ZIP CO LIMITED.. — Call Transcript 2026

Thank you for standing by. My name is Jordan, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to ZipRecruiter's Q4 2025 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. You are limited to one question and one follow-up question during the session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Emilio Sartori, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Thank you, operator. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us for our earnings conference call, during which we will discuss ZipRecruiter's performance for the Q4 and full year ended December thirty-first, 2025, and our guidance for the Q1 of 2026. Joining me on the call today are Ian Siegel, Co-founder and CEO, David Travers, President, and Tim Yarbrough, CFO. Before we begin, please be reminded that forward-looking statements made today are subject to risks and uncertainties related to future events and/or the future financial performance of ZipRecruiter. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. A discussion of some of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements can be found in ZipRecruiter's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025, which is available on our investor website and the SEC's website. The forward-looking statements in this conference call are based on the current expectations as of today, ZipRecruiter assumes no obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise. In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, GAAP results. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP metrics to the nearest GAAP metrics are included in ZipRecruiter's shareholder letter and in our Form 10-K. Now I will turn the call over to Ian. Thank you. Good afternoon to everyone joining us today. 2025 was a year of stabilization and strategic execution for ZipRecruiter. After multiple quarters of sequential growth, I'm pleased to share that we achieved year-over-year revenue growth in Q4 2025, the first time a quarter has grown year-over-year since Q3 of 2022. Throughout 2025, we remained focused on our mission to actively connect people to their next great opportunity by delivering high-impact product enhancements. We upgraded ZipIntro and our resume database to drive faster connections, deployed new AI-powered suggested screening questions to decrease the time it takes employers to vet the candidates they receive, and optimized our automated campaigns to deliver better performance for our enterprise clients. In January of 2026, we took another leap forward with the launch of Be Seen First, a product which enables job seekers to jump to the top of an employer's candidate list. Job seekers earn this advantage when they tell the employer why they are excited about the role and what skills they bring to the table. The results are promising. Be Seen First candidates are nearly 2 times more likely to have a conversation with an employer. Following the sequential growth in Q2 and Q3 of 2025, Q4 2025 marked a return to year-over-year revenue growth. We achieved this milestone despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. That said, hiring demand in Q4 2025 was soft. Hiring demand dropped below what normal seasonality would have predicted, and job openings declined 10% year-over-year. As a result, Q1 2026 started from a lower base of paid employers. Our Q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint reflects this lower holiday baseline. However, in Q1 of 2026, paid employer trends have rebounded year to date. Those trends are, in fact, stronger than the trends we called out as noteworthy in Q1 of 2025. We are encouraged by the momentum we see in performance marketing revenue. Year-over-year performance marketing revenue increased 5% in Q3 of 2025 and 9% in Q4 of 2025. Our go-to-market motion and product offerings continue to resonate with and drive value for our larger enterprise customers. This performance gives us confidence that our product improvements and its technology investments are driving us forward in this environment with our underlying momentum intact. For the full year 2026, we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence, albeit at subdued levels, given the lower starting point post-holidays. We believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026 compared to the 5% decline in 2025. Further, in this scenario, we expect Adjusted EBITDA margins to expand by 5 percentage points, from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026. This improvement reflects our rigorous cost discipline alongside targeted investments aimed at capturing growth. In addition to addressing our business specifically, we have been receiving many questions about AI and its impact on the labor market. While some attribute the current hiring slowdown to AI displacement, ZipRecruiter employer survey data tells a different story. According to ZipRecruiter customer responses in our Q4 2025 annual employer survey, the current labor market trends are primarily driven by economic factors, such as lower customer spending or cost-cutting mandates, rather than technology-driven automation. AI is currently having little to no impact on our customers' hiring plans. This matches the sentiment from a large number of economists on the topic. Over the long term, we expect AI to be a substantial boon to the labor market. History shows that major technological shifts displace specific roles, but ultimately unlock productivity and enhance labor demand. We believe AI will follow a similar trajectory. We further believe ZipRecruiter is uniquely positioned to lead this next wave of AI-driven acceleration. Since our inception, we have invested over $1 billion to build an enduring brand that resonates with both employers and job seekers. Our proprietary AI matching technology, trained on billions of interactions, continuously learns to surface the right roles and deliver qualified candidates faster. Our team and our technology investments are laser-focused on continuously improving the process of finding a great job or a great employee. ZipRecruiter remains committed to its mission of actively connecting people to their next great opportunity through every economic cycle. We believe we will continue to lead the shift in recruiting from offline to online. We are prepared for this new wave of AI-driven innovation. Before I turn the call over to Dave, as you read in our shareholder letter, our CFO, Tim Yarbrough, has decided to pursue a new opportunity and will be departing ZipRecruiter. On behalf of the board and the entire ZipRecruiter team, I want to thank Tim for his over a decade of dedicated service. We wish him continued success in his next opportunity. Dave Travers, our current President and previous CFO of six years, is stepping in as interim Chief Financial Officer, effective February 26th. Dave's deep familiarity with our business, financial operations, and history will ensure a seamless transition during this interim period. We've also initiated a comprehensive search for a permanent CFO. With that, I'll turn the call over to Dave to share some business highlights. Thanks, Ian, and good afternoon. Our performance in the Q4 reflects the continued success of our product-led strategy. Even in a complex hiring environment, our investments in matching technology and seamless integrations are delivering clear value to both employers and job seekers. I'm excited to share several highlights with you. Q4 2025 revenue reached $112 million, representing 1% year-over-year growth. This is a significant milestone, marking our Q1 of year-over-year growth since the market decline began in Q3 of 2022. This performance is consistent with the scenario we outlined over the course of 2025, and we believe our execution, brand resilience, and strong market position overcame what continues to be a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. We finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers in Q4, up 2% year-over-year and down 12% sequentially, consistent with historical seasonal patterns. This is our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year expansion, signaling the long-term health of our employer base. This January, we launched Be Seen First, a new product designed to help job seekers break through the application black hole and turn one-way applications into real two-way conversations. By adding a short note to their application, job seekers move to the top of an employer's applicant list, highlighting essential skills and enthusiasm that resumes often miss. This provides recruiters with critical context and surfaces the most engaged talent. Employers are prioritizing these high-intent applicants, Be Seen First candidates are nearly two times more likely to have a conversation with the employer. In response to the shifting SEO landscape, we optimized our marketplace for generative AI discovery. This drove a significant increase in engagement, with site visits from AI engines more than doubling year-over-year in Q4. Additionally, ZipRecruiter's job seeker traffic outperformed our largest competitors throughout 2025, validating our ongoing product improvements. By reaching job seekers regardless of where they begin their search, we believe we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the eventual acceleration of U.S. hiring. Since its U.S. launch in 2025, Breakroom has published over 16,000 employer profiles, powered by 1.6 million employee ratings. We recently integrated these ratings directly into ZipRecruiter, enhancing 8.7 million job postings and over 9,000 company pages with transparent workplace insights, providing job seekers with transparency to better evaluate potential employers and increasing the likelihood of a strong long-term match. In 2024, we launched ZipIntro, an AI-powered solution that speeds up hiring by rapidly connecting employers and job seekers for face-to-face conversations. Enterprise adoption of ZipIntro grew consistently throughout 2025. In Q4 alone, scheduled sessions increased 17% sequentially and expanded by more than 5x year-over-year. To further optimize the platform, we recently made a number of targeting improvements that drove a 32% increase in sessions that met or exceeded RSVP targets, delivering a more predictable candidate flow for employers. We've enhanced our resume database to allow employers to filter by recent platform activity, such as whether they are new to the ZipRecruiter marketplace or if the candidate recently updated their profile. Employers are finding these real-time insights incredibly valuable. The resume unlock rate for candidates with these activity labels is 66% higher than those without. When thinking through specific questions to ask candidates, employers often struggle when starting from a blank page. In Q4, we launched an AI-driven tool that automatically generates tailored screening questions. Employers have quickly embraced this upgrade, with 93% of new employers using our AI-recommended screening questions in Q4. By automating this key step, we drive higher quality connections faster. ZipRecruiter's enterprise-focused strategy is gaining significant traction, fueled by high demand for automated tools. In Q4, adoption of our automated campaign performance solution increased 32% year-over-year. This and other enterprise enhancements led to a 9% year-over-year increase in performance marketing revenue in Q4, an increase from 5% growth seen in Q3. Despite a complex hiring landscape, these results demonstrate that our programmatic tools are successfully delivering the efficiency and candidate quality that large employers prioritize. For over a decade, ZipRecruiter has invested in building a network of over 180 ATS integrations to streamline the enterprise hiring process. This momentum continued in Q4 with the launch of an enhanced Workday integration and a new Bullhorn partnership. By connecting with these major ATS platforms, recruiters can now source talent from our resume database and export candidates to their preferred system with a single click, drastically reducing applicant friction and accelerating time to hire. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Tim to run through the financial results. Tim? Thank you, Dave. Good afternoon, everyone. Our Q4 revenue of $111.7 million represents 1% growth year-over-year and a 3% decline quarter-over-quarter. Our first year-over-year increase since Q3 of 2022 was primarily driven by higher performance-based revenue from enterprise employers, which grew to 25% of total revenue. The sequential decline is consistent with seasonal hiring patterns in the Q4. We finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers, representing a 2% increase year-over-year and a 12% decrease sequentially. This marks our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth, demonstrating the stability of our employer base despite macroeconomic volatility. The sequential decline is consistent with our historical seasonal patterns and reflects the typical slowdown of hiring during the holiday period. Revenue per paid employer was $1,889, down 2% year-over-year and up 10% sequentially. The year-over-year decrease reflects continued softness in the hiring demand, particularly among SMB customers. The sequential increase is primarily driven by the seasonal reduction in the number of paid employers in the Q4. Our net loss in the Q4 was $0.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 2025 was $16.2 million, equating to a margin of 15%. This is higher compared to 13% in Q4 2024 and 8% in Q3 2025, with increases driven by a return to revenue growth and continued expense discipline. Our full-year Adjusted EBITDA margin of 9% exceeded the mid-single-digit expectations we shared at the beginning of the last year. