LendingTree, Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Lynn June Tree Inc. fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during the session, please press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Andrew Wessel. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Lisa, and hello to everyone joining us on the call to discuss LendingTree's fourth quarter 2024 financial results. On with us today are Doug Lebda, LendingTree's chairman and CEO, Scott Puri, COO and president of Marketplace Businesses, and Jason Bangle, our CFO. As a reminder to everyone, we posted a detailed letter to shareholders on our investor relations website before the start of this call. And for the purposes of today's discussion, we'll assume that listeners have read that letter and we'll focus on Q&A. Before I hand the call over to Doug for his remarks, I remind everyone that during this call, we may discuss LendingTree's expectations for future performance. Any forward-looking statements we make are subject to risks and uncertainties, and LendingTree's actual results could differ materially from the views expressed today. Many but not all of the risks we face are described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. We will also discuss a variety of non-GAAP measures on the call, and I refer you to today's press release and shareholder letter, both available on our website, for the comparable GAAP definitions and full reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to GAAP. And with that, Doug, please go ahead.

Thank you, Andrew, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We are delighted to report the company finished 2024 on a very strong note, generating $32 million of adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter, which was well ahead of our forecast. Another quarter of terrific performance in our insurance segment was the primary driver of this result, while our home and consumer segments also generated strong year-over-year growth as well. Last year, we benefited from the beginning of a very strong cycle in auto insurance demand from both consumer and carrier perspective. I would like to call out the momentum we are generating several other parts of our business. In the fourth quarter, year-over-year revenue growth across some of our key product offerings included. Homeowner's insurance was up 175%. Home equity grew 48%. Small business grew 45%. Personal loans and auto loans both grew by 21%, and mortgage grew 12%. Importantly, we expect double-digit revenue growth will continue in each of these products in the first quarter of this year. The key message I would like to share with our shareholders is that the company has returned to growth after a prolonged period of difficult operating conditions. Our forecast for the year confirms our growth outlook with an adjusted EBITDA outlook calling for 16% annual growth at the midpoint of the range. And we expect this result will be driven by revenue growth across all three of our reportable segments, which is a testament to the value of the diversification of our business model. We have also maintained a laser focus on our variable marketing and fixed costs. This discipline will help us generate positive operating leverage as we continue to scale our revenue base. Our balance sheet has improved significantly over the last year as well, with net leverage ending the year at 3.5 times trailing adjusted EBITDA. We expect leverage will continue to trend lower as earnings growth continues, and we reduce our debt balance further with excess cash. We believe the substantial improvement in our credit metrics will allow us to lower our interest expense and our debt and improve free cash flow generation for shareholders. We entered this year with strong momentum exhibited in our fourth quarter results. Our business functions at its best when there is consistent demand from both sides of our marketplace. We expect stable interest rates, a healthy consumer, and an outlook for continued economic growth will drive accelerating demand from our customers, as well as our lending and insurance carrier partners. We are energized for the year ahead and look forward to continued creating value for our shareholders from our operating results. And now, operator, we're happy to answer any questions.