuing select strategic commercial partnerships with AI-first companies to complement our own internal product development and capabilities. We look forward to providing further updates as our initiatives progress throughout the year. In conclusion, it was a positive quarter underpinned by strong fundamentals and a focused strategy. The strength of our ongoing financial performance reflects that our strategy to be a trusted growth partner for P&C insurance providers is working.

Speaker #4: Consistent with our prior commentary, we are making targeted investments in the second half of this year to develop and bring these new solutions to market.

Speaker #4: Additionally, we are pursuing select strategic commercial partnerships with AI-first companies to complement our own internal product development and capabilities. We look forward to providing further updates as our initiatives progress throughout the year.

Speaker #4: In conclusion, it was a positive quarter underpinned by strong fundamentals and a focused strategy. The strength of our ongoing financial performance reflects that our strategy to be a trusted growth partner for P&C insurance providers is working.

Speaker #4: We are executing amidst a favorable market backdrop, as carriers continue to shift spend to digital channels. We are well positioned as an AI beneficiary, as we bring both new value to customers and drive incremental efficiencies throughout our business.

Joseph Sanborn: We are executing amidst a favorable market backdrop as carriers continue to shift spend to digital channels. We are well-positioned as an AI beneficiary as we bring both new value to customers and drive incremental efficiencies throughout our business. We remain committed to our previously stated path to $1 billion in annual revenue with strong cash flow generation. We have built a business with strong underlying fundamentals and a fortress balance sheet that allows us to invest for the long term and capture new growth opportunities while continuing to drive value for our customers and shareholders alike. Jayme and I will now take your questions.

Speaker #4: We remain committed to our previously stated path to $1 billion in annual revenue, with strong cash flow generation. We have built a business with strong underlying fundamentals and a fortress balance sheet that allows us to invest for the long term and capture new growth opportunities, while continuing to drive value for our customers and shareholders alike.

Speaker #4: Jayme and I will now take your questions.

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

Operator 3: We will now begin the 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. 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. Your first question comes from Ralph Schackart with William Blair. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Operator: We will now begin the 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. 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. Your first question comes from Ralph Schackart with William Blair. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #1: To withdraw your question, press star 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. Your first question comes from Ralph Shackart.

Speaker #1: William Blair, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #3: Great, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Jayme, you talked about the healthy market backdrop in the prepared remarks. Maybe just sort of give us an update on what you're seeing with the market today versus maybe last quarter.

Ralph Schackart: Great. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Jayme, you talked about the healthy market backdrop in the prepared remarks. Maybe just sort of give us an update what you're seeing with the market today versus maybe last quarter or since the business has progressed through 2026. Then also, as you were going through the AI products, you mentioned in the AI bidding part of the prepared remarks that you are leaning in, I guess, with agentic traffic operations or maybe some automation there. Maybe if you could provide a little bit more color on that and the potential impact to the business or VMD would be great. Thank you.

Speaker #3: Or since the business has progressed through 2026. And then also, as you were going through sort of the AI products, you mentioned in the AI bidding part of the prepared remarks that you are sort of leaning in, I guess, with agentic traffic operations, or maybe some automation there.

Speaker #3: Maybe if you could provide a little bit more color on that and the potential impact to the business, or BMD, that would be great. Thank you.

Speaker #4: Sure. Thanks, Ralph. So, as it relates to the carrier market, the market remains healthy, as it has been throughout the year so far. Carrier combined ratios are in the 80s, for the most part, among the major carriers.

Jayme Mendal: Sure. Thanks, Ralph. As it relates to the carrier market, the market remains healthy as it has been throughout the year so far. Carrier combined ratios in the 80s, for the most part, among the major carriers, and that's true across auto and now the homeowner segment too. I would say carriers remain very hungry for growth. If there's one thing that we're starting to feel a bit more as the year progresses is equal appetite for homeowners growth as there was for auto growth coming into the year. You see that starting to be reflected in some of the strength in our home vertical this quarter. We expect that to persist into the back part of the year. To your second question, as it relates to our AI bidding platform, we have automated a lot of our traffic bidding over the years.

Speaker #4: And that's true across auto and now the homeowner segment, too. So I would say carriers remain very hungry for growth. If there's one thing that we're starting to feel a bit more as the year progresses, it's kind of equal appetite for homeowners' growth as there was for auto growth coming into the year.

Speaker #4: And you see that starting to be reflected in some of the strength in our Home vertical this quarter, and we expect that to persist into the back part of the year.

Speaker #4: Then to your second question, as it relates to our AI bidding platform, we have automated a lot of our traffic bidding over the years.

Speaker #4: And we've talked about it many times before. A lot of that was done through the application of machine learning to automate decisions as it relates to bidding for traffic.

Jayme Mendal: We've talked about it many times before. A lot of that was done through the application of machine learning to automate decisions, as it relates to bidding for traffic. Now what we're beginning to do is overlay more agentic action on top of the ML bidding that has been occurring for a long time. This is now getting into deeper automation of a lot of the operations, which will, historically, every time we do something like this, we see the benefit both in the effectiveness of the bidding, which would flow through in VMD, but also in the efficiency, because we can manage a larger traffic portfolio with less human intervention needed.

Speaker #4: And now what we're beginning to do is overlay more sort of agentic action on top of the ML bidding that has been occurring for a long time.

Speaker #4: And so this is now getting into deeper automation of a lot of the operations, which will—historically, every time we do something like this, we see the benefit both in the effectiveness of the bidding, which would flow through in VMD, but also in the efficiency.

Speaker #4: Because we can sort of manage a larger traffic portfolio with less human intervention needed.

Speaker #3: Great. That's helpful. Thanks, Jayme.