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities was $409.1 million as of December 31st, 2025. During Q4 2025, we repurchased 1.8 million shares, totaling $8 million. As Ian mentioned, after more than 10 incredible years at ZipRecruiter, I'll be stepping down from my role as CFO to pursue a new opportunity. I'm deeply grateful for the growth and experiences that have shaped both my career and me personally. Thank you to our amazing employees for your dedication and partnership. It's been an honor to be a part of this team, and I'm excited to see how ZipRecruiter will continue to transform how hiring is done. With that, I'll pass it back to Dave to discuss our guidance. Thanks, Tim. I echo Ian's comments. We wish you luck in your future endeavors. Moving on to quarterly guidance. Our Q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint, down 4% year-over-year and 5% sequentially, reflects the lower baseline of paid employers as we started Q1. Our Adjusted EBITDA guidance midpoint of $5 million represents a 5% margin, which is flat year-over-year and demonstrates our financial flexibility as we navigate the current labor market backdrop. Looking beyond Q1, we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence over 2026, albeit at subdued levels, given the lower starting point post-holidays. We believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026, which is a 5 percentage point improvement over last year. In this scenario, we expect Adjusted EBITDA margins to expand by 5 percentage points, from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026. This improvement reflects our continued cost discipline, alongside targeted investments to ensure ZipRecruiter emerges from this cycle in a position of strength. The stabilization in the business we've seen, despite a weak hiring environment, is encouraging, and we remain confident in our long-term growth opportunity. We believe our flexible operating model and healthy balance sheet position ZipRecruiter to take advantage of growth opportunities and position us to outperform the broader hiring category over time. With that, we can now open the line for questions. Operator? As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Thanks so much for taking the questions. Tim, thanks for all the help over the years. Wishing you the best of luck. Maybe two, if I can. First, if you look at the demand environment you're facing right now, any different characterizations you would give on the employer side from what you're seeing from large enterprises relative to SMB, and any indications how that might change as we progress into Q1 and deeper into the year? Thanks so much. Hey, Eric, this is Dave. Great question. What we saw last quarter was in the latter half of the quarter, over the holiday period, after a strong start to the quarter, was a slowdown in SMB demand, particularly. We've been encouraged since the beginning of the year, as we said, that SMB demand looks as good or actually slightly better than last year and better than we've seen in several years. Our expectation is that from a lower baseline, given the weak latter half of, and holiday period of last quarter, from that lower baseline, we'll see a stable overall macro environment, and that our ongoing investments and continued operational improvements, as we just detailed, ZipIntro, resume database, and most importantly, perhaps, our execution in enterprise, where we see a similarly forecasting as the most likely scenario, a similarly stable demand environment. Where our execution and obsession with hitting customers' targets, defining clearly for them what their target is and what their definition of success is, and then making sure we hit it and are having both our product and our go-to-market teams work relentlessly to make sure that happens. That's paying off. We see it for the first time in four years, seeing, slight sequential growth in performance marketing revenue in Q4 versus Q3. What we foresee is we're ready for a wide range of scenarios, as always, but with the most likely scenario being the overall demand environment for both SMB and enterprise being flat from this lower start, and that our investments allow us, despite a weak starting point, to start the year in Q1, that we get to flat this year and are able to expand margins as we do it, so that we're increasing revenue by 5 percentage points versus last year and increasing margin by 5 percentage points at the same time. Great. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Ralph Schackart from William Blair. Your line is live. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Maybe just a follow-up on Eric's question. Just trying to square a little bit, I guess, some of the more soft conditions you saw in Q4 after a strong start compared with, I guess, a stronger rebound in Q1, particularly, I think you called out SMB. Anything that you'd sort of call out there for the, I guess, the dramatic or pretty sharp rebound there? Two, just in terms of the traffic you're seeing from the LLMs, can you maybe sort of walk us through how that traffic is behaving, performing perhaps converting? Is it at a level, perhaps in 2026, where they could start to impact the results? Just any other color on LLM traffic would be great. Thank you. Thanks, Ralph. This is Dave. I'll take the first one and let Ian take the second one. On the soft Q4, I think it very much what we saw in Q4 very much mapped to what the job openings numbers from the government looked like, where we saw that 10% decline. Even when you seasonally adjust it, December is always the hardest month of the year to forecast and is always the seasonally weakest month. Even when you adjust for seasonality, as the government does in their official data, there was a month-over-month decline each month in Q4 in terms of job openings, and that's very consistent with what we saw. As we look at it, as we always say our employer base looks like the whole U.S. economy, but when we look at particular areas of weakness and strength healthcare remained resilient, as it has for several years now, and demographic changes and other structural reasons for that in the U.S. economy. On the flip side, retail, food service, education were all areas of weak spots during the quarter, and we saw those degrade. , to the point I said earlier, starting January 1st, we saw a different story where we've seen a nice pickup in activity, and so that gives us the confidence to say the most likely scenario of those that we prepare for is that we'll be flat from that lower baseline for the year. Speaking to the LLM question, to give context, ZipRecruiter gets traffic from a wide array of different media sources and sites, and that includes everything from other job sites, to organic traffic, to SEM, to response to advertising. LLMs are just one part of the mix. What makes them interesting is they are the fastest-growing in terms of both they themselves as a category, as well as the traffic that we are getting from them. However, in the overall mix of traffic that ZipRecruiter gets, overwhelmingly still, traffic that is highly engaged and active on the site is still coming from the variety of traditional sources. The difference between LLM traffic and those sources is not much. They are active job seekers who are eager and engaged. They are still continuing to grow at a healthy pace, and we are excited about the momentum that we see with LLMs. Great. Thanks, Ian. Thanks, David, and best of luck to you. Your next question comes from the line of Trevor Young from Barclays. Your line is live. Great. Thanks for letting me ask some questions here. Just as we think about the cadence of growth throughout the year, it would kind of suggest that 1Q is maybe the low point for the year, and you would exit the year at low double-digit territory or something like that, such that you're flat overall. Even with tough compares, what kind of informs that view that growth will accelerate from here, given that backdrop? Particularly because you are seeing EBITDA margin expansion, that would maybe suggest not leaning in on marketing meaningfully. Second one, just on capital allocation, you have about $200 million in cash on hand. Guide implies free cash flow maybe improves a bit here in 2026. Clearly, a willingness to buy back stock in the last year. Should we expect opportunistic repurchases of the stock, given a bit of an uptick in the outlook here? Relatedly, any thoughts on the trade-off of stock versus debt repurchases? I know a lot of folks on the credit side also care on that. Thank you. Great. Thanks, Trevor. In terms of the cadence throughout the year, I think what gives us confidence is A, what we've seen year to date since January 1st, and b going back longer than year to date, the momentum we have with enterprise. To the point you made, which is astute, that margins going up while we see the cadence of improvement over the course of the year being the most likely scenario, is consistent with enterprise continuing to outperform, where we're not as the demand generation is much more sales-led, and much less marketing-led on the enterprise side of things. , those teams are more... The expense line on those teams is more stable and preexisting, and we see a lot of investments that we've made over the past couple of years starting to pay off, and is less dependent on same-quarter sales and marketing. Obviously, we remain flexible to, and we'll adapt based on , changing environments we see, but that's the most likely thing we see, and we see more than just dating back to January 1st in terms of momentum there with that part of the business. Yeah, to your, to your question on capital allocation our sort of strategic framework remains the same. The top priority always is organic growth. We were not just EBITDA profitable last year, but free cash flow pro-profitable as well, and obviously talked about seeing expanding margins this year. In terms of organic growth, we're well covered, but we'll always prioritize that first. The second priority is M&A opportunities. You saw us take action there in terms of Breakroom, where there's a really strong value proposition to both job seekers and employers about how our entire marketplace gets stronger with better employer branding and giving job seekers the real straight dope on what it's like to work in frontline workers, in particular, what it's like to work at a particular employer. The third priority is return of capital. As you pointed out, we've been a consistent returner of capital. Last quarter, about $8 million for about 1.8 million shares. Every single time we have an opportunity to allocate capital, we think about what are our resources? We currently have a very robust balance sheet, and lots of liquidity, as you mentioned. , we look at the different opportunity set of different opportunities to repurchase shares or bonds or whatever, as you mentioned, and look at the ROI there, and we'll take action accordingly. You've seen us do that before. We will continue to evaluate that, as we see opportunities to do so. Great. Thanks for all that detail, and best of luck, Tim. Your next question comes from the line of Kunal Madhukar from UBS. Your line is live. Hi, good afternoon, Ian, Dave, and good luck, Tim. I guess maybe just two questions. I guess the first what do you make of the Q4 slowdown and then Q1 recovery? , relatedly why doesn't the Q1 recovery get you back to the same spot? Is it just, like, not enough of a recovery in magnitude? Then the second question would be: , are you seeing meaningful changes in terms of how employers are trying to find candidates, as in moving away from the traditional resume? I mean, you launched this Be Seen First feature, which allows people to feature different things other than their resume. Just curious if something like that is starting to happen in the environment. Thank you. Go ahead, funny. Yeah. On the first one, your question's a good one. , the way we think about it in terms of the cadence in Q1, it is very typical in Q1, given the seasonality, as I mentioned, or we mentioned before, that the holiday period is the weakest period of the year seasonally. The q1 can look fairly flat to Q4 in a typical year, plus or minus a couple of points, but it's really a story of building throughout the quarter from a lower starting point, given what happens, the slowdown over the holidays, especially in the SMBs part of the business. What we see here is just a steeper climb, and the starting point was lower. The trend line within the quarter looks good, but we're just starting from a lower point, where the SMB part of the business was a little bit weaker, over the course of late November and December, which is what causes that cadence. On Be Seen First, without question, the world of recruiting is experiencing a renaissance as it relates to both the way candidates are sourced. ... and the way that the opportunities they have to communicate with the employers and the hiring managers. Resumes are very much still in play. They are a necessary part of a comfortable, expected process that employers are not willing to let go of. What Be Seen First is really a mechanism for job seekers to show their enthusiasm, to stand out when they apply to a job in a novel way, and job seekers are using it exactly as we intended. They are not spamming employers with Be Seen First. They're being selective about which jobs that they express their enthusiasm for. Employers are responding as we would expect, which is in a sea of candidates, many of whom's resumes look highly qualified for the role in which they are applying. They are looking for other signals that will allow certain candidates to stand out from the rest of the pack. A candidate participating in Be Seen First, showing their enthusiasm and getting pushed to the top, is not only advantaging themselves, they're actually doing the employer a favor by giving them one more method from which to assess the pool of candidates they received, to decide who were the very best that they want to bring in for an interview. Yeah, that's great color. Yeah, thank you. Thank you both for the color. Your next question comes from the line of Kishan Patel from Raymond James. Your line is live. Hey, this is Kishan Patel on for Josh Beck. You mentioned in shareholder letter that you're optimizing the platform for GenAI discovery. How do you think about optimizing the ZipRecruiter platform for agentic search or engagement by job seekers? Well, this is certainly a topic that we are spending a lot of time thinking about, and we are excited about the potential and opportunities that is represented by AI. There are so many different directions we could choose to take this in, and certainly already AI is permeating our site. I mean, you can go all the way back to our S-1 when we first went public, where we described ourselves as an AI-powered marketplace, long before there was ever an LLM and everyone was talking about AI. When we talked about AI, we were really talking about the matching engines that we built, that are powered by those billions and billions of interactions between employers and job seekers, which is what allows us not only to do an exceptional job of matching keywords and resumes to the keywords in job descriptions, but also to benefit from what's known as the wisdom of the crowd, where insights can be gleaned by the different AI methodologies that we were applying in order to find the very best jobs for job seekers and the very best candidates for employers. As we look at our own service today, already you can see AI making its way in. We talked about suggested screening questions in our shareholder letter. That is a product that has reached massive levels of adoption in our product. It's skyrocketed with the launch of suggested screening questions. The difference between putting a blank page in front of an employer and saying, "Come up with screening questions," versus putting a set of AI-created, pre-written screening questions in front of them, has been fundamentally night and day. It has been a sea change in how our product works and how applications are processed, and it's fantastic for employers. 'Cause again, employers are always looking for signal. How can I differentiate between the seemingly equally qualified candidates who I have received? Screening questions is a fantastic tool for that. I would expect you will hear many more AI-driven features coming through the ZipRecruiter development team and entering into our platform over the coming years. I think you will see that, AI becomes a fundamental tool and a fundamental advantage for ZipRecruiter to enhance the marketplace that we have already created. Thank you, guys, and best of luck, Tim. There are no further questions. That concludes the question-and-answer session. That also concludes today's meeting. You may now disconnect.

