Start here if you're new
what it is
ZipRecruiter runs a website that matches employers with job seekers and pushes listings to 1,000+ other sites.
how it gets paid
Last year Ziprecruiter made $449M in revenue. Employer marketplace was the main engine at $190M, or 42% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 5.3% last year. The $0.31 EPS beat mattered most, because it says ZipRecruiter can still squeeze profit out of a weak hiring market.
what just happened
ZipRecruiter beat EPS by $0.31, but the quarter still leaned on a $337M revenue base and 89.3% gross margin.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
9.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 29/100 — weak
-$0.20 fy2026 eps est
$625M fy2028 rev est
What they do
ZipRecruiter runs a website that matches employers with job seekers and pushes listings to 1,000+ other sites.
ZipRecruiter sends your posting to more than 1,000 sites. That is 1 website versus 1,000+ places to hunt for workers. Its analytics are pattern-reading software, and that matters because it helps match openings and candidates faster.
How they make money
$449M
annual revenue · their business grew -5.3% last year
Employer marketplace
$190M
6.0%
Job distribution network
$95M
4.0%
Matching analytics
$86M
+2.0%
Other services
$78M
0.0%
The products that matter
paid job postings and hiring tools
Employer Marketplace
$449M · 100% of revenue
it's the entire business. this revenue stream fell 5.3% last year, which means every debate about ZIP starts with whether employers are hiring.
100% of revenue
Key numbers
$449M
ttm revenue
This is the whole pie. Every slice below comes from this base.
89.3%
gross margin
ZipRecruiter keeps almost 9 of every $10 before overhead. That is the only part of the business that looks luxurious.
4.3%
operating margin
For every $100 in sales, $4.30 disappeared at the operating line.
$6
18m target
That is 22% above the current $4.92 price, so Wall Street still sees room for the stock to breathe.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 15 / 100
- long-term debt $544M (56% of capital)
- net profit margin 6.4% — keeps 6 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 80% — $0.80 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B — return on equity looks solid but long-term debt needs watching.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for ZIP right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
ZipRecruiter beat EPS by $0.31, but the quarter still leaned on a $337M revenue base and 89.3% gross margin.
The company reported $0.10 actual EPS versus -$0.21 expected. Revenue was $337M in the latest quarter, and gross margin held at 89.3%.
$337M
revenue
$0.10
eps
89.3%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The $0.31 EPS beat mattered most, because it says ZipRecruiter can still squeeze profit out of a weak hiring market.
-
ziprecruiter registered a per-share loss in the third quarter.the company posted a wider deficit of $0.11, compared with $0.03 in the year-ago period, reflecting higher sales and marketing spending.
-
meanwhile, revenue increased slightly vs. prior year, to $115 million, due to slow hiring activity.
-
a closer look at the results shows that while quarterly paid employers grew at a low single-digit pace over the last year, revenue per paid employer fell at a similar rate.this indicates ongoing softness in hiring demand, especially among its core client base of small and medium-sized businesses (smbs).
-
near-term headwinds will likely persist, but improvement still seems possible.the company will probably continue to navigate an uncertain macro backdrop, and visibility for the fourth quarter remains limited due to seasonality.
-
as a result, we estimate a $0.55 per-share deficit in 2025.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is hiring-demand weakness in the employer marketplace.
high
single revenue stream
all $449M of revenue comes from employers paying to recruit. when hiring budgets get cut, the whole income statement feels it.
revenue already fell 5.3% last year and 8.5% in the latest quarter.
med
high gross margin, weak earnings
an 89% gross margin should create room for profit. instead, the business lost $33M and posted a -7.35% net margin.
if hiring demand stays soft, operating leverage works the wrong way.
med
debt larger than the equity story
ziprecruiter carries $544M of long-term debt against a roughly $425M market cap.
that leverage narrows the margin for error if losses persist longer than investors expect.
100% of revenue is tied to recruiting budgets, and the company is carrying $544M of long-term debt while losing $33M a year.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
revenue growth turning positive
full-year revenue fell 5.3% and the latest quarter fell 8.5%. if that line stays negative, the turnaround case stays theoretical.
calendar
q4 2025 earnings report
results are scheduled for february 25, 2026. you want to see whether the top line stabilizes and whether losses narrow from -$0.11 EPS.
risk
debt versus market value
$544M of long-term debt against a $425M market cap is an awkward ratio. if the business keeps shrinking, leverage becomes the headline.
trend
institutional buying against weak fundamentals
funds have been net buyers for two straight quarters. if that continues while revenue still falls, they're betting on a labor-market rebound more than current results.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
bottom 5%
momentum score 5 — the lowest rating. in human-speak, analysts expect this stock to lag badly in the near term.
risk profile
below average
stability score 4. that means bigger swings than most stocks, which fits the 15 / 100 price stability reading.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3. translation: there is no strong chart-based rescue story here.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 2 consecutive quarters — 78 buyers vs. 74 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 53.0M shares. net buying for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$3
$9
$5
current price
$6
target midpoint · +22% from current · 3-5yr high: $9
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