What changed in this filing

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis

2025-02-19 compared with 2024-02-20 · 109 added, 137 removed, 351 unchanged (41% of the section changed)

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Our vision is a world where everyone makes financial decisions with confidence.

At NerdWallet, we empower consumers—both individuals and SMBs—to make smarter financial decisions with confidence via our digital platform.

At NerdWallet, we empower consumers—both individuals and small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs)—to make smarter financial decisions with confidence via our digital platform.

Technology, paired with the dramatic growth in innovative financial products, has changed the way consumers manage their financial lives;

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At NerdWallet, we are leveraging this transformation to democratize access to trustworthy financial guidance by incorporating our proprietary data science models into our platform—ultimately helping to improve the financial well-being of consumers and the financial services industry as a whole.

In addition to our historical offerings, with our acquisition of Next Door Lending LLC (NDL) in October 2024, we expanded our offerings in the mortgage space to include mortgage lending services.

As the financial services industry becomes more fragmented and complex, we believe the need for trustworthy and knowledgeable financial guidance increases.

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Our platform delivers unique value across many financial products, including credit cards, mortgages, insurance, SMB products, personal loans, banking, investing and student loans.

We expanded our guidance to the UK with our acquisition of Know Your Money (KYM) in 2020, and expanded organically into Canada during 2021 as well as Australia during 2022.

We expanded our guidance to the United Kingdom (UK) with our acquisition of Know Your Money (KYM) in 2020, and expanded organically into Canada during 2021 as well as Australia during 2022.

Across every touchpoint, the cornerstone of our platform is consumers’ trust in the independent, objective and relevant guidance we provide, free of charge.

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By operating at the intersection of consumers and financial services providers, NerdWallet drives value for both.

Through our platform, our financial services partners can reach a substantial audience, comprised of 23 million Monthly Unique Users (MUUs) on average in 2023 and 20 million on average in 2022.

Through our platform, our financial services partners can reach a substantial audience.

After doing research on our platform, consumers are better informed about the financial decision they’re about to make, which makes them primed and ready to transact.

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These fees from which we recognize revenue include revenue per action, revenue per click, revenue per lead, and revenue per funded loan.

Initial Public Offering

On November 8, 2021, we completed our initial public offering (the IPO), in which we sold 8.3 million shares of our Class A common stock, which includes the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase 1.1 million shares of Class A common stock, at a public offering price of $18.00 per share.

We received net proceeds from the IPO of $140.0 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $10.1 million.

Key Factors Affecting Our Performance

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Our editorial and product teams continuously improve our content, tools and resources to ensure that our platform reflects the latest consumer finance trends and related products from our financial services partners.

We plan to continue investing in our growing base of high-value content and tools, which enable us to generate more traffic and grow MUUs , enhancing monetizing activities with our financial services partners and ultimately, our financial performance.

We plan to continue investing in our growing base of high-value content and tools, which enable us to generate more traffic, enhancing monetizing activities with our financial services partners and ultimately, our financial performance.

Ability to Attract and Engage Consumers

Our ability to increase user engagement, whether by increasing the frequency with which MUUs visit our platform, or the amount of resources they consume on our platform, is critical to the growth of our business.

Our ability to increase user engagement, whether by increasing the frequency with which consumers and SMBs visit our platform, or the amount of resources they consume on our platform, is critical to the growth of our business.

We focus on attracting users to NerdWallet who are interested in multiple financial products that we review and then use machine learning to help them find financial products for their needs.

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Our recent acquisitions include:

• Next Door Lending.

In October 2024, we acquired NDL, a mortgage broker that offers a selection of loan products for home purchase and refinance, including cash-out refinance and debt consolidation, across a range of maturities and interest rates.

Through NDL, we offer consumers access to government-sponsored entity-conforming loans, FHA insured loans, VA guaranteed loans and jumbo loans.

• On the Barrelhead.

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We believe the acquisition will allow us to accelerate our international growth.

Key Operating Metric and Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We collect, review and analyze operating and financial data of our business to assess our ongoing performance and compare our results to prior period results.

In addition to revenue, net income and other results under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the following sets forth the key operating metric we use to evaluate our business.