Speaker 7: Thank you for standing by. My name is Jordan, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to ZipRecruiter's Q4 2025 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. You are limited to one question and one follow-up question during the session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Emilio Sartori, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Thank you for standing by. thank you for standing by My name is Jordan, and I'll be your conference operator today. my name is jordan and i'll be your conference operator today At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to ZipRecruiter's Q4 2025 earnings call. at this time i'd like to welcome everyone to ziprecruiter's q4 2025 earnings call All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. after the speakers' remarks there will be a question-and-answer session You are limited to one question and one follow-up question during the session. you are limited to one question and one follow-up question during the session If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the 1 on your telephone keypad. if you'd like to ask a question during this time simply press star followed by the 1 on your telephone keypad If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. if you would like to withdraw your question press star 1 again Thank you. thank you I would now like to turn the call over to Emilio Sartori, Head of Investor Relations. i would now like to turn the call over to emilio sartori head of investor relations Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 2: Thank you, operator. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us for our earnings conference call, during which we will discuss ZipRecruiter's performance for the Q4 and full year ended December thirty-first, 2025, and our guidance for the Q1 of 2026. Joining me on the call today are Ian Siegel, Co-founder and CEO, David Travers, President, and Tim Yarbrough, CFO. Before we begin, please be reminded that forward-looking statements made today are subject to risks and uncertainties related to future events and/or the future financial performance of ZipRecruiter. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Thank you, operator. thank you operator Good afternoon. good afternoon Thank you for joining us for our earnings conference call, during which we will discuss ZipRecruiter's performance for the Q4 and full year ended December thirty-first, 2025, and our guidance for the Q1 of 2026. thank you for joining us for our earnings conference call during which we will discuss ziprecruiter's performance for the q4 and full year ended december thirty-first 2025 and our guidance for the q1 of 2026 Joining me on the call today are Ian Siegel, Co-founder and CEO, David Travers, President, and Tim Yarbrough, CFO. joining me on the call today are ian siegel co-founder and ceo david travers president and tim yarbrough cfo Before we begin, please be reminded that forward-looking statements made today are subject to risks and uncertainties related to future events and/or the future financial performance of ZipRecruiter. before we begin please be reminded that forward-looking statements made today are subject to risks and uncertainties related to future events and/or the future financial performance of ziprecruiter Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements A discussion of some of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements can be found in ZipRecruiter's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025, which is available on our investor website and the SEC's website. The forward-looking statements in this conference call are based on the current expectations as of today, ZipRecruiter assumes no obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise. A discussion of some of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements can be found in ZipRecruiter's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025, which is available on our investor website and the SEC's website. a discussion of some of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements can be found in ziprecruiter's annual report on form 10-k for the year ended 31 december 2025 which is available on our investor website and the sec's website The forward-looking statements in this conference call are based on the current expectations as of today, ZipRecruiter assumes no obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise. the forward-looking statements in this conference call are based on the current expectations as of today ziprecruiter assumes no obligation to update or revise them whether as a result of new developments or otherwise In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, GAAP results. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP metrics to the nearest GAAP metrics are included in ZipRecruiter's shareholder letter and in our Form 10-K. Now I will turn the call over to Ian. In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. in addition during today's call we will discuss non-gaap financial measures These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, GAAP results. these non-gaap financial measures should be considered in addition to not as a substitute for or in isolation from gaap results Reconciliations of the non-GAAP metrics to the nearest GAAP metrics are included in ZipRecruiter's shareholder letter and in our Form 10-K. reconciliations of the non-gaap metrics to the nearest gaap metrics are included in ziprecruiter's shareholder letter and in our form 10-k Now I will turn the call over to Ian. now i will turn the call over to ian

Speaker 4: Thank you. Good afternoon to everyone joining us today. 2025 was a year of stabilization and strategic execution for ZipRecruiter. After multiple quarters of sequential growth, I'm pleased to share that we achieved year-over-year revenue growth in Q4 2025, the first time a quarter has grown year-over-year since Q3 of 2022. Throughout 2025, we remained focused on our mission to actively connect people to their next great opportunity by delivering high-impact product enhancements. We upgraded ZipIntro and our resume database to drive faster connections, deployed new AI-powered suggested screening questions to decrease the time it takes employers to vet the candidates they receive, and optimized our automated campaigns to deliver better performance for our enterprise clients. Thank you. thank you Good afternoon to everyone joining us today. 2025 was a year of stabilization and strategic execution for ZipRecruiter. good afternoon to everyone joining us today 2025 was a year of stabilization and strategic execution for ziprecruiter After multiple quarters of sequential growth, I'm pleased to share that we achieved year-over-year revenue growth in Q4 2025, the first time a quarter has grown year-over-year since Q3 of 2022. after multiple quarters of sequential growth i'm pleased to share that we achieved year-over-year revenue growth in q4 2025 the first time a quarter has grown year-over-year since q3 of 2022 Throughout 2025, we remained focused on our mission to actively connect people to their next great opportunity by delivering high-impact product enhancements. throughout 2025 we remained focused on our mission to actively connect people to their next great opportunity by delivering high-impact product enhancements We upgraded ZipIntro and our resume database to drive faster connections, deployed new AI-powered suggested screening questions to decrease the time it takes employers to vet the candidates they receive, and optimized our automated campaigns to deliver better performance for our enterprise clients. we upgraded zipintro and our resume database to drive faster connections deployed new ai-powered suggested screening questions to decrease the time it takes employers to vet the candidates they receive and optimized our automated campaigns to deliver better performance for our enterprise clients In January of 2026, we took another leap forward with the launch of Be Seen First, a product which enables job seekers to jump to the top of an employer's candidate list. Job seekers earn this advantage when they tell the employer why they are excited about the role and what skills they bring to the table. The results are promising. Be Seen First candidates are nearly 2 times more likely to have a conversation with an employer. Following the sequential growth in Q2 and Q3 of 2025, Q4 2025 marked a return to year-over-year revenue growth. We achieved this milestone despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. That said, hiring demand in Q4 2025 was soft. Hiring demand dropped below what normal seasonality would have predicted, and job openings declined 10% year-over-year. In January of 2026, we took another leap forward with the launch of Be Seen First, a product which enables job seekers to jump to the top of an employer's candidate list. in january of 2026 we took another leap forward with the launch of be seen first a product which enables job seekers to jump to the top of an employer's candidate list Job seekers earn this advantage when they tell the employer why they are excited about the role and what skills they bring to the table. job seekers earn this advantage when they tell the employer why they are excited about the role and what skills they bring to the table The results are promising. the results are promising Be Seen First candidates are nearly 2 times more likely to have a conversation with an employer. be seen first candidates are nearly 2 times more likely to have a conversation with an employer Following the sequential growth in Q2 and Q3 of 2025, Q4 2025 marked a return to year-over-year revenue growth. following the sequential growth in q2 and q3 of 2025 q4 2025 marked a return to year-over-year revenue growth We achieved this milestone despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. we achieved this milestone despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop That said, hiring demand in Q4 2025 was soft. that said hiring demand in q4 2025 was soft Hiring demand dropped below what normal seasonality would have predicted, and job openings declined 10% year-over-year. hiring demand dropped below what normal seasonality would have predicted and job openings declined 10% year-over-year As a result, Q1 2026 started from a lower base of paid employers. Our Q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint reflects this lower holiday baseline. However, in Q1 of 2026, paid employer trends have rebounded year to date. Those trends are, in fact, stronger than the trends we called out as noteworthy in Q1 of 2025. We are encouraged by the momentum we see in performance marketing revenue. Year-over-year performance marketing revenue increased 5% in Q3 of 2025 and 9% in Q4 of 2025. Our go-to-market motion and product offerings continue to resonate with and drive value for our larger enterprise customers. This performance gives us confidence that our product improvements and its technology investments are driving us forward in this environment with our underlying momentum intact. As a result, Q1 2026 started from a lower base of paid employers. as a result q1 2026 started from a lower base of paid employers Our Q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint reflects this lower holiday baseline. our q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint reflects this lower holiday baseline However, in Q1 of 2026, paid employer trends have rebounded year to date. however in q1 of 2026 paid employer trends have rebounded year to date Those trends are, in fact, stronger than the trends we called out as noteworthy in Q1 of 2025. those trends are in fact stronger than the trends we called out as noteworthy in q1 of 2025 We are encouraged by the momentum we see in performance marketing revenue. we are encouraged by the momentum we see in performance marketing revenue Year-over-year performance marketing revenue increased 5% in Q3 of 2025 and 9% in Q4 of 2025. year-over-year performance marketing revenue increased 5% in q3 of 2025 and 9% in q4 of 2025 Our go-to-market motion and product offerings continue to resonate with and drive value for our larger enterprise customers. our go-to-market motion and product offerings continue to resonate with and drive value for our larger enterprise customers This performance gives us confidence that our product improvements and its technology investments are driving us forward in this environment with our underlying momentum intact. this performance gives us confidence that our product improvements and its technology investments are driving us forward in this environment with our underlying momentum intact For the full year 2026, we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence, albeit at subdued levels, given the lower starting point post-holidays. We believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026 compared to the 5% decline in 2025. Further, in this scenario, we expect Adjusted EBITDA margins to expand by 5 percentage points, from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026. This improvement reflects our rigorous cost discipline alongside targeted investments aimed at capturing growth. In addition to addressing our business specifically, we have been receiving many questions about AI and its impact on the labor market. While some attribute the current hiring slowdown to AI displacement, ZipRecruiter employer survey data tells a different story. For the full year 2026, we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence, albeit at subdued levels, given the lower starting point post-holidays. for the full year 2026 we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence albeit at subdued levels given the lower starting point post-holidays We believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026 compared to the 5% decline in 2025. we believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026 compared to the 5% decline in 2025 Further, in this scenario, we expect Adjusted EBITDA margins to expand by 5 percentage points, from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026. further in this scenario we expect adjusted ebitda margins to expand by 5 percentage points from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026 This improvement reflects our rigorous cost discipline alongside targeted investments aimed at capturing growth. this improvement reflects our rigorous cost discipline alongside targeted investments aimed at capturing growth In addition to addressing our business specifically, we have been receiving many questions about AI and its impact on the labor market. in addition to addressing our business specifically we have been receiving many questions about ai and its impact on the labor market While some attribute the current hiring slowdown to AI displacement, ZipRecruiter employer survey data tells a different story. while some attribute the current hiring slowdown to ai displacement ziprecruiter employer survey data tells a different story According to ZipRecruiter customer responses in our Q4 2025 annual employer survey, the current labor market trends are primarily driven by economic factors, such as lower customer spending or cost-cutting mandates, rather than technology-driven automation. AI is currently having little to no impact on our customers' hiring plans. This matches the sentiment from a large number of economists on the topic. Over the long term, we expect AI to be a substantial boon to the labor market. History shows that major technological shifts displace specific roles, but ultimately unlock productivity and enhance labor demand. We believe AI will follow a similar trajectory. We further believe ZipRecruiter is uniquely positioned to lead this next wave of AI-driven acceleration. Since our inception, we have invested over $1 billion to build an enduring brand that resonates with both employers and job seekers. According to ZipRecruiter customer responses in our Q4 2025 annual employer survey, the current labor market trends are primarily driven by economic factors, such as lower customer spending or cost-cutting mandates, rather than technology-driven automation. according to ziprecruiter customer responses in our q4 2025 annual employer survey the current labor market trends are primarily driven by economic factors such as lower customer spending or cost-cutting mandates rather than technology-driven automation AI is currently having little to no impact on our customers' hiring plans. ai is currently having little to no impact on our customers' hiring plans This matches the sentiment from a large number of economists on the topic. this matches the sentiment from a large number of economists on the topic Over the long term, we expect AI to be a substantial boon to the labor market. over the long term we expect ai to be a substantial boon to the labor market History shows that major technological shifts displace specific roles, but ultimately unlock productivity and enhance labor demand. history shows that major technological shifts displace specific roles but ultimately unlock productivity and enhance labor demand We believe AI will follow a similar trajectory. we believe ai will follow a similar trajectory We further believe ZipRecruiter is uniquely positioned to lead this next wave of AI-driven acceleration. we further believe ziprecruiter is uniquely positioned to lead this next wave of ai-driven acceleration Since our inception, we have invested over $1 billion to build an enduring brand that resonates with both employers and job seekers. since our inception we have invested over $1 billion to build an enduring brand that resonates with both employers and job seekers Our proprietary AI matching technology, trained on billions of interactions, continuously learns to surface the right roles and deliver qualified candidates faster. Our team and our technology investments are laser-focused on continuously improving the process of finding a great job or a great employee. ZipRecruiter remains committed to its mission of actively connecting people to their next great opportunity through every economic cycle. We believe we will continue to lead the shift in recruiting from offline to online. We are prepared for this new wave of AI-driven innovation. Our proprietary AI matching technology, trained on billions of interactions, continuously learns to surface the right roles and deliver qualified candidates faster. our proprietary ai matching technology trained on billions of interactions continuously learns to surface the right roles and deliver qualified candidates faster Our team and our technology investments are laser-focused on continuously improving the process of finding a great job or a great employee. our team and our technology investments are laser-focused on continuously improving the process of finding a great job or a great employee ZipRecruiter remains committed to its mission of actively connecting people to their next great opportunity through every economic cycle. ziprecruiter remains committed to its mission of actively connecting people to their next great opportunity through every economic cycle We believe we will continue to lead the shift in recruiting from offline to online. we believe we will continue to lead the shift in recruiting from offline to online We are prepared for this new wave of AI-driven innovation. we are prepared for this new wave of ai-driven innovation Before I turn the call over to Dave, as you read in our shareholder letter, our CFO, Tim Yarbrough, has decided to pursue a new opportunity and will be departing ZipRecruiter. On behalf of the board and the entire ZipRecruiter team, I want to thank Tim for his over a decade of dedicated service. Before I turn the call over to Dave, as you read in our shareholder letter, our CFO, Tim Yarbrough, has decided to pursue a new opportunity and will be departing ZipRecruiter. before i turn the call over to dave as you read in our shareholder letter our cfo tim yarbrough has decided to pursue a new opportunity and will be departing ziprecruiter On behalf of the board and the entire ZipRecruiter team, I want to thank Tim for his over a decade of dedicated service. on behalf of the board and the entire ziprecruiter team i want to thank tim for his over a decade of dedicated service We wish him continued success in his next opportunity. Dave Travers, our current President and previous CFO of six years, is stepping in as interim Chief Financial Officer, effective February 26th. Dave's deep familiarity with our business, financial operations, and history will ensure a seamless transition during this interim period. We've also initiated a comprehensive search for a permanent CFO. With that, I'll turn the call over to Dave to share some business highlights. We wish him continued success in his next opportunity. we wish him continued success in his next opportunity Dave Travers, our current President and previous CFO of six years, is stepping in as interim Chief Financial Officer, effective February 26th. dave travers our current president and previous cfo of six years is stepping in as interim chief financial officer effective february 26th Dave's deep familiarity with our business, financial operations, and history will ensure a seamless transition during this interim period. dave's deep familiarity with our business financial operations and history will ensure a seamless transition during this interim period We've also initiated a comprehensive search for a permanent CFO. we've also initiated a comprehensive search for a permanent cfo With that, I'll turn the call over to Dave to share some business highlights. with that i'll turn the call over to dave to share some business highlights

