EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) management said the company exited 2025 with record results and entered 2026 expecting a “stable and healthy” property and casualty (P&C) insurance market, supported by elevated consumer shopping levels and carrier focus shifting toward growth. On the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call, executives emphasized accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence across EverQuote’s marketplace, operations, and product suite while reiterating a longer-term goal of reaching $1 billion in revenue in the next two to three years.
2025 results: revenue up 38% and Adjusted EBITDA up 62%
CEO Jayme Mendal said 2025 was a “phenomenal year,” pointing to revenue growth of 38% and Adjusted EBITDA growth of 62% as evidence of scaling with increasing operating leverage. CFO Joseph Sanborn reported full-year revenue of $692.5 million and full-year Adjusted EBITDA of $94.6 million, which represented a 13.7% Adjusted EBITDA margin, about 200 basis points higher than 2024.
Sanborn also highlighted profitability and cash generation. GAAP net income in Q4 increased to $57.8 million from $12.3 million a year earlier, though he noted results included a one-time non-cash tax benefit of $38.4 million tied primarily to the release of a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets. Excluding deferred tax benefits, he said EverQuote would have reported Q4 net income of $19.3 million and full-year 2025 net income of $60.9 million, representing year-over-year increases of 57% and 89%, respectively.
- Q4 Adjusted EBITDA: $25.1 million, up 32% year-over-year (12.8% margin)
- Full-year operating cash flow: $95.4 million (Q4 operating cash flow was $27 million)
- Balance sheet: $171.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt
Q4 traffic investments pressured margins, with normalization expected
Sanborn said EverQuote’s strong revenue growth through the first nine months of 2025 created room to invest more aggressively in traffic during Q4, including existing and new traffic lines aimed at supporting future growth. He said those investments “worked” but created temporary pressure on variable marketing dollars (VMD) and variable marketing margin (VMM), which flowed through to Q4 Adjusted EBITDA and margin.
Fourth-quarter VMD totaled $49.3 million, up 12% year-over-year, representing a 25.3% VMM. For the full year, VMD increased 24% to $191.9 million, representing a 27.7% VMM.
In the Q&A, management described the Q4 traffic initiatives as expansion into “un- or under-penetrated” and higher-funnel channels, noting that new traffic programs typically require time to “burn in” before reaching a steady-state margin profile. Management said margins were expected to normalize in Q1 and as new channels are added throughout the year.
Carrier environment: from rate restoration to measured growth
Executives described a favorable backdrop for 2026, with carriers indicating a shift toward competing for profitable policy growth after more than two years focused on rate adequacy and underwriting margin recovery. However, management said Q1 marketing spend was expected to be more disciplined following carriers’ elevated customer acquisition investment in Q4.
Sanborn said Q4 revenue increased 12% sequentially, which he characterized as a meaningful break from prior seasonal patterns that typically saw a mid-single-digit sequential decline from Q3 to Q4. He attributed the stronger Q4 to carriers accelerating spend after favorable combined ratios, rather than waiting until 2026.
When asked about carrier concentration and spending patterns, management said multiple carriers were taking a disciplined approach entering Q1. Sanborn also provided marketplace context, noting that 75% of EverQuote’s top 25 carriers in Q4 were below their peak quarterly spend on the platform. He added that while EverQuote’s top four carriers remained the same from Q3 to Q4, there was movement among carriers ranked five through 10.
AI strategy and product expansion
Mendal said EverQuote plans to “accelerate our evolution towards an AI-first future” in 2026, including further adoption of AI tools in engineering and operations. He also emphasized EverQuote’s proprietary dataset built from “hundreds of millions” of historical insurance shopping events, which he described as a key asset for building AI-native experiences.
On products, management highlighted continued development of Smart Campaigns, EverQuote’s AI provider bidding solution. Mendal said Smart Campaigns has expanded to the “bulk” of carrier customers, and 2026 is expected to be the year it begins rolling out more broadly to local agents, with additional expansion across referral types and vertical markets, including calls and the home vertical. He also said EverQuote is investing in model enhancements, including features such as auction competitiveness and greater use of reinforcement learning.
Mendal also discussed agent-focused product breadth, saying EverQuote’s goal is to become a “one-stop growth partner” for local agents by offering value-add products alongside leads. He said 40% of agents now use more than one EverQuote product across leads, calls, telephony, and digital solutions.
Addressing questions about AI agents disrupting marketplace models, Mendal argued EverQuote is positioned to benefit, describing the company as a “data-powered, two-sided marketplace” where value is driven by proprietary data, traffic capabilities, and distribution relationships with regulated entities. He said LLM-driven shopping experiences remain limited today but could become transformative over time, and he believes EverQuote can play a central role due to its distribution access and data assets.
Management also said it expects to begin receiving more traffic from large language model platforms in 2026 through a combination of content strategies, technical integrations or apps within platforms, and participation as those platforms test paid advertising.
Q1 2026 outlook and capital allocation
For the first quarter of 2026, EverQuote guided for revenue of $175 million to $185 million, VMD of $49 million to $52 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $23.5 million to $26.5 million.
While the company did not provide full-year guidance, management reiterated its commitment to reaching $1 billion in revenue in two to three years. In discussing the path, executives cited multiple drivers, including expanding carrier budgets through performance improvements, increasing share of agents’ marketing budgets via multi-product adoption, scaling new traffic channels, and growing the home insurance vertical, which management noted is currently about 10% of EverQuote’s marketplace versus a broader P&C landscape where home is roughly half the size of auto.
On capital allocation, Sanborn said EverQuote ended Q4 with nearly $171 million in cash and no debt. He reiterated the company’s priorities of maintaining a strong balance sheet, executing its $50 million share repurchase program (with roughly $30 million completed to date, including about $9 million since the start of 2026), and evaluating selective acquisitions. He said EverQuote does not need M&A to reach $1 billion in revenue, but acquisitions could potentially accelerate growth or strategic execution.
About EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER)
EverQuote, Inc operates an online insurance marketplace that connects consumers with insurance providers across the United States. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company leverages proprietary technology to match individuals seeking coverage with insurers offering competitive rates. Since its initial public offering in 2020, EverQuote has focused on expanding its digital platform and enhancing the efficiency of its lead-generation processes.
The company’s core business centers on a quote-comparison engine for personal auto, home, and health insurance products.
