Nextdoor (NYSE:KIND) executives emphasized progress in what they described as a multi-year turnaround effort during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call, pointing to record quarterly revenue, positive adjusted EBITDA in 2025, and ongoing product changes aimed at improving engagement quality rather than maximizing user volumes.
Management frames Nextdoor as a “trust-based local network”
Co-founder and CEO Nirav Tolia opened the call by positioning Nextdoor as distinct from traditional social media platforms, describing it as a verified, address-based neighborhood network built on what he called a “neighborhood graph.” He said the company’s focus is on “decision-oriented” local content—recommendations, services, alerts, local news, and information—rather than passive scrolling.
Q4 results: record revenue and positive adjusted EBITDA
Chief Financial Officer Indrajit Ponnambalam, who joined Nextdoor in December, reported that fourth-quarter revenue was $69 million, up 7% year-over-year, which he called the company’s highest-ever quarterly revenue. Ponnambalam attributed the quarter to strong self-serve advertiser demand, improved sales productivity, and higher yields tied to product improvements.
Profitability improved as well. Nextdoor reported a GAAP net loss of $4 million (a -6% margin), representing a 13-point year-over-year margin improvement. Adjusted EBITDA was $8 million (an 11% margin), a 6-point year-over-year improvement, and management said it was the strongest adjusted EBITDA quarter in company history.
Ponnambalam added that the company delivered positive adjusted EBITDA for full-year 2025, achieving that milestone “12 months ahead of schedule.” He also said revenue per employee increased 26% year-over-year in Q4, which he cited as evidence of operating leverage.
User trends: WAU declined as Nextdoor prioritized engagement quality
On usage, Ponnambalam said fourth-quarter platform weekly active users (WAU) were 21 million, a 3% sequential decline, which he said was roughly in line with expectations. He tied the decline to an intentional strategy: prioritizing engagement quality over volume, including work to improve the relevance of notifications.
Management said WAU may continue to fluctuate in the near term as the company makes trade-offs intended to support relevance, retention, and user experience. Tolia added that the company is focused on leading indicators such as engagement, quality, and intent, and said Nextdoor’s Net Promoter Score improved steadily throughout 2025 alongside “encouraging increases” in engagement frequency.
In response to analyst questions on what product changes are resonating, Tolia described a broader shift toward a more “utility-centric” experience driven by intent. He referenced a greater focus on recommendations and local news, along with ecosystem-level efforts such as more relevant notifications and using AI to personalize the feed.
Monetization: self-serve growth, AI-driven ad tools, and programmatic investment
On advertising, management said improvements are being driven by better performance rather than increased ad load. Ponnambalam reported that ARPU increased 13% year-over-year in Q4 and that Nextdoor saw year-over-year growth in both customer count and average customer spend “without an increase in ad load.” He said advertisers benefited from higher click-through rates and that the company grew its active customer base and net new advertiser spend.
Self-serve continued to be a major focus. Ponnambalam said self-serve revenue grew 32% year-over-year and represented roughly 60% of total revenue in Q4. He said AI-driven tools have reduced friction in campaign creation, improved reporting transparency, and strengthened optimization performance, and that advertiser retention remained solid.
Asked about advertiser demand by vertical and changes in larger-advertiser spending patterns, both Tolia and Ponnambalam characterized Q4 strength as broad-based. Ponnambalam said there were no particular verticals that “significantly” outperformed others.
On programmatic, Tolia said Nextdoor needs to keep investing in programmatic formats and its programmatic ad stack because that is what large advertisers seek. He noted that some large advertisers previously said they would not consider Nextdoor until those improvements were rolled out, and he said the company has since done that and has seen greater demand. However, he described programmatic as part of the overall platform effort rather than an “outsized” opportunity the company is pursuing aggressively. Ponnambalam added that programmatic has supplemented direct sales and that the company has seen strong performance in its direct sales efforts.
Outlook: Q1 seasonality and continued 2026 growth expectations
For guidance, Ponnambalam said Nextdoor expects Q1 revenue of $57 million to $59 million, representing 7% year-over-year growth at the midpoint, and adjusted EBITDA of -$6 million to -$4 million (a -9% margin at the midpoint). He attributed the outlook in part to typical seasonality, noting that Q1 is usually the softest quarter of the year.
He also said the company is intentionally limiting new user acquisition efforts while it optimizes the core user experience and reiterated that Nextdoor does not plan to increase ad load in Q1 2026. For full-year 2026, management expects continued revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margins in the “mid-single-digit” range.
Nextdoor ended the quarter with $405 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities and no debt. Ponnambalam said the company repurchased 2.5 million shares in Q4 at an average price of $1.77.
In additional remarks outlining an investment thesis, Tolia highlighted five pillars: the neighborhood graph, intent-driven engagement, multiple monetization pathways, what he described as early validation of the business model, and a “founder’s mentality” focused on long-term execution. He also said Nextdoor views AI as foundational across company efficiency, product improvements, and advertiser performance, rather than as a standalone feature cycle.
About Nextdoor (NYSE:KIND)
Nextdoor, Inc (NYSE: KIND) operates a hyperlocal social networking platform that enables neighbors to connect, share information and foster community engagement. Through its website and mobile applications, Nextdoor offers features such as neighborhood newsfeeds, classified listings, recommendations, event planning tools and safety alerts. The company’s platform is designed to bridge the gap between digital communication and real-world community building by facilitating dialogue on topics ranging from local services and business referrals to public safety and community events.
Nextdoor generates revenue primarily through advertising and paid business services.