Ralph Schackart: Great. That's helpful. Thanks, Jayme.

Speaker #4: Thanks, Ralph.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Ralph.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from Naveed Khan with B. Riley Securities. Please go ahead.

Operator 3: Your next question comes from Naved Khan with B. Riley Securities. Please go ahead.

Operator: Your next question comes from Naved Khan with B. Riley Securities. Please go ahead.

Speaker #3: Great, thanks a lot. A couple of questions from me. Maybe first on the Smart Campaigns 3.0. I think you were rolling out a beta with the agents.

Naved Khan: Great. Thanks a lot. Couple of questions from me. Maybe first on the Smart Campaigns 3.0. I think you were rolling out a beta with the agents, and I'm wondering how that adoption is going and what the performance is for the Smart Campaigns with the agents. That's one. The second question I have is just around your marketing channel mix in the last quarter. Have you made any changes or anything that might have contributed to the strength during the quarter as a result of your marketing changes, if there were any? Thank you.

Speaker #3: And I'm wondering how that adoption is going and what the performance is for the smart campaigns with the agents — that's one. And then the second question I have is just around your marketing channel mix in the last quarter.

Speaker #3: Have you made any changes that might have contributed to the strength during the quarter as a result of your marketing changes, if there were any?

Speaker #3: Thank you.

Speaker #4: Sure. So, as it relates to smart campaigns, there have been a number of developments over the last quarter. On the carrier side, we're continuing to evolve to our Smart Campaigns 3.0, which has more features built into it to improve the efficiency of the model.

Jayme Mendal: Sure. As it relates to Smart Campaigns, there have been a number of developments over the last quarter. On the carrier side, we're continuing to evolve to our Smart Campaigns 3.0, which has more features built into it to improve the efficiency of the model. Probably the bigger change this past quarter was introducing Smart Campaigns to agents for the first time. Agents are now able to bid more dynamically than they have been able to in the past. It's early days, but the early data that we're getting would suggest significant conversion rate improvements for the agents who have opted into that product. Good progress on that front.

Speaker #4: But probably the bigger change this past quarter was introducing smart campaigns to agents for the first time. So agents are now able to bid more dynamically than they have been able to in the past.

Speaker #4: It's early days, but the early data that we're getting would suggest significant conversion rate improvements for the agents who have opted into that product.

Speaker #4: So, good progress on that front. With respect to the marketing mix, I guess the change that we've been talking about since the beginning of the year is the ramp of new traffic programs and traffic channels, particularly into some of the more higher-funnel areas.

Jayme Mendal: With respect to the marketing mix, I guess the change that we've been talking about since the beginning of the year is the ramp of new traffic programs and traffic channels, particularly into some of the more higher funnel areas. That continues. I wouldn't say there's been any change that is material or noteworthy over the last quarter, we continue to work to broaden and expand that traffic portfolio, particularly into these higher funnel channels.

Speaker #4: So, that continues. I wouldn't say there's been any change that is material or noteworthy over the last quarter. But we continue to work to broaden and expand that traffic portfolio, particularly into these higher-funnel channels.

Speaker #3: Okay. Maybe just on the channel sort of topic, maybe just talk about AI overviews—if that has had any effect, positive or negative, or maybe none.

Naved Khan: Okay, maybe just on the channel topic. Maybe just maybe talk about AI Overviews, if that has had any effect, positive, negative, or maybe none, in the quarter.

Speaker #3: In the quarter.

Speaker #4: Yeah, sure. So, we have not experienced any direct effect to our paid search results. But you've got this large source of traffic growing in the LLMs, which, to us, represents incremental opportunity.

Jayme Mendal: Yeah, sure. We have not experienced any direct effect to our paid search results. You've got this large source of traffic growing in the LLMs, which to us represents incremental opportunity because we have never historically invested in or had a significant amount of organic traffic to begin with. Our paid traffic remains healthy and strong. Now we've been making investments over the last year or so to really begin to access the AI search traffic more systematically. There's a number of ways that you can do that. One is through more of a traditional content strategy, so developing answers to the questions that people may pose through the LLMs. The second is through paid advertising, and you have platforms like OpenAI now opening up to paid advertising. The third is through technical integrations.

Speaker #4: Because we have never historically invested in, or had, a significant amount of organic traffic to begin with, our paid traffic remains healthy and strong.

Speaker #4: And now we've been making investments over the last year or so to really begin to access the AI search traffic more systematically. And there are a number of ways that you can do that.

Speaker #4: One is through more of a traditional sort of content strategy. So developing answers to the questions that people may pose through the LLMs. The second is through paid advertising.

Speaker #4: And you have platforms like OpenAI now opening up to paid advertising. And the third is through technical integrations. So, we launched our ChatGPT app last quarter.

Jayme Mendal: We launched our ChatGPT app last quarter, it's getting some traffic. It's the combination of those things and how they work together to meet the needs of the LLMs that ultimately is going to allow us to start to tap into that traffic in a more material way and could become material over time, particularly as those platforms continue to grow.

Speaker #4: And it's getting some traffic. But it's the combination of those things, and how they work together to meet the needs of the LLMs, that ultimately is going to allow us to start to tap into that traffic in a more material way.

Speaker #4: And could become material over time, particularly as those platforms continue to grow.

Speaker #3: Great. Thank you, guys.

Naved Khan: Great. Thank you, guys.

Speaker #4: Thank you.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from Maria Rips with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.

Operator 3: Your next question comes from Maria Ripps with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.

Operator: Your next question comes from Maria Ripps with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.

Speaker #5: Great, good afternoon, and thanks for taking my questions. So, you talked about introducing new solutions in the back half of the year, both on the consumer side and the carrier side.

