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ZI

ZIPRECRUITER, INC. (ZIP)·Q4 2024 Earnings Summary

Executive Summary

  • Revenue declined 18% year-over-year to $111.0 million and fell 5% sequentially; Adjusted EBITDA was $14.4 million (13% margin) with GAAP net loss of ($10.8) million, driven by persistent SMB hiring softness and seasonally weaker Q4 demand .
  • Q1 2025 guidance implies revenue of $107–$111 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $3–$7 million (3%–6% margin), a sequential decline of ~2% vs. Q4 that management frames as stronger-than-typical seasonality compared to the past two years .
  • Product momentum continued: ZipIntro utilization increased, next-gen Resume Database saw double-digit adoption increases, and Paradox ATS integration further reduced apply friction (employers get 3x more applications; first five candidates 4x faster) .
  • Traffic share gains are material: total web traffic grew 15% YoY in Q4 and 19% for 2024, with organic job-seeker visits up 30%, positioning ZIP to capture employer dollars as hiring normalizes .
  • Management sees cautious optimism into 2025 (reactivating accounts, NFIB optimism) and a likely scenario of returning to YoY quarterly revenue growth by Q4 2025, with mid-single-digit Adjusted EBITDA margins; downside scenario would prioritize margin over growth via OpEx control .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

  • Share gains with job seekers: “Total web traffic in Q4 2024 grew by 15% year-over-year… at least 10 percentage points more than any of our largest competitors,” with organic visits up 30% in 2024 .
  • Product execution: ZipIntro drove faster face-to-face connections (“most employers receiving the first application in under 20 minutes”), while the next-generation Resume Database delivered double-digit increases in first-time users and unlocks; Paradox ATS integration enabled ZipApply’s frictionless application flow .
  • Monetization resilience: Revenue per Paid Employer rose 7% sequentially to $1,920 amid a slight mix shift toward performance revenue, which increased to 23% of revenue in Q4 .

What Went Wrong

  • Demand weakness: Q4 revenue fell 18% YoY and Quarterly Paid Employers declined 18% YoY (down 11% QoQ), reflecting SMB softness; net loss widened to ($10.8) million vs. $5.6 million profit in Q4 2023 .
  • Margin compression vs. prior year: Adjusted EBITDA margin was 13% vs. 31% in Q4 2023, tied to revenue declines; full-year Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16% near the high end of the low-to-mid-teens framework .
  • Macro headwinds: 28 consecutive months of YoY declines in U.S. hires and quits rate near the lowest since 2015 kept hiring subdued despite improving sentiment .

Financial Results

MetricQ2 2024Q3 2024Q4 2024
Revenue ($USD Millions)$123.7 $117.1 $111.0
Net Income (Loss) ($USD Millions)$7.0 ($2.6) ($10.8)
Adjusted EBITDA ($USD Millions)$27.8 $15.0 $14.4
Adjusted EBITDA Margin (%)23% 13% 13%
Gross Margin (%)90% 89% 90%
KPIsQ2 2024Q3 2024Q4 2024
Quarterly Paid Employers (000s)70.5 65.2 57.8 (call: 58.0)
Revenue per Paid Employer ($)$1,755 $1,795 $1,920
Performance-Based Revenue (% of revenue)22% 22% 23%

Note: Paid Employers discrepancy reflects rounding (57,833 in the shareholder letter vs. ~58,000 referenced on the call) .

Guidance Changes

MetricPeriodPrevious GuidanceCurrent GuidanceChange
Revenue ($USD Millions)Q1 2025N/A$107–$111New forward guidance issued
Adjusted EBITDA ($USD Millions)Q1 2025N/A$3–$7 (3%–6% margin)New forward guidance issued
Quarterly Revenue Growth (YoY)Q4 2025N/AManagement sees likely return to YoY growth by Q4 2025New qualitative outlook
Adjusted EBITDA Margin (%)FY 2025N/AMid-single digits in recovery scenario; higher margins in downside scenarioNew qualitative framework