Speaker 1: Thanks, Ian, and good afternoon. Our performance in the Q4 reflects the continued success of our product-led strategy. Even in a complex hiring environment, our investments in matching technology and seamless integrations are delivering clear value to both employers and job seekers. I'm excited to share several highlights with you. Q4 2025 revenue reached $112 million, representing 1% year-over-year growth. This is a significant milestone, marking our Q1 of year-over-year growth since the market decline began in Q3 of 2022. This performance is consistent with the scenario we outlined over the course of 2025, and we believe our execution, brand resilience, and strong market position overcame what continues to be a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. Thanks, Ian, and good afternoon. thanks ian and good afternoon Our performance in the Q4 reflects the continued success of our product-led strategy. our performance in the q4 reflects the continued success of our product-led strategy Even in a complex hiring environment, our investments in matching technology and seamless integrations are delivering clear value to both employers and job seekers. even in a complex hiring environment our investments in matching technology and seamless integrations are delivering clear value to both employers and job seekers I'm excited to share several highlights with you. i'm excited to share several highlights with you Q4 2025 revenue reached $112 million, representing 1% year-over-year growth. q4 2025 revenue reached $112 million representing 1% year-over-year growth This is a significant milestone, marking our Q1 of year-over-year growth since the market decline began in Q3 of 2022. this is a significant milestone marking our q1 of year-over-year growth since the market decline began in q3 of 2022 This performance is consistent with the scenario we outlined over the course of 2025, and we believe our execution, brand resilience, and strong market position overcame what continues to be a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. this performance is consistent with the scenario we outlined over the course of 2025 and we believe our execution brand resilience and strong market position overcame what continues to be a challenging macroeconomic backdrop We finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers in Q4, up 2% year-over-year and down 12% sequentially, consistent with historical seasonal patterns. This is our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year expansion, signaling the long-term health of our employer base. This January, we launched Be Seen First, a new product designed to help job seekers break through the application black hole and turn one-way applications into real two-way conversations. By adding a short note to their application, job seekers move to the top of an employer's applicant list, highlighting essential skills and enthusiasm that resumes often miss. This provides recruiters with critical context and surfaces the most engaged talent. Employers are prioritizing these high-intent applicants, Be Seen First candidates are nearly two times more likely to have a conversation with the employer. We finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers in Q4, up 2% year-over-year and down 12% sequentially, consistent with historical seasonal patterns. we finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers in q4 up 2% year-over-year and down 12% sequentially consistent with historical seasonal patterns This is our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year expansion, signaling the long-term health of our employer base. this is our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year expansion signaling the long-term health of our employer base This January, we launched Be Seen First, a new product designed to help job seekers break through the application black hole and turn one-way applications into real two-way conversations. this january we launched be seen first a new product designed to help job seekers break through the application black hole and turn one-way applications into real two-way conversations By adding a short note to their application, job seekers move to the top of an employer's applicant list, highlighting essential skills and enthusiasm that resumes often miss. by adding a short note to their application job seekers move to the top of an employer's applicant list highlighting essential skills and enthusiasm that resumes often miss This provides recruiters with critical context and surfaces the most engaged talent. this provides recruiters with critical context and surfaces the most engaged talent Employers are prioritizing these high-intent applicants, Be Seen First candidates are nearly two times more likely to have a conversation with the employer. employers are prioritizing these high-intent applicants be seen first candidates are nearly two times more likely to have a conversation with the employer In response to the shifting SEO landscape, we optimized our marketplace for generative AI discovery. This drove a significant increase in engagement, with site visits from AI engines more than doubling year-over-year in Q4. Additionally, ZipRecruiter's job seeker traffic outperformed our largest competitors throughout 2025, validating our ongoing product improvements. By reaching job seekers regardless of where they begin their search, we believe we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the eventual acceleration of U.S. hiring. Since its U.S. launch in 2025, Breakroom has published over 16,000 employer profiles, powered by 1.6 million employee ratings. We recently integrated these ratings directly into ZipRecruiter, enhancing 8.7 million job postings and over 9,000 company pages with transparent workplace insights, providing job seekers with transparency to better evaluate potential employers and increasing the likelihood of a strong long-term match. In response to the shifting SEO landscape, we optimized our marketplace for generative AI discovery. in response to the shifting seo landscape we optimized our marketplace for generative ai discovery This drove a significant increase in engagement, with site visits from AI engines more than doubling year-over-year in Q4. this drove a significant increase in engagement with site visits from ai engines more than doubling year-over-year in q4 Additionally, ZipRecruiter's job seeker traffic outperformed our largest competitors throughout 2025, validating our ongoing product improvements. additionally ziprecruiter's job seeker traffic outperformed our largest competitors throughout 2025 validating our ongoing product improvements By reaching job seekers regardless of where they begin their search, we believe we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the eventual acceleration of U.S. hiring. by reaching job seekers regardless of where they begin their search we believe we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the eventual acceleration of u.s hiring Since its U.S. launch in 2025, Breakroom has published over 16,000 employer profiles, powered by 1.6 million employee ratings. since its u.s launch in 2025 breakroom has published over 16,000 employer profiles powered by 1.6 million employee ratings We recently integrated these ratings directly into ZipRecruiter, enhancing 8.7 million job postings and over 9,000 company pages with transparent workplace insights, providing job seekers with transparency to better evaluate potential employers and increasing the likelihood of a strong long-term match. we recently integrated these ratings directly into ziprecruiter enhancing 8.7 million job postings and over 9,000 company pages with transparent workplace insights providing job seekers with transparency to better evaluate potential employers and increasing the likelihood of a strong long-term match In 2024, we launched ZipIntro, an AI-powered solution that speeds up hiring by rapidly connecting employers and job seekers for face-to-face conversations. Enterprise adoption of ZipIntro grew consistently throughout 2025. In Q4 alone, scheduled sessions increased 17% sequentially and expanded by more than 5x year-over-year. To further optimize the platform, we recently made a number of targeting improvements that drove a 32% increase in sessions that met or exceeded RSVP targets, delivering a more predictable candidate flow for employers. We've enhanced our resume database to allow employers to filter by recent platform activity, such as whether they are new to the ZipRecruiter marketplace or if the candidate recently updated their profile. Employers are finding these real-time insights incredibly valuable. The resume unlock rate for candidates with these activity labels is 66% higher than those without. In 2024, we launched ZipIntro, an AI-powered solution that speeds up hiring by rapidly connecting employers and job seekers for face-to-face conversations. in 2024 we launched zipintro an ai-powered solution that speeds up hiring by rapidly connecting employers and job seekers for face-to-face conversations Enterprise adoption of ZipIntro grew consistently throughout 2025. enterprise adoption of zipintro grew consistently throughout 2025 In Q4 alone, scheduled sessions increased 17% sequentially and expanded by more than 5x year-over-year. in q4 alone scheduled sessions increased 17% sequentially and expanded by more than 5x year-over-year To further optimize the platform, we recently made a number of targeting improvements that drove a 32% increase in sessions that met or exceeded RSVP targets, delivering a more predictable candidate flow for employers. to further optimize the platform we recently made a number of targeting improvements that drove a 32% increase in sessions that met or exceeded rsvp targets delivering a more predictable candidate flow for employers We've enhanced our resume database to allow employers to filter by recent platform activity, such as whether they are new to the ZipRecruiter marketplace or if the candidate recently updated their profile. we've enhanced our resume database to allow employers to filter by recent platform activity such as whether they are new to the ziprecruiter marketplace or if the candidate recently updated their profile Employers are finding these real-time insights incredibly valuable. employers are finding these real-time insights incredibly valuable The resume unlock rate for candidates with these activity labels is 66% higher than those without. the resume unlock rate for candidates with these activity labels is 66% higher than those without When thinking through specific questions to ask candidates, employers often struggle when starting from a blank page. In Q4, we launched an AI-driven tool that automatically generates tailored screening questions. Employers have quickly embraced this upgrade, with 93% of new employers using our AI-recommended screening questions in Q4. By automating this key step, we drive higher quality connections faster. ZipRecruiter's enterprise-focused strategy is gaining significant traction, fueled by high demand for automated tools. In Q4, adoption of our automated campaign performance solution increased 32% year-over-year. This and other enterprise enhancements led to a 9% year-over-year increase in performance marketing revenue in Q4, an increase from 5% growth seen in Q3. Despite a complex hiring landscape, these results demonstrate that our programmatic tools are successfully delivering the efficiency and candidate quality that large employers prioritize. When thinking through specific questions to ask candidates, employers often struggle when starting from a blank page. In Q4, we launched an AI-driven tool that automatically generates tailored screening questions. when thinking through specific questions to ask candidates employers often struggle when starting from a blank page. in q4 we launched an ai-driven tool that automatically generates tailored screening questions Employers have quickly embraced this upgrade, with 93% of new employers using our AI-recommended screening questions in Q4. employers have quickly embraced this upgrade with 93% of new employers using our ai-recommended screening questions in q4 By automating this key step, we drive higher quality connections faster. by automating this key step we drive higher quality connections faster ZipRecruiter's enterprise-focused strategy is gaining significant traction, fueled by high demand for automated tools. ziprecruiter's enterprise-focused strategy is gaining significant traction fueled by high demand for automated tools In Q4, adoption of our automated campaign performance solution increased 32% year-over-year. in q4 adoption of our automated campaign performance solution increased 32% year-over-year This and other enterprise enhancements led to a 9% year-over-year increase in performance marketing revenue in Q4, an increase from 5% growth seen in Q3. this and other enterprise enhancements led to a 9% year-over-year increase in performance marketing revenue in q4 an increase from 5% growth seen in q3 Despite a complex hiring landscape, these results demonstrate that our programmatic tools are successfully delivering the efficiency and candidate quality that large employers prioritize. despite a complex hiring landscape these results demonstrate that our programmatic tools are successfully delivering the efficiency and candidate quality that large employers prioritize For over a decade, ZipRecruiter has invested in building a network of over 180 ATS integrations to streamline the enterprise hiring process. This momentum continued in Q4 with the launch of an enhanced Workday integration and a new Bullhorn partnership. By connecting with these major ATS platforms, recruiters can now source talent from our resume database and export candidates to their preferred system with a single click, drastically reducing applicant friction and accelerating time to hire. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Tim to run through the financial results. Tim? For over a decade, ZipRecruiter has invested in building a network of over 180 ATS integrations to streamline the enterprise hiring process. for over a decade ziprecruiter has invested in building a network of over 180 ats integrations to streamline the enterprise hiring process This momentum continued in Q4 with the launch of an enhanced Workday integration and a new Bullhorn partnership. this momentum continued in q4 with the launch of an enhanced workday integration and a new bullhorn partnership By connecting with these major ATS platforms, recruiters can now source talent from our resume database and export candidates to their preferred system with a single click, drastically reducing applicant friction and accelerating time to hire. by connecting with these major ats platforms recruiters can now source talent from our resume database and export candidates to their preferred system with a single click drastically reducing applicant friction and accelerating time to hire With that, I'll now turn the call over to Tim to run through the financial results. with that i'll now turn the call over to tim to run through the financial results Tim? tim

