ZipRecruiter Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results

Rhea-AI Summary

ZipRecruiter (NYSE: ZIP) released its Q4 and full-year 2024 financial results. The company reported quarterly revenue of $111.0 million and full-year revenue of $474.0 million. The company posted a full-year net loss of ($12.9) million, representing a net loss margin of (3)%. Full-year Adjusted EBITDA reached $78.0 million, with a 16% margin.

Despite challenging market conditions, ZipRecruiter implemented multiple marketplace improvements, including new product launches and M&A expansions. The company projects Q1 2025 revenue guidance of $109 million at midpoint, representing a 2% sequential decline from Q4'24, showing improvement compared to previous years' Q1 declines of 13% and 10% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Positive

• Q1 2025 sequential revenue decline improving to 2% vs 10-13% in previous years
• Strong Adjusted EBITDA margin of 16%
• Successful product launches and M&A expansion

Negative

• Full-year net loss of $12.9M (3% margin)
• Q4 2024 to Q1 2025 revenue decline of 2%
• Challenging hiring environment impacting business performance

Insights

Financial Analyst

ZipRecruiter's Q4 and full-year 2024 results reveal a company navigating persistent headwinds in the employment marketplace while positioning itself for an eventual market recovery. The $111.0 million quarterly revenue and $474.0 million annual revenue came alongside a full-year net loss of ($12.9) million, representing a -3% net loss margin. However, the $78.0 million in Adjusted EBITDA (with a 16% margin) demonstrates underlying operational efficiency despite top-line challenges.

The divergence between negative GAAP earnings and positive Adjusted EBITDA highlights the significant impact of non-cash expenses, particularly stock-based compensation. This pattern is common among technology platforms but requires monitoring as sustained GAAP losses can eventually strain even well-managed companies. The 16% Adjusted EBITDA margin, while respectable for a growth-stage technology company in a challenging market, sits below the 20%+ margins that premium SaaS businesses typically target.

Most encouraging is the projected sequential revenue decline of just 2% for Q1 2025, compared to much steeper sequential drops of 13% and 10% in Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. This flattening trajectory suggests the company may be approaching a stabilization point after multiple quarters of contraction. Management's "cautious optimism" appears grounded in both internal metrics and external labor market indicators that point toward potential improvement.

ZipRecruiter's strategic investments in product development and M&A during a downturn reflect a long-term orientation that could strengthen competitive positioning when hiring activity rebounds. The company operates in a highly cyclical industry where maintaining technological advancement during downturns can yield significant market share gains during recovery periods. However, this strategy depends on having sufficient financial runway.

With a current market cap of $676 million against annual revenue of $474 million, ZipRecruiter trades at approximately 1.4x sales - a relatively modest valuation that reflects both current challenges and potential recovery upside. The key metrics to watch in coming quarters will be sequential revenue trends, employer retention rates, and the pace at which operating losses narrow. For ZipRecruiter to justify investor confidence, demonstrating a clear path back to profitability while maintaining technological leadership will be essential as labor markets eventually normalize.

Quarterly revenue of $111.0 million

Full-year revenue of $474.0 million

Full-year net loss of ($12.9) million, or net loss margin of (3)%

Full-year Adjusted EBITDA of $78.0 million, or Adjusted EBITDA margin of 16%

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ZipRecruiter^® (NYSE: ZIP), a leading online employment marketplace, today announced financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024. ZipRecruiter’s complete fourth quarter and full year 2024 results, financial guidance, and management commentary can be found by accessing ZipRecruiter’s shareholder letter on the quarterly results page of the Investor Relations website at investors.ziprecruiter.com.

“In 2024, ZipRecruiter delivered multiple improvements to our marketplace. This included new product launches, advancements to our existing products, and leveraging M&A as a tool to expand our product suite. We made these gains against a difficult hiring environment. Our business remains resilient, as we managed down operating expenses while continuing to invest in product and technology,” said Ian Siegel, CEO of ZipRecruiter. “Despite the protracted labor market downturn, we enter 2025 with cautious optimism on improving revenue trends from both internal and external indicators. Our Q1 revenue guidance of $109 million at the midpoint is down 2% versus Q4’24. By contrast, Q1 revenue declined sequentially by 13% and 10% in 2023 and 2024, respectively. We remain nimble and believe our balance sheet provides a solid foundation to capture market share when hiring activity returns. Through all labor market cycles, our mission of actively connecting people to their next great opportunity remains the foundation of our strategy.”

