Douglas Elliman Q4 2025 Earnings Call - Profitability Restored via Property Management Sale; Adjusted EBITDA Still Negative

Conference Call Operator: Welcome to Douglas Elliman’s fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. This call is being recorded and simultaneously webcast. An archived version of the webcast will be available on the investor relations section of the company’s website located at investors.elliman.com for one year. I would like to turn the conference over to Douglas Elliman’s Vice President of Finance, Heather Capriola.

Heather Capriola, Vice President of Finance, Douglas Elliman Inc.: Thank you and good morning. On the call with me today is Michael S. Liebowitz, President and CEO of Douglas Elliman Inc., and J. Bryant Kirkland III, CFO of Douglas Elliman Inc. During this call, the terms adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss or income will be used. These terms are non-GAAP financial measures and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income or loss are contained in the company’s earnings release, which has been posted to the investor relations section of the company’s website. Before the call begins, I would like to read a safe harbor statement.

The statements made during this conference call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks are described in more detail in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Any forward-looking statements made during this call are made as of today, and the company undertakes no duty to update or revise any such statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. Now, I would like to turn the call over to the Chief Executive Officer of Douglas Elliman, Michael S. Liebowitz.

Michael S. Liebowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Elliman Inc.: Thank you, Heather. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Douglas Elliman continues to build on the strong momentum established by the decisive steps we took in 2025, including strategic alignment and disciplined financial management underpinned by our unwavering commitment to luxury service. The fourth quarter was a period of bold execution and meaningful progress on our long-term vision to be the leading independent luxury real estate brokerage driven by innovation, talent, and a relentless focus on our clients and agents. This progress positions Douglas Elliman well for long-term success and value creation for our stakeholders. On today’s call, we will discuss the current operating environment and Douglas Elliman’s financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2025. All numbers presented this morning will be as of December 31, 2025, unless otherwise stated.

Before we turn to our results, I want to highlight several key developments from the past quarter that underscore our differentiated strategy and the unique strengths that set Douglas Elliman apart. First, we continue to actively pursue opportunities to deepen our footprint in existing markets while strategically entering new high-potential regions. We continued expanding our brand internationally with our recent entry into the French Alps, building on our successful launches in Bordeaux, the French Riviera, and Monaco. Under the leadership of Rich Green, our brand’s presence in these globally recognized luxury destinations is already generating significant interest from high-net-worth clients seeking exclusive cross-border expertise. By partnering with seasoned industry leaders and local specialists, we believe we have further enhanced our ability to deliver best-in-class service and bespoke solutions in the world’s most coveted markets.

We currently operate in nine markets in the United States and believe there is a significant opportunity to further expand our presence as well as the Douglas Elliman brand in our existing and new markets. To support this strategy, Douglas Elliman recently launched two growth teams. The market growth team focused on expanding our footprint within current markets, and the new markets team responsible for driving our expansion into new domestic and international markets. These teams will strategically recruit agents by highlighting our competitive advantage in serving the luxury real estate sector. Second, we have continued to expand our core service offerings. The successful launch of Elliman Capital in New York following its debut in Florida marks a significant step forward in our mission to deliver a seamless, integrated real estate and financing experience for our clients.

By leveraging our strategic alliance with Associated Mortgage Bankers, Elliman Capital provides agents and clients with a comprehensive suite of lending solutions, competitive rates, and the streamlined support that only an in-house platform can offer. This initiative strengthens our value proposition in our flagship markets and positions us to capture new opportunities among traditional and non-traditional borrowers alike. Third, we have reinforced our leadership team with appointments that signal our commitment to growth and innovation, operational excellence, and agent empowerment. Our brokerage subsidiary has appointed Wendy Purvey as Chief Strategy Officer, and her appointment further strengthens our capacity to drive growth through agent acquisitions, international partnerships, and new service lines.