Speaker 9: Thank you, Dave. Good afternoon, everyone. Our Q4 revenue of $111.7 million represents 1% growth year-over-year and a 3% decline quarter-over-quarter. Our first year-over-year increase since Q3 of 2022 was primarily driven by higher performance-based revenue from enterprise employers, which grew to 25% of total revenue. The sequential decline is consistent with seasonal hiring patterns in the Q4. We finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers, representing a 2% increase year-over-year and a 12% decrease sequentially. This marks our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth, demonstrating the stability of our employer base despite macroeconomic volatility. The sequential decline is consistent with our historical seasonal patterns and reflects the typical slowdown of hiring during the holiday period. Thank you, Dave. thank you dave Good afternoon, everyone. good afternoon everyone Our Q4 revenue of $111.7 million represents 1% growth year-over-year and a 3% decline quarter-over-quarter. our q4 revenue of $111.7 million represents 1% growth year-over-year and a 3% decline quarter-over-quarter Our first year-over-year increase since Q3 of 2022 was primarily driven by higher performance-based revenue from enterprise employers, which grew to 25% of total revenue. our first year-over-year increase since q3 of 2022 was primarily driven by higher performance-based revenue from enterprise employers which grew to 25% of total revenue The sequential decline is consistent with seasonal hiring patterns in the Q4 . the sequential decline is consistent with seasonal hiring patterns in the q4 We finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers, representing a 2% increase year-over-year and a 12% decrease sequentially. we finished the year with over 59,000 quarterly paid employers representing a 2% increase year-over-year and a 12% decrease sequentially This marks our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth, demonstrating the stability of our employer base despite macroeconomic volatility. this marks our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth demonstrating the stability of our employer base despite macroeconomic volatility The sequential decline is consistent with our historical seasonal patterns and reflects the typical slowdown of hiring during the holiday period. the sequential decline is consistent with our historical seasonal patterns and reflects the typical slowdown of hiring during the holiday period Revenue per paid employer was $1,889, down 2% year-over-year and up 10% sequentially. The year-over-year decrease reflects continued softness in the hiring demand, particularly among SMB customers. The sequential increase is primarily driven by the seasonal reduction in the number of paid employers in the Q4. Our net loss in the Q4 was $0.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 2025 was $16.2 million, equating to a margin of 15%. This is higher compared to 13% in Q4 2024 and 8% in Q3 2025, with increases driven by a return to revenue growth and continued expense discipline. Our full-year Adjusted EBITDA margin of 9% exceeded the mid-single-digit expectations we shared at the beginning of the last year. Revenue per paid employer was $1,889, down 2% year-over-year and up 10% sequentially. revenue per paid employer was $1,889 down 2% year-over-year and up 10% sequentially The year-over-year decrease reflects continued softness in the hiring demand, particularly among SMB customers. the year-over-year decrease reflects continued softness in the hiring demand particularly among smb customers The sequential increase is primarily driven by the seasonal reduction in the number of paid employers in the Q4 . the sequential increase is primarily driven by the seasonal reduction in the number of paid employers in the q4 Our net loss in the Q4 was $0.8 million. our net loss in the q4 was $0.8 million Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 2025 was $16.2 million, equating to a margin of 15%. adjusted ebitda in q4 2025 was $16.2 million equating to a margin of 15% This is higher compared to 13% in Q4 2024 and 8% in Q3 2025, with increases driven by a return to revenue growth and continued expense discipline. this is higher compared to 13% in q4 2024 and 8% in q3 2025 with increases driven by a return to revenue growth and continued expense discipline Our full-year Adjusted EBITDA margin of 9% exceeded the mid-single-digit expectations we shared at the beginning of the last year. our full-year adjusted ebitda margin of 9% exceeded the mid-single-digit expectations we shared at the beginning of the last year Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities was $409.1 million as of December 31st, 2025. During Q4 2025, we repurchased 1.8 million shares, totaling $8 million. As Ian mentioned, after more than 10 incredible years at ZipRecruiter, I'll be stepping down from my role as CFO to pursue a new opportunity. I'm deeply grateful for the growth and experiences that have shaped both my career and me personally. Thank you to our amazing employees for your dedication and partnership. It's been an honor to be a part of this team, and I'm excited to see how ZipRecruiter will continue to transform how hiring is done. With that, I'll pass it back to Dave to discuss our guidance. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities was $409.1 million as of December 31st, 2025. cash cash equivalents and marketable securities was $409.1 million as of december 31st 2025 During Q4 2025, we repurchased 1.8 million shares, totaling $8 million. during q4 2025 we repurchased 1.8 million shares totaling $8 million As Ian mentioned, after more than 10 incredible years at ZipRecruiter, I'll be stepping down from my role as CFO to pursue a new opportunity. as ian mentioned after more than 10 incredible years at ziprecruiter i'll be stepping down from my role as cfo to pursue a new opportunity I'm deeply grateful for the growth and experiences that have shaped both my career and me personally. i'm deeply grateful for the growth and experiences that have shaped both my career and me personally Thank you to our amazing employees for your dedication and partnership. thank you to our amazing employees for your dedication and partnership It's been an honor to be a part of this team, and I'm excited to see how ZipRecruiter will continue to transform how hiring is done. it's been an honor to be a part of this team and i'm excited to see how ziprecruiter will continue to transform how hiring is done With that, I'll pass it back to Dave to discuss our guidance. with that i'll pass it back to dave to discuss our guidance

Speaker 1: Thanks, Tim. I echo Ian's comments. We wish you luck in your future endeavors. Moving on to quarterly guidance. Our Q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint, down 4% year-over-year and 5% sequentially, reflects the lower baseline of paid employers as we started Q1. Our Adjusted EBITDA guidance midpoint of $5 million represents a 5% margin, which is flat year-over-year and demonstrates our financial flexibility as we navigate the current labor market backdrop. Looking beyond Q1, we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence over 2026, albeit at subdued levels, given the lower starting point post-holidays. We believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026, which is a 5 percentage point improvement over last year. Thanks, Tim. thanks tim I echo Ian's comments. i echo ian's comments We wish you luck in your future endeavors. we wish you luck in your future endeavors Moving on to quarterly guidance. moving on to quarterly guidance Our Q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint, down 4% year-over-year and 5% sequentially, reflects the lower baseline of paid employers as we started Q1. our q1 2026 revenue guidance of $106 million at the midpoint down 4% year-over-year and 5% sequentially reflects the lower baseline of paid employers as we started q1 Our Adjusted EBITDA guidance midpoint of $5 million represents a 5% margin, which is flat year-over-year and demonstrates our financial flexibility as we navigate the current labor market backdrop. our adjusted ebitda guidance midpoint of $5 million represents a 5% margin which is flat year-over-year and demonstrates our financial flexibility as we navigate the current labor market backdrop Looking beyond Q1, we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence over 2026, albeit at subdued levels, given the lower starting point post-holidays. looking beyond q1 we expect hiring demand to follow a typical seasonal cadence over 2026 albeit at subdued levels given the lower starting point post-holidays We believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026, which is a 5 percentage point improvement over last year. we believe a likely result in this scenario is for us to achieve flat year-over-year revenue in 2026 which is a 5 percentage point improvement over last year In this scenario, we expect Adjusted EBITDA margins to expand by 5 percentage points, from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026. This improvement reflects our continued cost discipline, alongside targeted investments to ensure ZipRecruiter emerges from this cycle in a position of strength. The stabilization in the business we've seen, despite a weak hiring environment, is encouraging, and we remain confident in our long-term growth opportunity. We believe our flexible operating model and healthy balance sheet position ZipRecruiter to take advantage of growth opportunities and position us to outperform the broader hiring category over time. With that, we can now open the line for questions. Operator? In this scenario, we expect Adjusted EBITDA margins to expand by 5 percentage points, from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026. in this scenario we expect adjusted ebitda margins to expand by 5 percentage points from 9% in 2025 to 14% in 2026 This improvement reflects our continued cost discipline, alongside targeted investments to ensure ZipRecruiter emerges from this cycle in a position of strength. this improvement reflects our continued cost discipline alongside targeted investments to ensure ziprecruiter emerges from this cycle in a position of strength The stabilization in the business we've seen, despite a weak hiring environment, is encouraging, and we remain confident in our long-term growth opportunity. the stabilization in the business we've seen despite a weak hiring environment is encouraging and we remain confident in our long-term growth opportunity We believe our flexible operating model and healthy balance sheet position ZipRecruiter to take advantage of growth opportunities and position us to outperform the broader hiring category over time. we believe our flexible operating model and healthy balance sheet position ziprecruiter to take advantage of growth opportunities and position us to outperform the broader hiring category over time With that, we can now open the line for questions. with that we can now open the line for questions Operator? operator