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

TopicPrevious Mentions (Q2 & Q3)Current Period (Q4 2024)Trend
AI/technology initiativesOngoing ML/AI matching improvements; email algorithm drove +100% clicks and +120% ZipApply applications (Q3) AI broadening beyond matching to improve engagement UX on both sides (job descriptions, resumes, prep) Expanding scope
Product performance (ZipIntro, Resume DB)ZipIntro fully launched in Q3; employers receive first app <20 min; 3x more quality applications; Resume DB launched with +20% unlocks in first week Continued utilization and strong satisfaction; double-digit increases in RDB first-time users and unlocks; ZipIntro usage increasing Strengthening
Job seeker traffic & brandQ2: total traffic +22% YoY; organic +30% ; Q3: total +21% YoY; +13ppt vs competitors Q4: total +15% YoY; 2024 total +19%; organic +30% in 2024; share gains vs competitors Sustained share gains
SMB vs. enterprise demandSMBs weak; enterprise more robust (performance mix to 22%) (Q3) SMB softness continues; paid employers down; performance mix to 23% SMB weak; enterprise relatively steadier
Macro & labor market (quits, hires)Q2: signs of trough; late Q2 softened; quits down 9% vs 2019 28 consecutive months of YoY hire declines; quits rate near lowest since 2015; sentiment improving (NFIB) Stabilizing sentiment, weak activity
Government & tech vertical exposureTech/finance weak; healthcare stronger (Q3); limited government exposure vs overall labor force Government exposure not outsized; tech stable sequentially; AI hiring not broad-based Neutral
Marketing ROI & spendQ2: disciplined marketing; Q3: maintained spend with ROI focus Q4: S&M $54.7m (49% of revenue), leaning into positive trends; Q1 guidance embeds YoY and sequential marketing increases Increasing with ROI discipline

Management Commentary

  • Strategy and mission: “We relentlessly improve our ability to actively connect people to their next great opportunity.” Management highlights brand strength, proprietary data, and matching algorithms as long-term differentiators .
  • Market share thesis: “We believe that market share shifts in job seeker traffic will, over time, be followed by market share shifts in employer revenue dollars.” This underpins continued investment through cycles .
  • Product-led engagement: “Employers who use ZipApply received 3x more applications for their roles… most employers receiving the first application in under 20 minutes” via ZipIntro and ATS integrations .
  • Outlook tone: “Cautiously optimistic… strongest change in sequential revenue from Q4 to Q1 since 2022,” with potential to achieve YoY growth by Q4 2025, while retaining flexibility to prioritize margins if demand erodes .

Q&A Highlights

  • Near-term trends: Holiday season better than expected; widespread pick-up in paid employer reactivations translating into Q1 revenue guide of ~2% sequential decline, a marked improvement vs. the prior two years .
  • Investment vs. margins: Lower Q1 margins reflect proactive sales and marketing investment in front of improving ROI signals; spend decisions are data-driven .
  • Recovery path: Management sees a likely scenario of YoY growth by Q4 2025; earlier return less probable .
  • Downside playbook: In a deterioration scenario, margins would be higher as the company flexes variable S&M and controls other costs; limited forward commitments enable rapid pullback .
  • Competitive lens & AI: Focus is on winning job seekers as predictive of long-term category winners; AI now permeating post-matching engagement to spur two-sided interaction .
  • Verticals & exposure: Tech stable sequentially but no broad AI hiring boom; federal government hiring exposure not a major driver; marketplace mirrors U.S. economy, skewed to SMBs .
  • Marketing ROI framework: Emphasis on 5-year total ROI, brand impact, and cash-on-cash payback; low long-term commitments allow quick spend adjustments .

Estimates Context

  • Wall Street consensus estimates (S&P Global) for Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 were not retrievable at this time due to SPGI request limits; as a result, explicit comparisons to consensus are unavailable. Values retrieved from S&P Global could not be provided due to access limitations at this time.*

Key Takeaways for Investors

  • Demand remains weak but stabilizing: Sequential seasonality into Q1 looks more normal than the past two years, with early-cycle indicators (reactivations, SMB sentiment, NFIB) improving .
  • Product traction is tangible: ZipIntro, next-gen RDB, and ATS integrations are driving faster time-to-first-application and higher engagement, supporting monetization resilience (Rev/PE up) despite lower employer counts .
  • Mix shift toward enterprise performance-based revenue continues, potentially de-risking SMB cyclicality over time (performance revenue 23% in Q4 vs. 22% in Q3) .
  • Balance sheet optionality: ~$506 million in cash and securities provides flexibility to invest or defend margins through cycles; buyback authorization remains in place (remaining $123.1 million as of year-end) .
  • 2025 setup: Management targets YoY quarterly growth by Q4 2025 and mid-single-digit Adjusted EBITDA margins in recovery; downside scenario would prioritize margin via expense control .
  • Near-term trading: Watch reactivation momentum and SMB conversion as catalysts; sustained traffic share gains and stronger-than-typical Q4→Q1 seasonal profile could support sentiment into prints .
  • Medium-term thesis: As job seeker share leads employer dollar share, ZIP’s product-led improvements and two-sided marketplace scale should enable revenue inflection with operating leverage as marketing intensity normalizes .