Our brokerage subsidiary has also welcomed the return of Natalie Passerini as Chief Marketing Officer and the addition of Chris Reyes as Chief Technology Officer. Natalie and Chris bring deep expertise and fresh vision to our brand evolution, digital strategy, and agent support platforms. We are excited to welcome these accomplished leaders to the Douglas Elliman team and look forward to the energy, insight, and collaboration they will bring as we continue to elevate our company and support our agents. Finally, we have also made significant investments in market intelligence, technology, and agent resources. We recently launched a new market data report program, which will provide agents and clients with timely, transparent insights tailored to our markets. Our ongoing rollout of agent-centric technology, including Elli AI, Elliman Private Listings, and enhanced marketing tools, ensures our professionals remain at the forefront of the industry, equipped to deliver exceptional value and results.

Now turning to our 2025 results was a pivotal year in which we advanced our strategic transformation and strengthened our financial position. Our revenues for 2025 increased by 3.8% year-over-year to $1.033 billion. We made considerable progress toward restoring profitability, reporting operating income of $45.5 million, a significant improvement from our operating loss of $68.8 million in 2024. This year’s operating income was positively impacted by an $81.7 million gain from the sale of our property management division in October. After adjusting for this gain and other items, our adjusted EBITDA for 2025 improved to a loss of $14 million, compared to a loss of $24.1 million in 2024.

With cash and cash equivalents of approximately $115.5 million at December 31, 2025, and no long-term debt following the redemption of our convertible notes, we are strategically positioned to capitalize on market opportunities in our evolving industry. We believe 2026 will mark the beginning of a new growth phase as the investments and strategic moves we made in 2025 begin to yield results. Our strengthened balance sheet and enhanced operational capabilities give us flexibility to enter new markets, scale our innovative offerings, and attract top talent. This foundation enables us to respond proactively to emerging opportunities and evolving client needs, helping us in our quest to drive long-term growth and deliver sustainable value to our clients, agents, and stockholders.

With that, I will turn it over to Bryant, who will provide more details on our financial performance and the trends shaping the residential real estate market.

J. Bryant Kirkland III, Chief Financial Officer, Douglas Elliman Inc.: Thank you, Michael, and good morning. We are confident that our positive momentum is continuing and has positioned Douglas Elliman for long-term success. As Michael discussed, we believe our strong balance sheet provides Douglas Elliman with a competitive advantage as we implement our plans to grow in our existing markets, expand into new markets where appropriate, and strengthen our services platform as opportunities arise in our ever-changing industry. The results from the year ended December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-five indicate that our core operations are starting to reflect the impact of strategic actions we have taken over the past two years. In particular, results from operations for the year ended December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-five benefited from a favorable sales mix, highlighted by strong contributions from development marketing in the Northeast region.

Specifically, revenues from our development marketing division increased by $12.6 million from the prior year as we began to see the benefits of the investments we have made in this division in recent years. As a reminder, we recognize commission income from development marketing contracts when the underlying units close. I would now like to discuss a few key trends. First, Douglas Elliman continues to set the standard in the luxury market, with luxury home pricing remaining strong. Our average price per transaction in 2025 increased to $1.86 million per home sold, compared to $1.67 million per home sold in 2024.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, our agents sold 282 homes priced at more than $5 million, representing 5.4% of total transactions and 1,282 such homes during the year ended December 31st, 2025. That’s a 25% increase compared to the year ended December 31st, 2024. We also sold 102 homes for more than $10 million in the fourth quarter and 392 in 2025. Those are increases of 31% and 28% respectively from last year. These results clearly demonstrate Douglas Elliman remains the definitive name in luxury real estate. Next, our development marketing division remains a preeminent industry player with an active project pipeline totaling $25.3 billion in gross transaction value.

That includes $17.5 billion in gross transaction value in Florida alone. In addition to this pipeline, $7.5 billion of gross transaction value is expected to come to market through December 2026. We believe this strong foundation positions us well for the future as we will recognize commission income from these projects upon closing, which is generally between 2026 and 2031. Development marketing’s revenue increased to $80.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2025, up from $67.8 million in 2024. I’m also pleased to report each of our geographic markets increased revenues from existing home sales in 2025. Consistent with the third quarter, leading the way was the Northeast market, which increased by $17.5 million or 9.2% from 2024.