Maria Ripps: Great. Good afternoon, and thanks for taking my questions. You talked about introducing new solutions in the back half of the year, both on the consumer side and carrier side. Can you maybe help us understand some of the opportunities here, and is it largely around sort of conversion and sort of improving solutions sort of within your existing models? Secondly, maybe, is there anything you can share in terms of contribution, in terms of incremental revenue opportunity here, sort of how should we think about that? Whether that should start contributing later this year or next. How are you thinking about that?

Speaker #5: Can you maybe help us understand some of the opportunities here? And is it largely around sort of conversion and sort of improving solutions sort of within your existing models?

Speaker #5: And then secondly, maybe is there anything you can share in terms of contribution, in terms of incremental revenue opportunity here? And sort of how should we think about that—whether that should start contributing later this year or next? Sort of, how are you thinking about that?

Speaker #4: Sure. So there's sort of two sides to this. One is more on the consumer or shopper side; one is more on the provider side.

Jayme Mendal: Sure. There's sort of two sides of this. One is more on the consumer or shopper side. One is more on the provider side. I started to get at the consumer side with my response to Naved. We see an opportunity to really amplify our visibility with consumers through new products that are really purpose-built for AI search and agentic commerce. As that begins to grow, obviously a large pool of insurance intent exists there. There's a number of ways to access that traffic, which I just referenced. They all require the build of certain assets that meet the specific needs of the LLMs. We're making investments in these assets to become a distribution point of choice for the LLMs within our vertical market. That's the high level on that one, and we will have more specifics to share in the coming months.

Speaker #4: I started to get at the consumer side with my response to Naved, but we see an opportunity to really amplify our visibility with consumers through new products that are really purpose-built for AI search and agentic commerce.

Speaker #4: And so, as that begins to grow, obviously a large pool of insurance intent exists there. There are a number of ways to access that traffic, which I just referenced.

Speaker #4: But they all require the build of certain assets that meet the specific needs of the LLMs. And we're making investments in these assets to become a distribution point of choice for the LLMs within our vertical market.

Speaker #4: So that's the high level on that one, and we will have more specifics to share in the coming months. But then, to go to the other side of the marketplace—as you look at the provider landscape—we operate in a market that is regulated.

Jayme Mendal: To go to the other side of the marketplace, as you look at the provider landscape, we operate in a market that is, it's regulated, opaque, and nuanced in many respects. Horizontal solutions often don't work well for the insurance market. We believe that within our market, we are really leading the charge with respect to the adoption of AI and understanding of how to deploy it, how to build with it. With that, we see an opportunity to do more to support our customers. I think we're developing a suite of offerings which will allow them to derive benefits of AI without having to build and manage as much of the technology in-house.

Speaker #4: It's opaque. It's nuanced in many respects. And so, horizontal solutions often don't work well for the insurance market. And we believe that within our market, we are really leading the charge with respect to the adoption of AI and understanding how to deploy it, how to build with it.

Speaker #4: And with that, we see an opportunity to do more to support our customers. I think we're developing a suite of offerings that will allow them to derive the benefits of AI without having to build and manage as much of the technology in-house.

Speaker #4: And so the basic idea is to roll out products like Smart Campaigns, which are consistent with our vision of helping carriers and agents grow.

Jayme Mendal: The basic idea is to roll out products like Smart Campaigns, which are consistent with our vision of helping carriers and agents grow, but really with a heightened focus on applying AI to the most relevant and impactful distribution use cases of our customers. That could range from marketing. You mentioned conversion. That would be in scope. Basically anything within that distribution chain where we feel we can help our customers be more effective.

Speaker #4: But really, with a heightened focus on applying AI to the most relevant and impactful distribution use cases of our customers. And so, that could range from marketing.

Speaker #4: You mentioned conversion. That would be in scope. Basically, anything within that distribution chain where we feel we can help our customers be more effective.

Speaker #3: Go ahead, Maria. Maybe to address your point with regards to—yeah. How do you think about revenues for these areas? We're very excited about both these areas, right?

Joseph Sanborn: Maria, maybe to address your point with regards to how do you think about revenues for these areas. We're very excited about both these areas, right? We think they're going to provide new opportunities to bring consumers in as the traffic landscapes evolve increasingly to working with large language models, even in insurance. We think we're very well positioned for that, as that happens over time. We think the providers are really looking for us and are turning to actually coming to us saying, "Hey, how can you help us grow with new products?" We're excited by these things. In terms of near-term impact, we don't view the revenue as material for this year in these new offerings. We think it's a period of really testing and innovation and bringing these things to market.

Speaker #3: We think they're going to provide new opportunities to bring consumers in, as the traffic landscape has evolved increasingly to working with large language models, even in insurance.

Speaker #3: We think we're very well positioned for that, if that happens over time. And we think the providers are really looking for us and are actually coming to us, saying, "Hey, how can you help us grow with new products?" So we're excited by these things.

Speaker #3: In terms of near-term impact, we don't view the revenue as material for this year in these new offerings. We think it's a period of really testing and innovation, and bringing these things to market.

Speaker #3: And really going to, and particularly on the new products or providers, there's a period where we're really trying to invest in spending time with them to bring these products for us.

Joseph Sanborn: Particularly on the new products for providers, there's a period where we're really trying to invest in spending time with them as we bring these products forward, say, how do these work for you, doing the innovation. The same way we rolled out Smart Campaigns, we did that with carriers and agents. You'll see a similar profile used here as well as we go to market.

Speaker #3: Say, how do these work for you—doing the innovation? Just similar, in the same way, we rolled out Smart Campaigns. We did that with carriers and agents.

