Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear-eyed view of Zillow Group, Inc.'s portfolio, so let's map their businesses onto the BCG Matrix using their strong 2025 financial performance. We've sorted their operations into the four classic quadrants, revealing where the massive growth is-like Rentals up 41% year-over-year-and what's funding the future, such as the stable core advertising revenue. Honestly, the picture shows exciting Stars like AI innovations, reliable Cash Cows like their massive brand dominance, but also high-stakes Question Marks like the push in Zillow Home Loans, which saw revenue jump 36% but still needs market share. Dive in to see exactly which segments demand investment and which are ready for a strategic prune.

Background of Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG)

You're looking at Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG) as of late 2025, and the story is one of diversification and growth, even when the broader housing market is feeling a bit sluggish. Zillow Group, Inc. is fundamentally an Internet-based real estate company, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, that aims to transform the way people buy, sell, rent, or finance homes by pairing technology with service. The group's portfolio is quite extensive, featuring brands like Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads, Zillow Rentals, Zillow Premier Agent, and Zillow Home Loans, alongside technology solutions like ShowingTime+, Spruce, and Follow Up Boss.

The core strategy you need to understand is the push toward the integrated transaction, often called the housing super app. For the first part of its history, Zillow Group focused heavily on building its brand and massive audience, monetizing mainly through traditional lead generation. However, over the last five years or so, the focus has shifted to making the entire transaction-renting, buying, selling, and financing-easier and more seamless for the consumer.

This integrated approach is definitely showing up in the numbers as we look at the third quarter of 2025. Total revenue for Q3 2025 climbed 16% year-over-year to $676 million, which surpassed the company's own guidance. This growth is coming from several distinct areas, showing a more balanced business than before. For instance, the For-Sale segment brought in $488 million, marking a 10% increase YoY, with the underlying Residential revenue growing 7% to $435 million.

But the real acceleration is in the other segments. Rentals revenue jumped a significant 41% to $174 million in Q3 2025, with the multifamily business showing a massive 62% revenue increase. Even the Mortgages revenue saw strong growth, up 36% to $53 million. This diversification helped drive an EBITDA of $165 million, resulting in a healthy 24% EBITDA margin for the quarter, and they even posted a positive GAAP net income of $10 million.

To give you a sense of scale, Zillow Group was still pulling in 250 million average monthly unique users across its apps and sites in Q3 2025. Financially, they ended Q3 2025 with $1.4 billion in cash and investments, reflecting a solid balance sheet as they continue to execute this integrated strategy. That's the quick snapshot of where Zillow Group stands right now.

Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG) - BCG Matrix: Stars

You're looking at the growth engines for Zillow Group, Inc. right now-the areas with the highest market share in the fastest-growing segments. These are the units management is pouring capital into because they are defining the future of the platform.

The Rentals segment is definitely a Star, showing massive acceleration that outpaces much of the core business. This isn't just steady growth; it's a surge, which is why it demands significant investment to maintain that lead.

Here's a look at the hard numbers defining these high-growth areas as of the third quarter of 2025.

The momentum in Rentals is undeniable, especially when you break it down further. The Multifamily piece is the real accelerator here, showing a growth rate that few other segments can match.

• - Zillow Rentals Q3 2025 revenue reached $174 million.
• - Multifamily revenue growth is the engine, hitting 62% year-over-year in Q3 2025.
• - Full-year 2025 Rentals revenue growth target is set around 40%.
• - Zillow Showcase is scaling, reaching 2.5% of new listings in Q2 2025.
• - AI-powered tools are driving adoption, with over 90% of connections in Enhanced Markets managed via Follow Up Boss.

These Stars consume cash to fuel their high-growth trajectory, but if they hold their market position, they are the future Cash Cows. Keeping that market share is the key tenet of the strategy here.

Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

You're looking at the bedrock of Zillow Group, Inc.'s financial stability-the segments that generate significant cash flow without demanding heavy reinvestment for growth. These are the market leaders in a mature space, and for Zillow Group, Inc., that primarily centers on its core agent advertising business.