Importantly, we achieved these results amid ongoing economic pressures, including geopolitical uncertainties and the continuation of elevated mortgage rates. Although not included in our fourth quarter results, cash receipts from existing home sales in January and February 2026 were 11% lower than January and February 2025. Total brokerage cash receipts, which include existing home sales and receipts from our development marketing division, were 12.4% lower than January and February 2025. As a reminder, the first quarter of 2025 is a difficult comparable because it had the highest revenues in a quarter since 2022. Let us move to updates on our expense structure and our continued focus on operational efficiency. We continue to manage investments across our markets with a strict focus on return on investment metrics.

For the 3 months and year ended December 31, 2025, we continued to target expenses with respect to office leases, professional services, and technology. Nonetheless, our expense structure was negatively impacted by inflationary trends and increased personnel expenses. The increase in personnel expenses was primarily attributable to our ongoing investment in the development marketing business, as well as increased bonus accruals associated with increased revenues from business performance in 2025. Next, the strength of Douglas Elliman’s balance sheet continues to provide a competitive advantage as we focus on executing our growth strategy. In October 2025, in connection with and upon consummation of the sale of our property management business, the company agreed to repay and redeem all of our convertible notes for an aggregate payment of $95 million, which included accrued interest.

As Michael noted, this strengthened our financial position, and the company had $115.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and no long-term debt at December thirty-first, 2025. We believe our strong balance sheet gives Douglas Elliman a competitive advantage by providing optionality to expand into new markets where appropriate and strengthen our services platform as opportunities arise in our ever-changing industry. Now, moving to the operating performance of the business in the fourth quarter. Douglas Elliman reported $245.4 million in revenues compared to $243.3 million in the 2024 period. Excluding revenues from our recently disposed property management business in both periods, revenues increased by 3.8% from the fourth quarter of 2024 to $243.3 million from $234.2 million.

Net income for the fourth quarter was $68.6 million or $0.68 per diluted share compared to net loss of $6 million or ($0.07) per diluted share in the 2024 period. Net income in the 2025 period included a gain of $81.7 million from the disposal of our property management business and a non-cash benefit of $4.7 million associated with the decline in fair value of derivatives embedded within our convertible debt. Net loss in the 2024 period included a non-cash benefit of $5.2 million associated with the decline in fair value of derivatives embedded within our convertible debt.

Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes the operations of our property management business in all periods for the quarter, was a loss of $10.6 million compared to a loss of $6.6 million in the 2024 period. Adjusted net loss in the fourth quarter was $14.2 million or $0.17 per share compared to adjusted net income of $1.3 million or $0.01 per share in the 2024 period. Now, turning to the operating performance of the business for the year ended December 31, 2025, which will be compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Douglas Elliman reported $1.033 billion in revenues, up from $995.6 million in revenues in 2024.

Excluding revenues from our recently disposed property management business in both periods, revenues for the year increased by 4.4% from 2024 to $1 billion from $958.8 million. Net income for 2025 was $15.2 million or $0.17 per diluted share compared to net loss of $76.3 million or $0.91 per diluted share. Net income in the 2025 period included a gain from the disposal of our property management business of $81.7 million, which was offset by a non-cash charge of $28.5 million associated with the increase in fair value of derivatives embedded within our convertible debt.

Net loss in the 2024 period included a $17.75 million litigation settlement charge and a non-cash charge of $15 million associated with the increase in fair value of the derivatives embedded within our convertible debt. Adjusted EBITDA for 2025 was a loss of $14 million compared to a loss of $24.1 million in the 2024 period, both of these amounts exclude operations of our recently disposed property management business. Adjusted net loss for 2025 was $27.1 million or $0.32 per share compared to $29.6 million or $0.35 per share in the 2024 period.

As noted earlier, Douglas Elliman has maintained ample liquidity with cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2025 of approximately $115.5 million. Thank you for your attention. Now back to you, Michael.

Michael S. Liebowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Elliman Inc.: Thanks, J. Bryant Kirkland III. We have implemented strategic initiatives to advance our market leadership, elevate our service offerings, and expand our reach both domestically and internationally. Our 2025 results demonstrate that our recent investments are already delivering tangible benefits, and we expect these positive impacts to continue into 2026 and beyond. Thank you for your continued trust in Douglas Elliman. With that, we will turn the call over to the operator. Operator.

Conference Call Operator: Thank you for joining us on Douglas Elliman’s quarterly earnings conference call. We hope you have a good day, and this will conclude our call.