Speaker 7: As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. as a reminder if you'd like to ask a question press star followed by one on your telephone keypad Your first question comes from the line of Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs. your first question comes from the line of eric sheridan from goldman sachs Your line is open. your line is open

Speaker 3: Thanks so much for taking the questions. Tim, thanks for all the help over the years. Wishing you the best of luck. Maybe two, if I can. First, if you look at the demand environment you're facing right now, any different characterizations you would give on the employer side from what you're seeing from large enterprises relative to SMB, and any indications how that might change as we progress into Q1 and deeper into the year? Thanks so much. Thanks so much for taking the questions. thanks so much for taking the questions Tim, thanks for all the help over the years. tim thanks for all the help over the years Wishing you the best of luck. wishing you the best of luck Maybe two, if I can. maybe two if i can First, if you look at the demand environment you're facing right now, any different characterizations you would give on the employer side from what you're seeing from large enterprises relative to SMB, and any indications how that might change as we progress into Q1 and deeper into the year? first if you look at the demand environment you're facing right now any different characterizations you would give on the employer side from what you're seeing from large enterprises relative to smb and any indications how that might change as we progress into q1 and deeper into the year Thanks so much. thanks so much

Speaker 1: Hey, Eric, this is Dave. Great question. What we saw last quarter was in the latter half of the quarter, over the holiday period, after a strong start to the quarter, was a slowdown in SMB demand, particularly. We've been encouraged since the beginning of the year, as we said, that SMB demand looks as good or actually slightly better than last year and better than we've seen in several years. Hey, Eric, this is Dave. hey eric this is dave Great question. great question What we saw last quarter was in the latter half of the quarter, over the holiday period, after a strong start to the quarter, was a slowdown in SMB demand, particularly. what we saw last quarter was in the latter half of the quarter over the holiday period after a strong start to the quarter was a slowdown in smb demand particularly We've been encouraged since the beginning of the year, as we said, that SMB demand looks as good or actually slightly better than last year and better than we've seen in several years. we've been encouraged since the beginning of the year as we said that smb demand looks as good or actually slightly better than last year and better than we've seen in several years Our expectation is that from a lower baseline, given the weak latter half of, and holiday period of last quarter, from that lower baseline, we'll see a stable overall macro environment, and that our ongoing investments and continued operational improvements, as we just detailed, ZipIntro, resume database, and most importantly, perhaps, our execution in enterprise, where we see a similarly forecasting as the most likely scenario, a similarly stable demand environment. Where our execution and obsession with hitting customers' targets, defining clearly for them what their target is and what their definition of success is, and then making sure we hit it and are having both our product and our go-to-market teams work relentlessly to make sure that happens. Our expectation is that from a lower baseline, given the weak latter half of, and holiday period of last quarter, from that lower baseline, we'll see a stable overall macro environment, and that our ongoing investments and continued operational improvements, as we just detailed, ZipIntro, resume database, and most importantly, perhaps, our execution in enterprise, where we see a similarly forecasting as the most likely scenario, a similarly stable demand environment. our expectation is that from a lower baseline given the weak latter half of and holiday period of last quarter from that lower baseline we'll see a stable overall macro environment and that our ongoing investments and continued operational improvements as we just detailed zipintro resume database and most importantly perhaps our execution in enterprise where we see a similarly forecasting as the most likely scenario a similarly stable demand environment Where our execution and obsession with hitting customers' targets, defining clearly for them what their target is and what their definition of success is, and then making sure we hit it and are having both our product and our go-to-market teams work relentlessly to make sure that happens. where our execution and obsession with hitting customers' targets defining clearly for them what their target is and what their definition of success is and then making sure we hit it and are having both our product and our go-to-market teams work relentlessly to make sure that happens That's paying off. We see it for the first time in four years, seeing, slight sequential growth in performance marketing revenue in Q4 versus Q3. What we foresee is we're ready for a wide range of scenarios, as always, but with the most likely scenario being the overall demand environment for both SMB and enterprise being flat from this lower start, and that our investments allow us, despite a weak starting point, to start the year in Q1, that we get to flat this year and are able to expand margins as we do it, so that we're increasing revenue by 5 percentage points versus last year and increasing margin by 5 percentage points at the same time. That's paying off. that's paying off We see it for the first time in four years, seeing, slight sequential growth in performance marketing revenue in Q4 versus Q3. we see it for the first time in four years seeing slight sequential growth in performance marketing revenue in q4 versus q3 What we foresee is we're ready for a wide range of scenarios, as always, but with the most likely scenario being the overall demand environment for both SMB and enterprise being flat from this lower start, and that our investments allow us, despite a weak starting point, to start the year in Q1, that we get to flat this year and are able to expand margins as we do it, so that we're increasing revenue by 5 percentage points versus last year and increasing margin by 5 percentage points at the same time. what we foresee is we're ready for a wide range of scenarios as always but with the most likely scenario being the overall demand environment for both smb and enterprise being flat from this lower start and that our investments allow us despite a weak starting point to start the year in q1 that we get to flat this year and are able to expand margins as we do it so that we're increasing revenue by 5 percentage points versus last year and increasing margin by 5 percentage points at the same time

Speaker 3: Great. Thank you. Great. great Thank you. thank you

Speaker 7: Your next question comes from the line of Ralph Schackart from William Blair. Your line is live. Your next question comes from the line of Ralph Schackart from William Blair. your next question comes from the line of ralph schackart from william blair Your line is live. your line is live

Speaker 8: Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Maybe just a follow-up on Eric's question. Just trying to square a little bit, I guess, some of the more soft conditions you saw in Q4 after a strong start compared with, I guess, a stronger rebound in Q1, particularly, I think you called out SMB. Anything that you'd sort of call out there for the, I guess, the dramatic or pretty sharp rebound there? Two, just in terms of the traffic you're seeing from the LLMs, can you maybe sort of walk us through how that traffic is behaving, performing perhaps converting? Is it at a level, perhaps in 2026, where they could start to impact the results? Good afternoon. good afternoon Thanks for taking the question. thanks for taking the question Maybe just a follow-up on Eric's question. maybe just a follow-up on eric's question Just trying to square a little bit, I guess, some of the more soft conditions you saw in Q4 after a strong start compared with, I guess, a stronger rebound in Q1, particularly, I think you called out SMB. just trying to square a little bit i guess some of the more soft conditions you saw in q4 after a strong start compared with i guess a stronger rebound in q1 particularly i think you called out smb Anything that you'd sort of call out there for the, I guess, the dramatic or pretty sharp rebound there? anything that you'd sort of call out there for the i guess the dramatic or pretty sharp rebound there Two, just in terms of the traffic you're seeing from the LLMs, can you maybe sort of walk us through how that traffic is behaving, performing perhaps converting? two just in terms of the traffic you're seeing from the llms can you maybe sort of walk us through how that traffic is behaving performing perhaps converting Is it at a level, perhaps in 2026, where they could start to impact the results? is it at a level perhaps in 2026 where they could start to impact the results Just any other color on LLM traffic would be great. Thank you. Just any other color on LLM traffic would be great. just any other color on llm traffic would be great Thank you. thank you

Speaker 1: Thanks, Ralph. This is Dave. I'll take the first one and let Ian take the second one. On the soft Q4, I think it very much what we saw in Q4 very much mapped to what the job openings numbers from the government looked like, where we saw that 10% decline. Even when you seasonally adjust it, December is always the hardest month of the year to forecast and is always the seasonally weakest month. Even when you adjust for seasonality, as the government does in their official data, there was a month-over-month decline each month in Q4 in terms of job openings, and that's very consistent with what we saw. Thanks, Ralph. thanks ralph This is Dave. this is dave I'll take the first one and let Ian take the second one. i'll take the first one and let ian take the second one On the soft Q4, I think it very much what we saw in Q4 very much mapped to what the job openings numbers from the government looked like, where we saw that 10% decline. on the soft q4 i think it very much what we saw in q4 very much mapped to what the job openings numbers from the government looked like where we saw that 10% decline Even when you seasonally adjust it, December is always the hardest month of the year to forecast and is always the seasonally weakest month. even when you seasonally adjust it december is always the hardest month of the year to forecast and is always the seasonally weakest month Even when you adjust for seasonality, as the government does in their official data, there was a month-over-month decline each month in Q4 in terms of job openings, and that's very consistent with what we saw. even when you adjust for seasonality as the government does in their official data there was a month-over-month decline each month in q4 in terms of job openings and that's very consistent with what we saw As we look at it, as we always say our employer base looks like the whole U.S. economy, but when we look at particular areas of weakness and strength healthcare remained resilient, as it has for several years now, and demographic changes and other structural reasons for that in the U.S. economy. On the flip side, retail, food service, education were all areas of weak spots during the quarter, and we saw those degrade. As we look at it, as we always say our employer base looks like the whole U.S. economy, but when we look at particular areas of weakness and strength healthcare remained resilient, as it has for several years now, and demographic changes and other structural reasons for that in the U.S. economy. as we look at it as we always say our employer base looks like the whole u.s economy but when we look at particular areas of weakness and strength healthcare remained resilient as it has for several years now and demographic changes and other structural reasons for that in the u.s economy On the flip side, retail, food service, education were all areas of weak spots during the quarter, and we saw those degrade. on the flip side retail food service education were all areas of weak spots during the quarter and we saw those degrade , to the point I said earlier, starting January 1st, we saw a different story where we've seen a nice pickup in activity, and so that gives us the confidence to say the most likely scenario of those that we prepare for is that we'll be flat from that lower baseline for the year. , to the point I said earlier, starting January 1st, we saw a different story where we've seen a nice pickup in activity, and so that gives us the confidence to say the most likely scenario of those that we prepare for is that we'll be flat from that lower baseline for the year. to the point i said earlier starting january 1st we saw a different story where we've seen a nice pickup in activity and so that gives us the confidence to say the most likely scenario of those that we prepare for is that we'll be flat from that lower baseline for the year