Zillow Premier Agent (Traditional): The core lead-generation business, providing stable, high-margin revenue. This segment is the engine room. For Sale revenue, which is heavily driven by Premier Agent, increased 10% year-over-year to $488 million in the third quarter of 2025. The underlying Residential revenue, which benefits from Premier Agent offerings, was $435 million in Q3 2025, marking a 7% increase year-over-year. This consistent performance, even with industry transaction value growth estimated around 5% in Q3 2025, shows the segment's market leadership and pricing power. The company previously signaled an audacious plan to double the Premier Agent business by 2025, aiming for an additional $1.5 billion in agent spend, underscoring its strategic importance.

Core Advertising Revenue: Monetizing the massive traffic of 250 million average monthly unique users. The sheer scale of Zillow Group, Inc.'s audience locks in its high market share. In the third quarter of 2025, traffic to Zillow Group, Inc.'s mobile apps and sites reached 250 million average monthly unique users, a 7% increase year-over-year. Total visits for that quarter were 2.5 billion, up 4% year-over-year. This massive, engaged audience is what agents and advertisers pay a premium to access, ensuring the advertising revenue stream remains robust and requires relatively lower promotional spend to maintain its position.

Residential Revenue: The largest segment, delivering $435 million in Q3 2025, growing steadily at 7% YoY. The Residential segment is the single largest contributor to the top line, confirming its Cash Cow status. Its Q3 2025 revenue of $435 million represents a 7% year-over-year increase. This segment's growth outpaced the estimated residential real estate industry growth of approximately 5% for the same period, demonstrating Zillow Group, Inc.'s ability to capture an increasing share of industry spend.

Zillow's Brand Dominance: Over 50% of all U.S. real estate portal visits, a defintely unshakeable market position. Zillow Group, Inc. holds over 50% of all U.S. real estate portal market share. This dominance is further evidenced by the fact that Zillow estimates 80% of U.S. residential real estate transactions involve agents who use at least one Zillow product, such as Premier Agent, ShowingTime+, or Follow Up Boss. This deep integration into the transaction process solidifies the high market share and the resulting cash flow generation.

The financial results from the third quarter of 2025 clearly show the cash-generating power of these mature assets, which fund other parts of the portfolio:

The profitability metrics confirm the 'high profit margins' characteristic of a Cash Cow. For Q3 2025, Adjusted EBITDA was $165 million, yielding an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 24%. Furthermore, the company achieved a GAAP net income of $10 million for the quarter. Cash and investments at the end of Q3 2025 stood at $1.4 billion, providing the necessary liquidity to maintain this core business efficiently.

You can see the low-growth, high-share nature when comparing the core segment growth to the others:

• Residential Revenue Growth (Q3 YoY): 7%
• Rentals Revenue Growth (Q3 YoY): 41%
• Mortgages Revenue Growth (Q3 YoY): 36%

The core Residential segment grows in the high-single digits, consistent with a mature market leader, while the other segments show higher growth, fitting the profile of Stars or Question Marks that the Cash Cow funds.

Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

Dogs are units or products with a low market share and low growth rates. They frequently break even, neither earning nor consuming much cash. Dogs are generally considered cash traps because businesses have money tied up in them, even though they bring back almost nothing in return. These business units are prime candidates for divestiture.

The following business components of Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG) align with the characteristics of the Dogs quadrant based on 2025 financial segmentation, where high-growth segments like Rentals and Mortgage are clearly separated from the remainder of the business.

• - Legacy Software Products: Older, non-core tools like dotloop, which have low independent growth and market share.
• - Non-Core Data Services: Mature, low-growth data licensing or ancillary services not tied to the transaction flow.
• - Residual iBuying Assets: The final, minor costs and liabilities from the discontinued Zillow Offers business.

The primary financial indicator for the low-growth, low-share components is the 'Other' revenue category, which encompasses data services and other ancillary streams not tied to the core Premier Agent, Rentals, or Mortgage segments.