Speaker #3: You'll see a similar profile used here as well as we go to market.

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

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

Speaker #4: Thanks, Maria.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Maria.

Speaker #3: Thank you.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from Gregory Peters with Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Operator 3: Your next question comes from Gregory Peters with Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Operator: Your next question comes from Gregory Peters with Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Speaker #6: Hey, good afternoon. I was curious, listening to your comments about the Smart Campaign, your new ChatGPT, and your AI initiatives. How can we, on the outside, reconcile all of these initiatives—which cost money—with the fact that there are stories in the marketplace about how the cost of technology and token usage, etc., is going up?

Gregory Peters: Hey, good afternoon. I was curious, listening to your comments about the Smart Campaigns, your new ChatGPT app, and your AI initiatives, how we on the outside can reconcile all of these initiatives which cost money and the fact that there's stories in the marketplace about how the cost of technology and token usage, et cetera, is going up. Just trying to marry the two issues together and how it's flowing through your income statement.

Speaker #6: So just trying to marry the two issues together and how that's flowing through your income statement.

Speaker #4: Sure. Thanks, Greg. It's Joseph here. Maybe what I’d say is we’re giving you details on something we foreshadowed at the start of this year. So this is very much executing as we thought we would as the year progressed.

Joseph Sanborn: Sure. Thanks, Greg. It's Joseph here. Maybe I'd say is, we're giving you details on something we foreshadowed in the start of this year. This is very much executing as we thought we would as the year progressed. We said that OpEx in the H1 of the year would be relatively flat. Q1 was pretty flat to Q2. You're seeing in our guidance for Q3 a step-up of roughly $1 million, $1 million and a quarter in OpEx for Q3. You'll probably from there, probably $a half million more in Q4. Again, very consistent what we said at the start of the year. Assume OpEx is relatively flat, and it'll be a step-up in the H2 of the year. These investments we're now sharing the details with you.

Speaker #4: We said that OPEX in the first half of the year would be relatively flat. Q1 was pretty flat to Q2, and you're seeing in our guidance for Q3 a step up of roughly $1 million, a million and a quarter in OPEX for Q3.

Speaker #4: And you'll find from there, probably a half million more in Q4. But again, very consistent with what we said at the start of the year.

Speaker #4: Assume OPEX is relatively flat, and it'll be a step up in the second half of the year. These investments we're now sharing the details with you.

Speaker #4: We've been planning these and working on these for some time, and that's reflected in what we have out there at this point.

Joseph Sanborn: We've been planning these and working on these for some time, and that's reflected in what we sort of have out there at this point.

Speaker #2: And I guess the only thing I'd add is, more broadly, we are also driving efficiency with a lot of the automation—a lot of the work that we're doing internally, right?

Jayme Mendal: I guess the only thing I'd add is more broadly, we are also driving efficiency with a lot of the Automation, a lot of the work that we're doing internally, right? I think we talked about this last quarter, but we've doubled revenue over the last couple of years while keeping OpEx flat. It is coming up a bit, but we have religion around efficiency, we have good visibility on the token usage and the expenses associated with it. We have controls in place. As that ramps, we are also able to automate and manage expenses elsewhere.

Speaker #2: And I think we talked about this last quarter, but we've doubled revenue over the last couple of years while keeping OPEX flat. It is coming up a bit, but we have real discipline around efficiency.

Speaker #2: And so we have good visibility on the token usage and the expenses associated with it. We have controls in place, and as that ramps, we are also able to automate and kind of manage expenses elsewhere.

Speaker #4: Maybe, Greg, the last thing I'll ask you is, just as you think through what we said at the start of the year, we said, "Hey, assuming that down margins will rise roughly 100 basis points this year, we still are saying they'll rise roughly 100 basis points this year, because the OPEX investment we're seeing in the second half is sort of as we expected as we started the year." Just to give you a little more context on the modeling perspective.

Joseph Sanborn: Maybe, Greg, the last thing I'll ask you is just as you think through what we said at the start of the year, we said, assuming the down margins will rise roughly 100 basis points this year. We are still saying they'll rise roughly 100 basis points this year because the OpEx investment we're seeing in the H2 is sort of as we expected as we started the year. Just give you a little more context on the modeling perspective.

Speaker #6: Great, thanks for that detail. Hey, just one other follow-on question. I was going through your updated investor slide deck, and I was chuckling when I saw your slide on carrier commentary about how they're all excited to grow now.

Gregory Peters: Great. Thanks for that detail. Just one other follow-on question. I was going through your updated investor slide deck, and I was chuckling when I saw your slide on carrier commentary about how they're all excited to grow now, and considering where they were just a couple of years ago. As a backdrop, I'm just curious, are you seeing the fact that they're willing to grow? Are you seeing any more opportunities? Are they willing to pay you more for helping them to grow? Or are you still getting sort of the same amount on a per-close basis? Some detail around that would be helpful.

Speaker #6: And considering where they were just a couple of years ago, and as a backdrop, I'm just curious—are you seeing the fact that they're willing to grow?

Speaker #6: Are you seeing any more opportunities, or are they willing to pay you more for helping them to grow? Or are you still getting sort of the same amount on a per-close basis?

Speaker #6: Some detail around that would be helpful.

Speaker #2: Yeah, I think there are two noticeable differences. One is in their willingness to pay, and so there is higher willingness to pay this year than there has been in recent years.

Jayme Mendal: Yeah, I think there's two noticeable differences. One is in their willingness to pay. There is higher willingness to pay this year than there has been in recent years. There are certain carriers that are really leaning in heavily, because they're feeling a tremendous amount of pressure to grow. That's reflected in the pricing within the marketplace. We've seen that sort of come up quite a bit. The other place we see it, Greg, is in their willingness to try new things. As an example, Smart Campaigns is a good example. I know it's one we often use. There is a certain amount of data sharing and trust associated with a customer adopting Smart Campaigns. We've been working for years to get our customers on that product.