Speaker 4: Speaking to the LLM question, to give context, ZipRecruiter gets traffic from a wide array of different media sources and sites, and that includes everything from other job sites, to organic traffic, to SEM, to response to advertising. LLMs are just one part of the mix. What makes them interesting is they are the fastest-growing in terms of both they themselves as a category, as well as the traffic that we are getting from them. However, in the overall mix of traffic that ZipRecruiter gets, overwhelmingly still, traffic that is highly engaged and active on the site is still coming from the variety of traditional sources. The difference between LLM traffic and those sources is not much. They are active job seekers who are eager and engaged. Speaking to the LLM question, to give context, ZipRecruiter gets traffic from a wide array of different media sources and sites, and that includes everything from other job sites, to organic traffic, to SEM, to response to advertising. speaking to the llm question to give context ziprecruiter gets traffic from a wide array of different media sources and sites and that includes everything from other job sites to organic traffic to sem to response to advertising LLMs are just one part of the mix. llms are just one part of the mix What makes them interesting is they are the fastest-growing in terms of both they themselves as a category, as well as the traffic that we are getting from them. what makes them interesting is they are the fastest-growing in terms of both they themselves as a category as well as the traffic that we are getting from them However, in the overall mix of traffic that ZipRecruiter gets, overwhelmingly still, traffic that is highly engaged and active on the site is still coming from the variety of traditional sources. however in the overall mix of traffic that ziprecruiter gets overwhelmingly still traffic that is highly engaged and active on the site is still coming from the variety of traditional sources The difference between LLM traffic and those sources is not much. the difference between llm traffic and those sources is not much They are active job seekers who are eager and engaged. they are active job seekers who are eager and engaged They are still continuing to grow at a healthy pace, and we are excited about the momentum that we see with LLMs. They are still continuing to grow at a healthy pace, and we are excited about the momentum that we see with LLMs. they are still continuing to grow at a healthy pace and we are excited about the momentum that we see with llms

Speaker 8: Great. Thanks, Ian. Thanks, David, and best of luck to you. Great. great Thanks, Ian. thanks ian Thanks, David, and best of luck to you. thanks david and best of luck to you

Speaker 7: Your next question comes from the line of Trevor Young from Barclays. Your line is live. Your next question comes from the line of Trevor Young from Barclays. your next question comes from the line of trevor young from barclays Your line is live. your line is live

Speaker 10: Great. Thanks for letting me ask some questions here. Just as we think about the cadence of growth throughout the year, it would kind of suggest that 1Q is maybe the low point for the year, and you would exit the year at low double-digit territory or something like that, such that you're flat overall. Even with tough compares, what kind of informs that view that growth will accelerate from here, given that backdrop? Particularly because you are seeing EBITDA margin expansion, that would maybe suggest not leaning in on marketing meaningfully. Second one, just on capital allocation, you have about $200 million in cash on hand. Guide implies free cash flow maybe improves a bit here in 2026. Clearly, a willingness to buy back stock in the last year. Great. great Thanks for letting me ask some questions here. thanks for letting me ask some questions here Just as we think about the cadence of growth throughout the year, it would kind of suggest that 1Q is maybe the low point for the year, and you would exit the year at low double-digit territory or something like that, such that you're flat overall. just as we think about the cadence of growth throughout the year it would kind of suggest that 1q is maybe the low point for the year and you would exit the year at low double-digit territory or something like that such that you're flat overall Even with tough compares, what kind of informs that view that growth will accelerate from here, given that backdrop? even with tough compares what kind of informs that view that growth will accelerate from here given that backdrop Particularly because you are seeing EBITDA margin expansion, that would maybe suggest not leaning in on marketing meaningfully. particularly because you are seeing ebitda margin expansion that would maybe suggest not leaning in on marketing meaningfully Second one, just on capital allocation, you have about $200 million in cash on hand. second one just on capital allocation you have about $200 million in cash on hand Guide implies free cash flow maybe improves a bit here in 2026. guide implies free cash flow maybe improves a bit here in 2026 Clearly, a willingness to buy back stock in the last year. clearly a willingness to buy back stock in the last year Should we expect opportunistic repurchases of the stock, given a bit of an uptick in the outlook here? Relatedly, any thoughts on the trade-off of stock versus debt repurchases? I know a lot of folks on the credit side also care on that. Thank you. Should we expect opportunistic repurchases of the stock, given a bit of an uptick in the outlook here? should we expect opportunistic repurchases of the stock given a bit of an uptick in the outlook here Relatedly, any thoughts on the trade-off of stock versus debt repurchases? relatedly any thoughts on the trade-off of stock versus debt repurchases I know a lot of folks on the credit side also care on that. i know a lot of folks on the credit side also care on that Thank you. thank you

Speaker 9: Great. Thanks, Trevor. In terms of the cadence throughout the year, I think what gives us confidence is A, what we've seen year to date since January 1st, and b going back longer than year to date, the momentum we have with enterprise. To the point you made, which is astute, that margins going up while we see the cadence of improvement over the course of the year being the most likely scenario, is consistent with enterprise continuing to outperform, where we're not as the demand generation is much more sales-led, and much less marketing-led on the enterprise side of things. , those teams are more... Great. great Thanks, Trevor. thanks trevor In terms of the cadence throughout the year, I think what gives us confidence is A, what we've seen year to date since January 1st, and b going back longer than year to date, the momentum we have with enterprise. in terms of the cadence throughout the year i think what gives us confidence is a what we've seen year to date since january 1st and b going back longer than year to date the momentum we have with enterprise To the point you made, which is astute, that margins going up while we see the cadence of improvement over the course of the year being the most likely scenario, is consistent with enterprise continuing to outperform, where we're not as the demand generation is much more sales-led, and much less marketing-led on the enterprise side of things. , those teams are more... to the point you made which is astute that margins going up while we see the cadence of improvement over the course of the year being the most likely scenario is consistent with enterprise continuing to outperform where we're not as the demand generation is much more sales-led and much less marketing-led on the enterprise side of things those teams are more The expense line on those teams is more stable and preexisting, and we see a lot of investments that we've made over the past couple of years starting to pay off, and is less dependent on same-quarter sales and marketing. Obviously, we remain flexible to, and we'll adapt based on , changing environments we see, but that's the most likely thing we see, and we see more than just dating back to January 1st in terms of momentum there with that part of the business. Yeah, to your, to your question on capital allocation our sort of strategic framework remains the same. The top priority always is organic growth. The expense line on those teams is more stable and preexisting, and we see a lot of investments that we've made over the past couple of years starting to pay off, and is less dependent on same-quarter sales and marketing. the expense line on those teams is more stable and preexisting and we see a lot of investments that we've made over the past couple of years starting to pay off and is less dependent on same-quarter sales and marketing Obviously, we remain flexible to, and we'll adapt based on , changing environments we see, but that's the most likely thing we see, and we see more than just dating back to January 1st in terms of momentum there with that part of the business. obviously we remain flexible to and we'll adapt based on changing environments we see but that's the most likely thing we see and we see more than just dating back to january 1st in terms of momentum there with that part of the business Yeah, to your, to your question on capital allocation our sort of strategic framework remains the same. yeah to your to your question on capital allocation our sort of strategic framework remains the same The top priority always is organic growth. the top priority always is organic growth We were not just EBITDA profitable last year, but free cash flow pro-profitable as well, and obviously talked about seeing expanding margins this year. In terms of organic growth, we're well covered, but we'll always prioritize that first. The second priority is M&A opportunities. You saw us take action there in terms of Breakroom, where there's a really strong value proposition to both job seekers and employers about how our entire marketplace gets stronger with better employer branding and giving job seekers the real straight dope on what it's like to work in frontline workers, in particular, what it's like to work at a particular employer. The third priority is return of capital. As you pointed out, we've been a consistent returner of capital. We were not just EBITDA profitable last year, but free cash flow pro-profitable as well, and obviously talked about seeing expanding margins this year. we were not just ebitda profitable last year but free cash flow pro-profitable as well and obviously talked about seeing expanding margins this year In terms of organic growth, we're well covered, but we'll always prioritize that first. in terms of organic growth we're well covered but we'll always prioritize that first The second priority is M&A opportunities. the second priority is m&a opportunities You saw us take action there in terms of Breakroom, where there's a really strong value proposition to both job seekers and employers about how our entire marketplace gets stronger with better employer branding and giving job seekers the real straight dope on what it's like to work in frontline workers, in particular, what it's like to work at a particular employer. you saw us take action there in terms of breakroom where there's a really strong value proposition to both job seekers and employers about how our entire marketplace gets stronger with better employer branding and giving job seekers the real straight dope on what it's like to work in frontline workers in particular what it's like to work at a particular employer The third priority is return of capital. the third priority is return of capital As you pointed out, we've been a consistent returner of capital. as you pointed out we've been a consistent returner of capital Last quarter, about $8 million for about 1.8 million shares. Every single time we have an opportunity to allocate capital, we think about what are our resources? We currently have a very robust balance sheet, and lots of liquidity, as you mentioned. , we look at the different opportunity set of different opportunities to repurchase shares or bonds or whatever, as you mentioned, and look at the ROI there, and we'll take action accordingly. You've seen us do that before. We will continue to evaluate that, as we see opportunities to do so. Last quarter, about $8 million for about 1.8 million shares. last quarter about $8 million for about 1.8 million shares Every single time we have an opportunity to allocate capital, we think about what are our resources? every single time we have an opportunity to allocate capital we think about what are our resources We currently have a very robust balance sheet, and lots of liquidity, as you mentioned. , we look at the different opportunity set of different opportunities to repurchase shares or bonds or whatever, as you mentioned, and look at the ROI there, and we'll take action accordingly. we currently have a very robust balance sheet and lots of liquidity as you mentioned we look at the different opportunity set of different opportunities to repurchase shares or bonds or whatever as you mentioned and look at the roi there and we'll take action accordingly You've seen us do that before. you've seen us do that before We will continue to evaluate that, as we see opportunities to do so. we will continue to evaluate that as we see opportunities to do so

Speaker 10: Great. Thanks for all that detail, and best of luck, Tim. Great. great Thanks for all that detail, and best of luck, Tim. thanks for all that detail and best of luck tim

Speaker 7: Your next question comes from the line of Kunal Madhukar from UBS. Your line is live. Your next question comes from the line of Kunal Madhukar from UBS. your next question comes from the line of kunal madhukar from ubs Your line is live. your line is live

Speaker 6: Hi, good afternoon, Ian, Dave, and good luck, Tim. I guess maybe just two questions. I guess the first what do you make of the Q4 slowdown and then Q1 recovery? , relatedly why doesn't the Q1 recovery get you back to the same spot? Is it just, like, not enough of a recovery in magnitude? Then the second question would be: , are you seeing meaningful changes in terms of how employers are trying to find candidates, as in moving away from the traditional resume? I mean, you launched this Be Seen First feature, which allows people to feature different things other than their resume. Just curious if something like that is starting to happen in the environment. Thank you. Hi, good afternoon, Ian, Dave, and good luck, Tim. hi good afternoon ian dave and good luck tim I guess maybe just two questions. i guess maybe just two questions I guess the first what do you make of the Q4 slowdown and then Q1 recovery? , relatedly why doesn't the Q1 recovery get you back to the same spot? i guess the first what do you make of the q4 slowdown and then q1 recovery relatedly why doesn't the q1 recovery get you back to the same spot Is it just, like, not enough of a recovery in magnitude? is it just like not enough of a recovery in magnitude Then the second question would be: , are you seeing meaningful changes in terms of how employers are trying to find candidates, as in moving away from the traditional resume? then the second question would be are you seeing meaningful changes in terms of how employers are trying to find candidates as in moving away from the traditional resume I mean, you launched this Be Seen First feature, which allows people to feature different things other than their resume. i mean you launched this be seen first feature which allows people to feature different things other than their resume Just curious if something like that is starting to happen in the environment. just curious if something like that is starting to happen in the environment Thank you. thank you

