Tom White

Tom White asked about Cars.com's plan to refocus on the marketplace, specifically inquiring how marketing investments and audience growth would contribute to this strategy. He also asked about the company's vision for AI and agentic AI in the automotive space, considering both opportunities and risks like disintermediation.

Answer

CEO Toby Hartmann explained that the refocus on marketplace fundamentals involves driving engagement and attracting the right inventory. He clarified that marketing investments would not be scaled back but would be more focused on the marketplace flywheel. Regarding AI, Mr. Hartmann emphasized the complexity of the automotive industry, the significance of car purchases for consumers, and Cars.com's competitive role due to its 25 years of accumulated local, customer, and VIN-level data. He also highlighted the importance of the Cars.com brand as a trusted source for consumers, which he believes will be key for LLMs and future AI.

Tom White asked about Cars.com's plan to refocus on the marketplace, specifically how marketing investments and audience growth will contribute to this strategy, and how AI and agentic AI might evolve in the automotive space, considering both opportunities and risks like disintermediation.

Answer

CEO Toby Hartmann explained that marketing investments will be refocused on marketplace fundamentals to drive engagement and inventory, rather than being reduced. Regarding AI, Mr. Hartmann emphasized the complexity of the automotive industry and Cars.com's competitive role due to its 25 years of accumulated local, customer, and VIN-level data, which is hard to replicate. He also highlighted the importance of the Cars.com brand for LLMs and future AI applications.

Tom White of D.A. Davidson Companies inquired about the drivers of dealer revenue, specifically asking for an explanation for the decline in ARPD despite dealer count growth, and asked about the potential for AccuTrade to penetrate a dealer's used vehicle sourcing.

Answer

CFO Sonia Jain attributed the ARPD dip to a mix shift, including adding independent dealers at a faster rate and growth in 'solutions-first' customers who initially have lower ARPD. She also noted some tempered discretionary media spend. CEO Alex Vetter explained that while the ultimate penetration of AccuTrade is evolving, the trend of dealers sourcing directly from consumers is durable, driven by the desire to bypass auction fees and improve profitability, citing that some large dealer groups are already sourcing the majority of their inventory this way.

Tom White from D.A. Davidson inquired about the Q4 revenue versus gross profit growth dynamic, specifically asking about the factors contributing to the difference in growth rates, such as the impact of capped transactions and agent productivity. He also sought clarity on the gross margin expectations embedded in the 2026 outlook. Additionally, Tom asked for an update on the company's plans to resume its share buyback program, considering the upcoming second installment of the NAR settlement.

Answer

CFO Jesse Hill explained that the gross profit dynamic was influenced by both the seasonality of higher capping in Q3/Q4 and the company's success in attracting and retaining highly productive agents and teams, which applies pressure to margin percentage. He noted that the 2026 guidance anticipates a similar trend of slight margin compression, partially offset by increased units, with a focus on improving unit economics to drive EBITDA margin expansion. Regarding the share buyback, Jesse Hill stated that the reduced activity in 2025 was primarily due to the NAR litigation and the internal $100 million cash threshold. He confirmed the company ended 2025 with a healthy $124.2 million in cash and views buybacks as a long-term strategic tool, but is currently evaluating short-term cash needs, including the second NAR settlement tranche in summer 2026.

Tom White from D.A. Davidson inquired about the dynamics behind eXp World Holdings' fourth-quarter revenue growth versus flat gross profit, specifically asking if it was due to seasonality, increased capped transactions from productive agents, or successful agent attraction programs. He also sought clarity on gross margin expectations embedded in the 2026 outlook and an update on the company's plans for resuming share buybacks, considering the upcoming second installment of the NAR settlement.

Answer

CFO Jesse Hill explained that the gross profit dynamic was influenced by both seasonality, with higher capping in Q3/Q4, and the company's success in attracting and retaining highly productive agents and teams, which puts pressure on margin percentage. For 2026, similar margin compression is anticipated, partially offset by increased units, with a focus on unit economics to drive EBITDA margin expansion. Regarding share buybacks, Hill noted that reduced activity in 2025 was due to the NAR litigation's first tranche, with the second due in summer 2026. The company maintained a healthy cash position of $124.2 million, exceeding its internal $100 million threshold, and is evaluating short-term cash needs before resuming buybacks as a strategic capital allocation tool.

Tom White of D.A. Davidson Companies inquired about the significant sequential and year-over-year increase in operating expenses, the priority of margin expansion, and the role of the company's stock in its agent value proposition.