Speaker #2: There are certain carriers that are really leaning in heavily because they're feeling a tremendous amount of pressure to grow. So that's reflected in the pricing within the marketplace.

Speaker #2: We've seen that sort of come up quite a bit. The other place we see it, Greg, is in their willingness to try new things.

Speaker #2: So, as an example, Smart Campaigns is a good example. I know it's one we often use, but there is a certain amount of data sharing and trust associated with a customer adopting Smart Campaigns.

Speaker #2: And we've been working for years to get our customers on that product. And this year, for the first time, because they are experiencing a lot of pressure to grow, they are, for the first time, willing to test it—willing to provide the data and the integrations that we need to make it work.

Jayme Mendal: This year, for the first time, because they are experiencing a lot of pressure to grow, they are, for the first time, willing to test it, willing to provide the data and the integrations that we need to make it work. That's been the case with that product. It's been the case with a number of other products we've brought to market. The carriers are just a lot more open and collaborative in working with us to help them grow than we certainly saw during the harder years of the market.

Speaker #2: And that's been the case with that product. It's been the case with a number of other products we've brought to market. But the carriers are just a lot more open and collaborative in working with us to help them grow than we certainly saw during the harder years of the market.

Speaker #4: Well, thanks for the answers.

Gregory Peters: Thanks for the answers.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Greg.

Joseph Sanborn: Thanks, Greg.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Greg.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from Mayank Tandon with Needham. Please go ahead.

Operator 3: Your next question comes from Mayank Tandon with Needham. Please go ahead.

Operator: Your next question comes from Mayank Tandon with Needham. Please go ahead.

Speaker #3: Hi, this is Brandon from Mayank. Thanks for taking my question. I'm just wondering if you can touch on any other VMM margin impacts in the quarter.

Brandon Ong: Hi, this is Brandon Ong from Mayank. Thanks for taking my question. I'm just wondering if you can touch on any other VMM margin impacts in the quarter. Looks like it came in strong. Could you touch on what drove that on the ad spend side and what dynamics you guys are seeing on certain funnels?

[Analyst] (Needham): Hi, this is Brandon Ong from Mayank. Thanks for taking my question. I'm just wondering if you can touch on any other VMM margin impacts in the quarter. Looks like it came in strong. Could you touch on what drove that on the ad spend side and what dynamics you guys are seeing on certain funnels?

Speaker #3: Looks like it came in strong. Could you touch on what drove that on the ad spend side, and what dynamics you guys are seeing on certain funnels?

Speaker #4: Maybe I'll start out, and you can add on if you'd like. So I guess what I'd say is VMM for the quarter was in the high 20s.

Joseph Sanborn: Maybe I'll start out if you want to add on. I guess I'd say VMM for the quarter was in the high twenties. Maybe I'd even take a step back to say, on a day-to-day basis, we do not solve for VMM margin, we solve for VMD. What we've seen over time is what correlates with the highest VMD is actually a VMM in the high twenties. Any given quarter can be higher or lower based on things we control or things we don't control at the advertising environment. Generally, it's in the high twenties correlates with the highest VMD from our experience. One of the things that I would say that allows us to continue to do that is we continue to get, as Jayme talked about, Smart Campaigns. That brings in more data into our marketplace.

Speaker #4: And maybe I'd even take a step back to say, on a day-to-day basis, we do not solve for VMM margin. We solve for VMD.

Speaker #4: What we've seen over time is that what correlates with the highest VMD is actually a VMM in the high 20s. In any given quarter, it can be higher or lower, lower based on things we control or things we don't control at the advertising environment.

Speaker #4: But generally, it's in the high 20s, correlates with the highest VMD from our experience. One of the things that I would say that allows us to continue to do that is we continue to get Jamie talked about smart campaigns.

Speaker #4: That brings more data into our marketplace. As we bring more data into the marketplace, it helps us be more efficient with traffic acquisition.

Joseph Sanborn: As we bring more data into the marketplace, this helps us be more efficient with traffic acquisition. That certainly feeds into that as well, and our ability to maintain and drive those VMM margins in the high twenties and maintain them there. Any additional color?

Speaker #4: That certainly feeds into that as well, in our ability to maintain and drive those VMM margins in the high 20s, and maintain them there.

Speaker #4: An additional color.

Speaker #2: No, I think that more or less covers it. It is certainly a competitive traffic landscape out there, but we've adapted to it.

Jayme Mendal: I think that more or less covers it. It is certainly a competitive traffic landscape out there, but we've adapted to it. We've been able to drive a good deal of efficiency through our bidding technology. We're also expanding into other channels, as we mentioned earlier. Those channels are not industry-specific channels, so they're not subject to the same kind of competitive pressure as, say, insurance search or something like that.

Speaker #2: And we've been able to drive a good deal of efficiency through our bidding technology, and we're also expanding into other channels, as we mentioned earlier.

Speaker #2: And those channels are not industry-specific channels. So they're not subject to the same kind of competitive pressure as, say, insurance search or something like that.

Speaker #3: Thanks, that's super helpful. And then, Brandon, can you touch on capital allocation? Buybacks have been a big part of it recently, but I'm wondering what you guys are seeing in the M&A environment and your thinking around capital allocation at this time.

Brandon Ong: Thanks. That's super helpful. I'm wondering if you can touch on capital allocation. Buybacks have been a big part of it recently, but wondering what you guys are seeing in the M&A environment and your thinking around capital allocation at this time. Thanks.

