Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $36.10, but opened at $30.81. Zillow Group shares last traded at $30.9570, with a volume of 1,466,165 shares.

More Zillow Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Zillow Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zillow reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.52 per share, above the roughly $0.44–$0.45 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 18% year over year to $772 million, exceeding expectations of about $758 million. Zillow Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Home sales rose 7% year over year in July, the strongest annual increase of 2026, providing evidence of improving transaction activity. Zillow July Market Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Zillow expanded Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Hofmann’s responsibilities to include chief operating officer and appointed Cassandra Knight as its first chief legal and policy officer, alongside promotions for two senior executives. The changes could improve execution but also underscore a broader restructuring. Zillow Executive Leadership Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Zillow plans to eliminate just over 500 jobs, or approximately 7% of its workforce, in a second round of cuts this year. Management cited a flat housing market; the layoffs may reduce costs but signal weaker near-term demand. Zillow Layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Zillow posted a $4 million net loss as $36 million of restructuring costs outweighed its revenue gains, compared with analysts’ expectation for approximately $21 million of net income. Zillow Swings to Loss
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $745 million to $760 million came in below the $772.3 million consensus, while full-year guidance of $2.9 billion to $3.0 billion was at or below expectations. Shares also faced a Zacks downgrade from “strong buy” to “hold.”
• Negative Sentiment: Pending sales fell sharply from June as mortgage rates reached their highest level in a year, suggesting July’s sales increase may not persist and raising concerns about a slower second half. Zillow Housing Market Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms publicized securities-fraud class-action claims tied to alleged misrepresentations concerning Zillow’s business practices. The allegations remain unproven, but the litigation creates additional reputational and potential financial risk.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Zillow Group from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Zillow Group from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered Zillow Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Zillow Group from $50.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Zillow Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.38.

Zillow Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.84.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.10 million. Zillow Group had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 1.41%. On average, analysts forecast that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zillow Group

In other news, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.40, for a total value of $205,737.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,315 shares in the company, valued at $2,554,981. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Dan Spaulding sold 3,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.40, for a total value of $115,117.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 49,696 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,630.40. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,910 shares of company stock worth $1,605,732. 25.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zillow Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of Z. Tiger Global Management LLC boosted its stake in Zillow Group by 21.7% in the first quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 7,368,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,000 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 739,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,433,000 after purchasing an additional 75,682 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Zillow Group by 17,458.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 73,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,043,000 after purchasing an additional 73,500 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Zillow Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,743,000. Finally, Emmett Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Zillow Group by 353.9% in the first quarter. Emmett Investment Management LP now owns 96,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 75,036 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc is an online real estate marketplace company that operates a portfolio of consumer-facing websites and mobile apps designed to connect buyers, sellers, renters, homeowners and real estate professionals. The company’s platforms aggregate property listings, rental listings, and related information to help users search for homes, estimate property values and connect with agents and service providers. Zillow generates revenue primarily through advertising and lead-generation services for real estate professionals, property managers and mortgage lenders.

Key products and services include the Zillow and Trulia consumer websites and apps, which provide searchable listings, photos, neighborhood data and the company’s automated home valuation tool known as the “Zestimate.” Zillow also offers a rentals marketplace, a mortgage marketplace and tools for home buying and selling such as Zillow Premier Agent for agent advertising and leads, as well as ancillary services designed to support transactions, including closing and title-related offerings.