Speaker 1: Go ahead, funny. Yeah. On the first one, your question's a good one. , the way we think about it in terms of the cadence in Q1, it is very typical in Q1, given the seasonality, as I mentioned, or we mentioned before, that the holiday period is the weakest period of the year seasonally. The q1 can look fairly flat to Q4 in a typical year, plus or minus a couple of points, but it's really a story of building throughout the quarter from a lower starting point, given what happens, the slowdown over the holidays, especially in the SMBs part of the business. What we see here is just a steeper climb, and the starting point was lower. Go ahead, funny. go ahead funny Yeah. yeah On the first one, your question's a good one. , the way we think about it in terms of the cadence in Q1, it is very typical in Q1, given the seasonality, as I mentioned, or we mentioned before, that the holiday period is the weakest period of the year seasonally. on the first one your question's a good one the way we think about it in terms of the cadence in q1 it is very typical in q1 given the seasonality as i mentioned or we mentioned before that the holiday period is the weakest period of the year seasonally The q1 can look fairly flat to Q4 in a typical year, plus or minus a couple of points, but it's really a story of building throughout the quarter from a lower starting point, given what happens, the slowdown over the holidays, especially in the SMBs part of the business. the q1 can look fairly flat to q4 in a typical year plus or minus a couple of points but it's really a story of building throughout the quarter from a lower starting point given what happens the slowdown over the holidays especially in the smbs part of the business What we see here is just a steeper climb, and the starting point was lower. what we see here is just a steeper climb and the starting point was lower The trend line within the quarter looks good, but we're just starting from a lower point, where the SMB part of the business was a little bit weaker, over the course of late November and December, which is what causes that cadence. The trend line within the quarter looks good, but we're just starting from a lower point, where the SMB part of the business was a little bit weaker, over the course of late November and December, which is what causes that cadence. the trend line within the quarter looks good but we're just starting from a lower point where the smb part of the business was a little bit weaker over the course of late november and december which is what causes that cadence

Speaker 4: On Be Seen First, without question, the world of recruiting is experiencing a renaissance as it relates to both the way candidates are sourced. On Be Seen First, without question, the world of recruiting is experiencing a renaissance as it relates to both the way candidates are sourced. on be seen first without question the world of recruiting is experiencing a renaissance as it relates to both the way candidates are sourced ... and the way that the opportunities they have to communicate with the employers and the hiring managers. Resumes are very much still in play. They are a necessary part of a comfortable, expected process that employers are not willing to let go of. What Be Seen First is really a mechanism for job seekers to show their enthusiasm, to stand out when they apply to a job in a novel way, and job seekers are using it exactly as we intended. They are not spamming employers with Be Seen First. They're being selective about which jobs that they express their enthusiasm for. Employers are responding as we would expect, which is in a sea of candidates, many of whom's resumes look highly qualified for the role in which they are applying. ... and the way that the opportunities they have to communicate with the employers and the hiring managers. and the way that the opportunities they have to communicate with the employers and the hiring managers Resumes are very much still in play. resumes are very much still in play They are a necessary part of a comfortable, expected process that employers are not willing to let go of. they are a necessary part of a comfortable expected process that employers are not willing to let go of What Be Seen First is really a mechanism for job seekers to show their enthusiasm, to stand out when they apply to a job in a novel way, and job seekers are using it exactly as we intended. what be seen first is really a mechanism for job seekers to show their enthusiasm to stand out when they apply to a job in a novel way and job seekers are using it exactly as we intended They are not spamming employers with Be Seen First. they are not spamming employers with be seen first They're being selective about which jobs that they express their enthusiasm for. they're being selective about which jobs that they express their enthusiasm for Employers are responding as we would expect, which is in a sea of candidates, many of whom's resumes look highly qualified for the role in which they are applying. employers are responding as we would expect which is in a sea of candidates many of whom's resumes look highly qualified for the role in which they are applying They are looking for other signals that will allow certain candidates to stand out from the rest of the pack. A candidate participating in Be Seen First, showing their enthusiasm and getting pushed to the top, is not only advantaging themselves, they're actually doing the employer a favor by giving them one more method from which to assess the pool of candidates they received, to decide who were the very best that they want to bring in for an interview. They are looking for other signals that will allow certain candidates to stand out from the rest of the pack. they are looking for other signals that will allow certain candidates to stand out from the rest of the pack A candidate participating in Be Seen First, showing their enthusiasm and getting pushed to the top, is not only advantaging themselves, they're actually doing the employer a favor by giving them one more method from which to assess the pool of candidates they received, to decide who were the very best that they want to bring in for an interview. a candidate participating in be seen first showing their enthusiasm and getting pushed to the top is not only advantaging themselves they're actually doing the employer a favor by giving them one more method from which to assess the pool of candidates they received to decide who were the very best that they want to bring in for an interview

Speaker 6: Yeah, that's great color. Yeah, thank you. Thank you both for the color. Yeah, that's great color. yeah that's great color Yeah, thank you. yeah thank you Thank you both for the color. thank you both for the color

Speaker 7: Your next question comes from the line of Kishan Patel from Raymond James. Your line is live. Your next question comes from the line of Kishan Patel from Raymond James. your next question comes from the line of kishan patel from raymond james Your line is live. your line is live

Speaker 5: Hey, this is Kishan Patel on for Josh Beck. You mentioned in shareholder letter that you're optimizing the platform for GenAI discovery. How do you think about optimizing the ZipRecruiter platform for agentic search or engagement by job seekers? Hey, this is Kishan Patel on for Josh Beck. hey this is kishan patel on for josh beck You mentioned in shareholder letter that you're optimizing the platform for GenAI discovery. you mentioned in shareholder letter that you're optimizing the platform for genai discovery How do you think about optimizing the ZipRecruiter platform for agentic search or engagement by job seekers? how do you think about optimizing the ziprecruiter platform for agentic search or engagement by job seekers

Speaker 4: Well, this is certainly a topic that we are spending a lot of time thinking about, and we are excited about the potential and opportunities that is represented by AI. There are so many different directions we could choose to take this in, and certainly already AI is permeating our site. I mean, you can go all the way back to our S-1 when we first went public, where we described ourselves as an AI-powered marketplace, long before there was ever an LLM and everyone was talking about AI. Well, this is certainly a topic that we are spending a lot of time thinking about, and we are excited about the potential and opportunities that is represented by AI. well this is certainly a topic that we are spending a lot of time thinking about and we are excited about the potential and opportunities that is represented by ai There are so many different directions we could choose to take this in, and certainly already AI is permeating our site. there are so many different directions we could choose to take this in and certainly already ai is permeating our site I mean, you can go all the way back to our S-1 when we first went public, where we described ourselves as an AI-powered marketplace, long before there was ever an LLM and everyone was talking about AI. i mean you can go all the way back to our s-1 when we first went public where we described ourselves as an ai-powered marketplace long before there was ever an llm and everyone was talking about ai When we talked about AI, we were really talking about the matching engines that we built, that are powered by those billions and billions of interactions between employers and job seekers, which is what allows us not only to do an exceptional job of matching keywords and resumes to the keywords in job descriptions, but also to benefit from what's known as the wisdom of the crowd, where insights can be gleaned by the different AI methodologies that we were applying in order to find the very best jobs for job seekers and the very best candidates for employers. As we look at our own service today, already you can see AI making its way in. We talked about suggested screening questions in our shareholder letter. That is a product that has reached massive levels of adoption in our product. When we talked about AI, we were really talking about the matching engines that we built, that are powered by those billions and billions of interactions between employers and job seekers, which is what allows us not only to do an exceptional job of matching keywords and resumes to the keywords in job descriptions, but also to benefit from what's known as the wisdom of the crowd, where insights can be gleaned by the different AI methodologies that we were applying in order to find the very best jobs for job seekers and the very best candidates for employers. when we talked about ai we were really talking about the matching engines that we built that are powered by those billions and billions of interactions between employers and job seekers which is what allows us not only to do an exceptional job of matching keywords and resumes to the keywords in job descriptions but also to benefit from what's known as the wisdom of the crowd where insights can be gleaned by the different ai methodologies that we were applying in order to find the very best jobs for job seekers and the very best candidates for employers As we look at our own service today, already you can see AI making its way in. as we look at our own service today already you can see ai making its way in We talked about suggested screening questions in our shareholder letter. we talked about suggested screening questions in our shareholder letter That is a product that has reached massive levels of adoption in our product. that is a product that has reached massive levels of adoption in our product It's skyrocketed with the launch of suggested screening questions. The difference between putting a blank page in front of an employer and saying, "Come up with screening questions," versus putting a set of AI-created, pre-written screening questions in front of them, has been fundamentally night and day. It has been a sea change in how our product works and how applications are processed, and it's fantastic for employers. 'Cause again, employers are always looking for signal. How can I differentiate between the seemingly equally qualified candidates who I have received? Screening questions is a fantastic tool for that. I would expect you will hear many more AI-driven features coming through the ZipRecruiter development team and entering into our platform over the coming years. It's skyrocketed with the launch of suggested screening questions. it's skyrocketed with the launch of suggested screening questions The difference between putting a blank page in front of an employer and saying, "Come up with screening questions," versus putting a set of AI-created, pre-written screening questions in front of them, has been fundamentally night and day. the difference between putting a blank page in front of an employer and saying "come up with screening questions," versus putting a set of ai-created pre-written screening questions in front of them has been fundamentally night and day It has been a sea change in how our product works and how applications are processed, and it's fantastic for employers. 'Cause again, employers are always looking for signal. it has been a sea change in how our product works and how applications are processed and it's fantastic for employers 'cause again employers are always looking for signal How can I differentiate between the seemingly equally qualified candidates who I have received? how can i differentiate between the seemingly equally qualified candidates who i have received Screening questions is a fantastic tool for that. screening questions is a fantastic tool for that I would expect you will hear many more AI-driven features coming through the ZipRecruiter development team and entering into our platform over the coming years. i would expect you will hear many more ai-driven features coming through the ziprecruiter development team and entering into our platform over the coming years I think you will see that, AI becomes a fundamental tool and a fundamental advantage for ZipRecruiter to enhance the marketplace that we have already created. I think you will see that, AI becomes a fundamental tool and a fundamental advantage for ZipRecruiter to enhance the marketplace that we have already created. i think you will see that ai becomes a fundamental tool and a fundamental advantage for ziprecruiter to enhance the marketplace that we have already created

Speaker 5: Thank you, guys, and best of luck, Tim. Thank you, guys, and best of luck, Tim. thank you guys and best of luck tim

Speaker 7: There are no further questions. That concludes the question-and-answer session. That also concludes today's meeting. You may now disconnect. There are no further questions. there are no further questions That concludes the question-and-answer session. that concludes the question-and-answer session That also concludes today's meeting. that also concludes today's meeting You may now disconnect. you may now disconnect