Answer

CFO Jesse Hill attributed the OpEx increase to approximately $6 million in one-time strategic investments and severance costs, noting that favorable operating expenses are expected in the second half of the year. On margins, Founder, Chairman, and CEO Glenn Sanford and eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja emphasized focusing on aggregate gross margin dollars and capitalizing on the market downturn to expand the value proposition. Sanford also clarified that while the company's stock is a valuable differentiator, the overall platform is the primary attraction for agents.

Tom White of D.A. Davidson submitted questions asking for an update on international agent trends and the 2025 outlook, and also inquired about the expected gross margin impact from the new ICON and REVenue Share capping initiatives.

Answer

CEO Glenn Sanford addressed both questions. On international strategy, he noted that revenue was up significantly due to a focus on productive agents rather than total agent count, and he outlined plans for further country expansion and investment in agent-facing tools like homehunter.global. Regarding the new incentives, Sanford clarified they are not expected to impact gross margins, as they operate within the existing 50% revenue share payout structure and are aimed at improving retention among top-producing agents.

Tom White asked about the end targets and prospects for Criteo's AI recommendation service within agentic offerings, specifically how realistic it is to influence LLMs' search results. He also inquired about the department store weakness cited, asking if it relates to the Saks Global bankruptcy or a broader trend, and requested quantification of Criteo's exposure to Saks.

Answer

Michael Komasinski (CEO) and Todd Parsons (Chief Product Officer) explained that the AI recommendation service aims to provide high-fidelity product recommendations, essential for LLM platforms to compete for daily active users, as semantic scraping alone is insufficient. Todd Parsons highlighted the service's application-agnostic nature, extending data distribution across the ecosystem for various monetization models. Sarah Glickman (CFO) confirmed department stores were down 13% and fashion 12%, indicating headwinds continuing into 2026, but did not comment on specific clients.

Tom White inquired about Criteo's agentic offerings, specifically the end targets for its AI recommendation service and the feasibility of influencing LLM search results. He also asked about the department store weakness cited, its relation to the Saks Global bankruptcy, and Criteo's exposure to Saks.

Answer

CEO Michael Komasinski explained that the product recommendation service aims to provide high-fidelity recommendations to LLM platforms, essential for competing for daily active users, and that monetization models are still evolving. Chief Product Officer Todd Parsons added that the service's application-agnostic nature extends Criteo's data distribution advantage across the ecosystem. CFO Sarah Glickman noted that department stores were down 13% and fashion 12% in Q4, indicating headwinds continuing into 2026, without commenting on specific clients.

Tom White asked about Criteo's ability to position CTV as a performance-based, accountable advertising medium and what differentiates its offering from entrenched competitors in the space.

Answer

CPO Todd Parsons explained that Criteo's key differentiator is its ability to connect CTV ad exposure directly to sales lift and cost-per-order, moving beyond simple awareness metrics. He emphasized that Criteo can demonstrate incremental return on ad spend (ROAS) from CTV campaigns, which is a unique value proposition that leverages the company's core strength in performance measurement across the full buyer journey.

Tom White of D.A. Davidson & Co. inquired about TrueCar's growth strategy, particularly its used vehicle initiatives in the context of potential auto tariffs, and also asked for an update on capital allocation priorities, including the potential for resuming share buybacks.

Answer

President & CEO Jantoon Reigersman explained that the company is focused on enabling consumers to find the right car, new or used, and is helping dealers source more used vehicles. CFO Oliver Foley added that long-term growth levers remain unchanged but noted a near-term dealer focus on vehicle sourcing via products like 'Sell Your Car'. Regarding capital allocation, Foley stated that while maintaining a sufficient cash balance is prudent, the company is open to repurchasing shares and constantly evaluates it as part of its strategy.

Tom White of D.A. Davidson Companies asked for more color on the drivers of the first-quarter revenue outperformance, specifically the sequential improvement in direct ARR. He also questioned the increased pace of share buybacks and how they rank in priority against other capital allocation opportunities like M&A, given the company's strong cash flow and new debt facility.

Answer

CFO Daryl Bond cited favorable foreign exchange rates and continued improvements in both gross and net retention as key drivers for the Q1 revenue and ARR outperformance. On capital allocation, Bond stated the stock remains a great investment. CEO Mike Walrath added that buybacks are not an 'either/or' situation with M&A, as the company's strong balance sheet and new debt facility with BlackRock provide flexibility to pursue both share repurchases and opportunistic, accretive acquisitions.

Tom White asked about the evolution of the enhanced account management function, including potential hiring needs and whether dealers who adopt best practices would receive a larger share of leads.

Answer

Sam Zales, President and COO, clarified that the goal is to elevate all customers' success, not to divert leads to a select few. The initiative focuses on improved onboarding, consultative selling with data insights, and a small, specialized team for one-on-one training. He stressed the long-term strategy is to productize and templatize these learnings for broad scalability, rather than hiring an 'army of people.'