Zillow hits revenue record but still posts loss

Last year, real estate and rental marketplace Zillow made a record $846.6 million in revenue, but also reported a net loss of $220.4 million, including a $130 million litigation settlement, according to its last-quarter and full-year 2016 reports.

For the fourth quarter of 2016, Zillow made $227.6 million – a year-over-year increase of 34%, and for the full year 2016 made $846.6 million, a year-over-year increase of 31%.

With big revenue records also came a big blow to Zillow, in the form of a June litigation settlement with competitor Realtor.com, which accused the company of stealing trade secrets. That settlement cost Zillow $130 million and contributed to an overall net loss of $220.4 million – a huge deficit compared with its $148.9 million loss in 2015.

The report indicated that the fourth quarter saw more than 140 million monthly unique visitors for Zillow Group’s various brands – Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads and Naked Apartments. Its mobile apps and websites had a peak record of more than 171 million unique visitors in May.

 “In 2017, we are committed to further extending our audience leadership in the online real estate category,” CEO Spencer Rascoff said. “We expect to pass the $1 billion annual revenue mark in 2017, and we will press our advantage with continued investment across all Zillow Group's brands and emerging marketplaces."


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