[Analyst] (Needham): Thanks. That's super helpful. I'm wondering if you can touch on capital allocation. Buybacks have been a big part of it recently, but wondering what you guys are seeing in the M&A environment and your thinking around capital allocation at this time. Thanks.

Speaker #3: Thanks.

Speaker #4: Sure. So, thanks for the question. I guess when we think about capital allocations, there are sort of three things we've talked about—just to remind folks.

Joseph Sanborn: Sure. Thanks for the question. I guess when we think about capital allocations, there's sort of three things we've talked about just to remind folks. One is the obvious thing, this fortress balance sheet is critical for our business. We think long-term, and some of the investments we're making, the time horizons for return. Second is obviously buybacks. We've done $50 million of buybacks since we did it last August. The third is on M&A. When we look at M&A, I'd say maybe I'd start with two things. One is we don't see a need for M&A to achieve our path to $1 billion in revenue that we talked about on our November call. As we talked on our prepared remarks, we're still on a path to achieve that in two to three years from now, 15 to 27 months, nine months into making the commitment.

Speaker #4: One is, we have a fortress balance sheet, which is critical for our business. We think long-term, and some of the investments we're making have time horizons for return.

Speaker #4: Second is obviously buybacks. We've done about $50 million of buybacks since we did it last August. And the third is on M&A.

Speaker #4: When we look at M&A, I'd say maybe let's start with two things. One is, we don't see a need for M&A to achieve our path to $1 billion in revenue that we talked about in our November call.

Speaker #4: As we talked about in our prepared remarks, we're still on a path to achieve that in two to three years from now—15 to 27 months—nine months into making the commitment.

Speaker #4: But we see a potential opportunity with M&A to accelerate our growth in the P&C landscape. As we look across the market, we think there's a real opportunity for us.

Joseph Sanborn: We see potentially an opportunity with M&A to accelerate our opportunities in the P&C landscapes. As we look across the market, we think there's a real opportunity for us. It falls in a few areas I touch on. We talked about new products for carriers and agents help grow their business. M&A could certainly be part of that. How do we bring new areas, help carriers, agents grow? That could be part of an M&A strategy. We also look at, we've had really good success with our non-auto vertical of home. How do we continue to keep growing the non-auto verticals could be another area for M&A. The third could be around data. How do we leverage data within our marketplace and find new insights that overlay with the data we already have? Those could be some of the areas we'd look at.

Speaker #4: And it falls in a couple of few areas I touch on. You touch on we talked about new products for carriers and agents help grow their business.

Speaker #4: M&A could certainly be part of that. How do we bring new areas of carrier agents' growth? And that could be part of an M&A strategy.

Speaker #4: We’ve also had really good success with our non-auto vertical of home. How do we continue to keep growing the non-auto verticals?

Speaker #4: That could be another area for M&A. And the third opportunity could be around data: how do we leverage data within our marketplace and find new insights that overlay with the data we already have?

Speaker #4: So, those could be some of the areas we'd look at. What I would say, more broadly, is sort of stepping back a little bit further: we think it's a market landscape.

Joseph Sanborn: What I would say more, as a sort of stepping back a little bit further, is we think it's a market landscape. We are really coming out as a leader in this space, pulling away from the pack. As we do that, we're seeing more opportunities. Why are we seeing more opportunities? Because a lot of the private company insurtechs that are out there, you have management teams who are passionate about being in this space. They want to see an opportunity to be part of someone who's doing that. We're having more and more of those conversations. As we look at using our capital for M&A, obviously, a key part of it is talent as well. We'll see how this unfolds over the coming quarters. We certainly see it as another growth lever for us to consider.

Speaker #4: We are really coming out as a leader in this space, pulling away from the pack. And as we do that, we're seeing more opportunities.

Speaker #4: Why are we seeing more opportunities? Because a lot of the private company insurtechs that are out there have management teams who are passionate about being in this space, but they want to see an opportunity to be part of someone who's doing that.

Speaker #4: And we're having more and more of those conversations. So, as we look at using our capital for M&A, obviously a key part of it is talent as well.

Speaker #4: And so we'll see how this unfolds over the coming quarters. But we certainly see it as another growth lever for us to consider.

Speaker #3: All right. Thanks, guys. That's super helpful.

Brandon Ong: Thanks, guys. That's super helpful.

[Analyst] (Needham): Thanks, guys. That's super helpful.

Speaker #4: Thank you.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Brandon.

Joseph Sanborn: Thanks, Brandon.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Brandon.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from Jason Krayer with Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead.

Operator 3: Your next question comes from Jason Kreyer with Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead.

Operator: Your next question comes from Jason Kreyer with Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead.

Speaker #5: Hey, thanks, guys. I want to go back to VMM. It looks like this is pretty stable for you guys. You called out the new channels that you've been investing in over the last couple of quarters.

Jason Kreyer: Hey, thanks, guys. I want to go back to VMM. It looks like this is pretty stable for you guys. You called out the new channels that you've been investing in over the last couple of quarters. Can you just give any updates on how those are progressing, and are they already building tailwinds to VMM, or do you expect that to take a couple more quarters of testing and refining before that starts to drive more tailwind?

Speaker #5: Can you just give any updates on how those are progressing, and are they already building tailwinds to VMM? Or do you expect that to take a couple more quarters of testing and refining before that starts to drive more tailwind?