Conference Call Details

ZipRecruiter will host a conference call today, February 25, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss its financial results. A live webcast of the call can be accessed from ZipRecruiter’s Investor Relations website at investors.ziprecruiter.com. An archived version will be available on the website two hours after the completion of the call. Investors and analysts can participate in the conference call by dialing +1 (888) 440-4199, or +1 (646) 960-0818 for callers outside the United States and use the Conference ID 9351892. To listen to the telephonic replay, available until Tuesday, March 4, 2025, please dial +1 (800) 770-2030 or +1 (609) 800-9909 for callers outside the United States and use the Conference ID 9351892.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected hiring activity and our market share, the future of the U.S. labor market, our investment in product and technology and other statements that reflect ZipRecruiter’s current expectations and projections with respect to, among other things, its financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance, and business. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “likely,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “projection,” “seek,” “can,” “could,” “may,” “should,” “would,” “will,” the negatives thereof and other words and terms of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements, including our ability to attract and retain employers and job seekers; our ability to compete with well-established competitors and new entrants; our ability to achieve and/or maintain profitability; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand and intellectual property; our dependence on macroeconomic factors; our ability to maintain and improve the quality of our platform; our dependence on the interoperability of our platform with mobile operating systems that we do not control; our ability to successfully implement our business plan during a global economic downturn that may impact the demand for our services or have a material adverse impact on our and our business partners’ financial condition and results of operations; our ability and the ability of third parties to protect our users’ personal or other data from a security breach and to comply with laws and regulations relating to consumer data privacy and data protection; our ability to detect errors, defects or disruptions in our platform; our ability to comply with the terms of underlying licenses of open source software components on our platform; our ability to expand into markets outside the United States; our ability to achieve desired operating margins; our compliance with a wide variety of U.S. and international laws and regulations; our reliance on Amazon Web Services; our ability to mitigate payment and fraud risks; our dependence on our senior management and our ability to attract and retain new talent; and the other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2024, June 30, 2024, and September 30, 2024, in each case, that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 that we will file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There is no assurance that any forward-looking statements will materialize. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect expectations only as of this date. ZipRecruiter does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin.

We define Adjusted EBITDA as our net income (loss) before interest expense, other income (expense), net, income tax expense (benefit) and depreciation and amortization, adjusted to eliminate stock-based compensation expense. Adjusted EBITDA margin represents Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue for the same period.

Management and our board of directors use these non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures of our performance because they assist us in comparing our operating performance on a consistent basis, as they remove the impact of some items not directly resulting from our core operations. We also use these non-GAAP financial measures for planning purposes, including the preparation of our internal annual operating budget and financial projections, to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of our strategic initiatives and to evaluate our capacity for capital expenditures to expand our business.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin should not be considered in isolation, as an alternative to, or superior to net income (loss), revenue, cash flows or other measures derived in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP measures are frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in our industry. Management believes that the presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is an appropriate measure of operating performance because they eliminate the impact of some expenses that do not relate directly to the performance of our underlying business.

These non-GAAP financial measures should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or other items. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are not intended to be a measure of free cash flow for management’s discretionary use, as they do not reflect our tax payments and certain other cash costs that may recur in the future, including, among other things, cash requirements for costs to replace assets being depreciated and amortized. Management compensates for these limitations by relying on our GAAP results in addition to using Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin as supplemental measures of our performance. Our measures of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin used herein are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled captions of other companies due to different methods of calculation.

RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET INCOME (LOSS) TO ADJUSTED EBITDA (UNAUDITED) (in thousands, except net income (loss) margin and Adjusted EBITDA margin data)
	Year Ended December 31,
	2024
GAAP net income (loss)	$(12,854)
Stock-based compensation	64,453
Depreciation and amortization	12,291
Interest expense	29,597
Other (income) expense, net	(21,838)
Income tax expense (benefit)	6,357
Adjusted EBITDA	$ 78,006
Net income (loss) margin	(3)%
Adjusted EBITDA margin	16%

About ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter® (NYSE:ZIP) is a leading online employment marketplace that actively connects people to their next great opportunity. ZipRecruiter’s powerful matching technology improves the job search experience for job seekers and helps businesses of all sizes find and hire the right candidates quickly. ZipRecruiter has been the #1 rated job search app on iOS & Android for the past eight years¹ and is rated the #1 employment job site by G2.² For more information, visit www.ziprecruiter.com.

¹ Based on job seeker app ratings, during the period of January 2017 to January 2025 from AppFollow for ZipRecruiter, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, and Monster.

² Based on G2 satisfaction ratings as of January 10, 2025.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250224397363/en/

Investors:

Drew Haroldson

The Blueshirt Group, for ZipRecruiter

ir@ziprecruiter.com

Corporate Communications:

Claire Walsh

Press Relations

press@ziprecruiter.com

Source: ZipRecruiter, Inc.

FAQ

What are ZipRecruiter's (ZIP) key financial metrics for full-year 2024?

ZIP reported $474.0M in revenue, ($12.9M) net loss (3% margin), and $78.0M Adjusted EBITDA (16% margin)

How much revenue did ZIP generate in Q4 2024?

ZipRecruiter generated $111.0 million in revenue for Q4 2024

What is ZipRecruiter's (ZIP) revenue guidance for Q1 2025?

ZIP guides Q1 2025 revenue of $109M at midpoint, down 2% from Q4 2024

How does ZIP's Q1 2025 sequential decline compare to previous years?

The projected 2% decline is better than previous Q1 declines of 13% in 2023 and 10% in 2024

What strategic improvements did ZIP implement in 2024?

ZIP launched new products, enhanced existing offerings, and utilized M&A to expand product suite