The core business segments show strong growth, making the remaining portion relatively smaller and indicative of a Dog position. For instance, in Q3 2025, the core segments reported:

• - Q3 2025 Total Revenue: $676 million.
• - Q3 2025 Residential Revenue: $435 million, up 7% year-over-year.
• - Q3 2025 Mortgages Revenue: $53 million, up 36% year-over-year.
• - Q3 2025 Rentals Revenue growth: up 41% year-over-year.

The overall Zillow Group, Inc. financial performance in 2025 shows positive momentum, with Q3 Adjusted EBITDA Margin at 24% and GAAP Net Income at $10 million. This profitability is driven by the high-growth segments, which contrasts with the low-growth nature expected of the Dog category components.

Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

You're looking at the business units that are burning cash now but hold the potential for massive future returns, which is exactly what the Question Mark quadrant is about for Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG). These are the areas where Zillow Group, Inc. is pouring resources to capture a growing market before they slip into the Dog category.

• Zillow Home Loans (Mortgages): High growth at 36% YoY revenue in Q3 2025, but a low share of the total U.S. mortgage market, as the estimated Q3 purchase mortgage origination volume for the industry was nearly flat year over year.
• Purchase Loan Origination: Volume surged 57% YoY to $1.3 billion in Q3 2025, requiring heavy capital investment for market penetration.
• Enhanced Markets Strategy: The push to capture 75% of the total Zillow transactions, with 34% of connections occurring through the enhanced market experience as of Q3 2025, a high-risk, high-reward pivot needing significant R&D spend.
• ShowingTime: The scheduling platform, which is a key integration point within software offerings contributing to Residential revenue growth of 7% year-over-year in Q3 2025, but faces competition in a fragmented market from companies like Showing Suite, Showingly and Instashowing.

These are the high-growth, low-share plays that define Zillow Group, Inc.'s current investment thesis outside of its established segments.

Zillow Home Loans (Mortgages) is clearly in a high-growth trajectory internally, with its Q3 2025 revenue jumping 36% year-over-year to $53 million. The engine behind this was the 57% year-over-year increase in purchase loan origination volume, hitting $1.3 billion in that quarter. To put that growth in context, Zillow Group, Inc. estimates the overall industry purchase mortgage origination volume was nearly flat year-over-year for Q3 2025. This disparity shows Zillow Home Loans is aggressively taking share, which is the classic Question Mark move-high internal growth but still a small piece of the massive, slow-moving total U.S. mortgage market.

The Purchase Loan Origination metric is the clearest indicator of cash consumption here. A 57% surge in volume to $1.3 billion in Q3 2025 means Zillow Group, Inc. is spending heavily on scaling its loan officer capacity, technology integration, and marketing to convert more of its massive audience into financed transactions. The company expects this segment's revenue growth to be around 20% in Q4 2025, slowing from the Q3 performance, but still representing significant investment to move this unit toward Star status.

The Enhanced Markets Strategy is the structural investment designed to turn Question Marks into Stars. This strategy aims to create a tightly integrated transaction experience. As of Q3 2025, 34% of connections were happening within these markets. The long-term ambition, however, is to have 75% of all Zillow Group, Inc. transactions flow through this enhanced experience. This pivot requires substantial allocation of capital toward product development and market expansion, as evidenced by the need to scale from 24% of connections in Q1 2025 to the year-end target of over 35%.

For software tools like ShowingTime, the Question Mark status comes from its role in the integrated ecosystem. It is a key component of the Residential segment, which saw revenue rise 7% year-over-year to $435 million in Q3 2025. While it helps drive agent adoption of Zillow Group, Inc.'s ecosystem, it operates in a fragmented market where it competes directly with several other players. The pressure is on to integrate ShowingTime more deeply with Zillow Home Loans and Zillow Showcase to quickly increase its market share within Zillow Group, Inc.'s own transaction flow, or risk becoming a lower-growth asset.

Here is a look at the key financial metrics driving the Question Mark assessment for these growth areas in Q3 2025:

You need to watch the cash burn in these areas versus the rate at which the connection share or origination volume increases. If the 57% volume growth in Purchase Loan Origination slows significantly without a corresponding drop in investment, the unit will quickly shift quadrants.