Jayme Mendal: They're progressing as planned. I think we've said before, we don't expect the new channels to materially impact one way or the other, the medium-term VMM operating point. As Joseph referenced, it's really not actually even a metric that we manage to. It's kind of an output metric. We're trying to maximize the variable marketing dollars. The channels, they're progressing as planned. Our prime objective right now is keeping our carriers and agents fed, right? Growth is really the name of the game. In those new channels, we're able to access some volume that's contributing to growth. I don't think we would look to trade off growth for any kind of margin at this point. We're just continuing to look for maximum variable marketing dollars and serving the customer need to grow.

Speaker #2: They're progressing as planned.

Speaker #4: They don't. I think we've said before we don't expect the new channels to materially impact, one way or the other, the medium-term VMM operating point.

Speaker #4: As Joseph referenced, it's really not actually even a metric that we manage to. It's kind of an output metric. We're trying to maximize the variable marketing dollars.

Speaker #4: But the channels are progressing as planned. And our prime objective right now is keeping our carriers and agents fed, right? So, growth is really the name of the game.

Speaker #4: And in those new channels, we're able to access some volume that's contributing to growth. And I don't think we would look to trade off growth for any kind of margin at this point.

Speaker #4: We're just continuing to look for maximum variable marketing dollars and serving the customer need to grow.

Speaker #5: Appreciate that. I wanted to pivot to the home side of things. I mean, it seems like that remains a really robust growth opportunity in the market.

Jason Kreyer: Appreciate that. Wanted to pivot to the home side of things. It seems like that remains a really robust growth opportunity in the market. Maybe a little bit more on just what your aspirations are for growing home, and then how well are you able to leverage the product and the tech that you've created on the auto side and deploy that to further scale opportunities in home? Thanks.

Speaker #5: So maybe a little bit more on just what your aspirations are for growing home. And then how well are you able to leverage the products and the tech that you've created on the auto side and deploy that to further scale opportunities in home?

Speaker #5: Thanks.

Speaker #2: Yeah. So.

Jayme Mendal: We see a really nice opportunity in home. The vertical's been performing very well. It grew, I think, 35% this quarter, year-on-year, to record levels. We've long said that we expect home growth to outpace auto growth, just given where it started and given how it's sort of a little bit behind auto in terms of its maturity in its digital evolution. A lot of the growth to date has been driven by applying a lot of our best practices and our technology and our traffic operations from auto to home. A lot of that does translate. That being said, I think there are some things we can continue to do to customize that homeowner's buying experience to make it more tailored to the vertical and improve performance in doing so.

Speaker #4: So, yeah, we see a really nice opportunity in home. The vertical has been performing very well. It grew, I think, 35% this quarter, year on year.

Speaker #4: To record levels. We've long said that we expect home growth to outpace auto growth. Just given where it started and given how it's sort of a little bit behind auto in terms of its maturity and its digital evolution.

Speaker #4: But a lot of the growth to date has been driven by applying many of our best practices and our technology and traffic operations from auto to home.

Speaker #4: So a lot of that does translate. That being said, I think there are some things we can continue to do to customize that homeowner's buying experience to make it more tailored to the vertical and improve performance in doing so.

Speaker #4: But if you take a step back, I mean, the vertical—the market right now is very healthy. The carriers are quite profitable, and we've now got some big carriers paying attention to home, it seems, more than they have in the past, particularly as the auto market gets quite competitive.

Jayme Mendal: If you take a step back, the market right now is very healthy. The carriers are quite profitable. We've now got some big carriers paying attention to home, it seems, more than they have in the past, particularly as the auto market gets quite competitive. All signs right now point to continued growth in that home vertical.

Speaker #4: So all signs right now point to continued growth in that home vertical.

Speaker #2: And maybe, Jason, just one other sort of perspective to give you in terms of the size of the home opportunity—so roughly, it's 10%, first 10, 11% right now.

Joseph Sanborn: Maybe Jason, just one other sort of perspective to give in terms of the size of the home opportunity. Roughly it's 10%, plus 10, 11% right now, the rest being auto for us. If you look at the broader P&C landscape, it's roughly for every $2 of auto, there's $1 of home. Between 50% and where we are today, we think there's a 10%, we think there's a lot of growth opportunity more broadly in the market. Not all home opportunities will be relevant to digital, but we see significant upside in that market opportunity, which allows us to feel very bullish about the investments we're making here and how it will impact us in the medium and longer term to becoming a real growth driver for the business.

Speaker #2: The rest being auto for us. If you look at the broader P&C landscape, it's roughly for every $2 of auto, there's $1 of home.

Speaker #2: So between 50% and where we are today, we think there's a 10%. I think there's a lot of growth opportunity more broadly in the market.

Speaker #2: Not all home or home opportunities will be relevant to digital, but we see significant upside in that market opportunity, which allows us to feel very bullish about the investments we're making here and how they'll impact us in the medium and longer term.

Speaker #2: It's becoming a real growth driver for the business.

Speaker #5: Sounds great. Thank you, guys.

Jason Kreyer: Sounds great. Thank you, guys.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Jason.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Jason.

Speaker #4: Thank you.

Joseph Sanborn: Thank you.

Speaker #1: The last question comes from Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer & Co. Please go ahead.

Operator 3: The last question comes from Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer & Co. Please go ahead.

Operator: The last question comes from Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer & Co. Please go ahead.

Speaker #6: Hey, great. Hey, great, guys. Good quarter. Thanks for getting me in. Quick question. A couple other insurer digital insurance marketplaces I've talked to mentioned carriers doing some tests with them that could have depressed their variable marketing margins.

Jed Kelly: Hey, great, guys. Good quarter. Thanks for getting me in. Quick question. A couple other digital insurance marketplaces have talked about carriers doing some tests with them that could have depressed their variable marketing margins. Judging by your performance, you didn't see that. Are you seeing the carriers do any testing that could temporarily depress your margins?

Speaker #6: Judging by your performance, you didn't see that. But are you seeing the carriers do any testing that could temporarily depress your margins?

Speaker #4: No.

Jayme Mendal: No.

Jed Kelly: No? All right. Just one word?

Speaker #6: No? All right. Just one word.

Speaker #4: No. Yeah, I don't know what more to say. There's nothing—we don't see anything that would have that impact.

Jayme Mendal: No. Yeah, I don't know what more to say. There's nothing.

Jed Kelly: All right.

Jayme Mendal: We don't see anything that would have that impact.

Speaker #6: Okay. No, that's great. And then just another question for you. Google arbitration, or the Google settlement, are you thinking about joining any arbitration for some of the search advertising you've done on Google over the past 10 years?

Jed Kelly: Okay. No, that's great. Just another question for you. Google arbitration or the Google settlement, are you thinking about joining any arbitration for some of the search advertising you've done on Google over the past 10 years?

Speaker #2: So, we are aware of the Google arbitration. I think every law firm in the country has probably reached out to us, as well as every investment bank that's trying to do products in the area.

Joseph Sanborn: We are aware of the Google arbitration. I think every law firm in the country has probably reached out to us, as well as every investment bank who's trying to do products in the area. We're aware of it. We'll evaluate as we do other things as well. Really nothing to comment on it, but we're well aware of what's going on out there.

Speaker #2: So we're aware of it. We know, we'll evaluate as we do other things as well. So, really nothing to comment on it. But we're well aware of what's going on out there.

Speaker #6: All right. And I guess I'm the last one. Just with the guidance, can you talk about how we should think about measuring VMM margin versus measuring variable marketing dollars?

Jed Kelly: All right. I guess I'm the last one. Just with the guidance, can you just talk about how we should think about measuring VMM margin versus measuring variable marketing dollars? Obviously, high twenties is a good place to be. Do you think there will be opportunities maybe to get more marketing dollars at a lower margin? Just some thought on that. Thanks.

Speaker #6: Obviously, high 20s is a good place to be, but do you think there'll be opportunities maybe to get more marketing dollars at a lower margin?

Speaker #6: Just some thoughts on that, and thanks.

Joseph Sanborn: I keep coming back to Jed for us as we solve for maximizing VMD dollars. Right now with what we're seeing, we sort of see high twenties as sort of the place it will normalize for VMM margin. There will be variability quarter to quarter, certainly. We had Q4 of last year, we made a conscious choice after three quarters in a row of really strong start. We made investments in Q4 of last year. We consciously brought it down as we tested a lot of new channels. For us, we view it as we sort of see in the high twenties, is where it will be. Again, I come back to, it is an output metric. It is not the way we run the business. We run the business to drive VMD dollars in a sustainable and durable way.

Speaker #3: I keep coming back to,

Speaker #7: Jed, for us, as we solve for maximizing VMD dollars, and right now with what we're seeing, we sort of see high 20s as sort of the place it'll normalize.

Speaker #7: For VMM margin, there'll be variability quarter to quarter, certainly. In Q4 of last year, we made a conscious choice after three quarters in a row of really strong start to the year.

Speaker #7: We said we made investments in Q4 last year. We consciously brought it down as we tested a lot of new channels. But for us, we view it as—we sort of see in the high 20s is where it'll be.

Speaker #7: But again, I come back to, we don't—it's an output metric. It's not the way we run the business. We run the business to drive VMD dollars.

Speaker #7: In a sustainable and durable way. So what we don't do is we do not go and chase the VMD dollar. We don't do it unsustainably.

Joseph Sanborn: What we do not do is we do not go and chase every VMD dollar we do not view as sustainable. Everything is thought through in terms of, let's just not make the quarter. Let's think about how we're building durability in the model over time.

Speaker #7: Everything's thought through in terms of, let's just not make the quarter; let's think about how we're building durability in the model over time.

Speaker #6: Thank you.

Jed Kelly: Thank you.

Speaker #1: That is the end of the Q&A. I will now pass it back to management for closing remarks.

Operator 4: That is the end of the Q&A. I will now pass it back to management for closing remarks.

Operator: That is the end of the Q&A. I will now pass it back to management for closing remarks.

Speaker #4: Thank you. And thanks, everyone, for joining us today. To close out, I just want to thank the EverQuote team for delivering yet another excellent quarter.

Jayme Mendal: Thank you. Thanks everyone for joining us today. To close out, I just want to thank the EverQuote team for delivering yet another excellent quarter with strong growth, record adjusted EBITDA. We are continuing to execute well against the backdrop of healthy customer demand as we build momentum in both home and in auto. We are making great progress across a number of goals as we deliver superior performance for our carriers and agents, as we get more value from AI in our operations and in our products, and as we diversify our customer base and deepen our customer relationships. Looking forward to sharing further updates with you in the coming months as we build on this momentum. Bye.

Speaker #4: It's strong growth and record adjusted EBITDA. We're continuing to execute well against the backdrop of healthy customer demand as we build momentum in both home and auto.

Speaker #4: We're making great progress across a number of goals. We deliver superior performance for our carriers and agents. As we get more value from AI in our operations and in our products, and as we diversify our customer base and deepen our customer relationships.

Speaker #4: We look forward to sharing further updates with you in the coming months as we build on this momentum.

Speaker #2: Bye.

Speaker #1: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

Operator 4: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. This event has now concluded. Thank you for joining EverQuote Q2 2026 earnings call. The line will disconnect automatically.

Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. This event has now concluded. Thank you for joining EverQuote Q2 2026 earnings call. The line will disconnect automatically.

Q2 2026 EverQuote Inc Earnings Call

Request DemoDemo

EverQuote

Earnings