Monthly Unique Users

We define a Monthly Unique User (MUU) as a unique user with at least one session in a given month as determined by a unique device identifier.

We measure MUUs during a time period longer than one month by averaging the MUUs of each month within that period.

We track MUUs to frame the number of users who may transact with our financial services partners on our platform during a given period.

During 2023, we grew average MUUs to 23 million, which was up 15% compared to 2022, as we saw strong engagement in areas such as travel, banking, and insurance, and also began incorporating our acquisition of OTB in July 2022.

Partially offsetting growth were declines from a continued challenging macroeconomic environment in both mortgages and investing.

During 2022, we grew average MUUs to 20 million, which was up 4% compared to 2021, as we increased our sales and marketing expenditures in light of the continued economic recovery we experienced.

While we expect MUUs to grow over time, the metric may fluctuate from period to period based on economic conditions and our strategic marketing decisions.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We collect, review and analyze operating and financial data of our business to assess our ongoing performance and compare our results to prior period results.

In addition to revenue, net income (loss) and other results under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the following sets forth the non-GAAP financial measures we use to evaluate our business.

We use non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA in conjunction with GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, and to communicate with our Board of Directors concerning our financial performance.

Non-GAAP operating income (loss):

We define non-GAAP operating income (loss) as income (loss) from operations adjusted to exclude depreciation and amortization, and further exclude (1) impairment of right-of-use asset, (2) losses (gains) on disposals of assets, (3) change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts, (4) deferred compensation related to earnouts, and (5) acquisition-related costs.

We also reduce income from operations, or increase loss from operations, for capitalized internally developed software costs.

Adjusted EBITDA:

We define adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) from continuing operations adjusted to exclude depreciation and amortization, interest income (expense), net, provision (benefit) for income taxes, and further exclude (1) impairment of right-of-use asset, (2) losses (gains) on disposals of assets, (3) change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts, (4) deferred compensation related to earnouts, (5) stock-based compensation, and (6) acquisition-related costs.

We define adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) from continuing operations adjusted to exclude depreciation and amortization, interest income (expense), net, other gains (losses), net, and provision (benefit) for income taxes, and further exclude (1) impairment of right-of-use asset, (2) losses (gains) on disposals of assets, (3) change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts, (4) deferred compensation related to earnouts, (5) stock-based compensation, (6) acquisition-related costs, and (7) restructuring charges.

The above items are excluded from our non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA measures because these items are non-cash in nature, or because the amounts are not driven by core operating results and renders comparisons with prior periods less meaningful.

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Although these are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect all cash requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;

• Non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA exclude acquisition-related costs, including acquisition-related retention compensation under compensatory retention agreements with certain key employees, acquisition-related transaction expenses, contingent consideration fair value adjustments related to earnouts, and deferred compensation related to earnouts;

• Non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA exclude certain acquisition-related costs, including acquisition-related retention compensation under compensatory retention agreements with certain key employees, acquisition-related transaction expenses, contingent consideration fair value adjustments related to earnouts, and deferred compensation related to earnouts;

• Non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA exclude restructuring charges primarily consisting of severance payments, stock-based compensation, employee benefits, and related expenses for impacted employees, as well as contract termination costs, associated with our Restructuring Plan;

• Adjusted EBITDA excludes stock-based compensation, including for acquisition-related inducement awards, which has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a significant recurring expense in our business and an important part of our compensation strategy;

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In addition, non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA as we define them may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Because of these limitations, you should consider non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including income (loss) from operations, net loss and our other GAAP results.

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Components of Our Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for reconciliations of non-GAAP operating income (loss) to income (loss) from operations, and adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Components of Our Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for reconciliations of non-GAAP operating income (loss) to income (loss) from operations, and adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Key Components of Our Results of Operations

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For some of our arrangements, the transaction price is considered variable and an estimate of the constrained transaction price is recorded when the match occurs.

Our revenue generally includes four product categories:

Credit cards, Loans, SMB products and Emerging verticals.

Our revenue generally includes five product categories:

Insurance, Credit cards, SMB products, Loans and Emerging verticals.

Insurance revenue includes revenue from consumer insurance products, including auto, life and pet insurance.

Credit cards revenue includes revenue from consumer credit cards.

Loans revenue includes revenue from personal loans, home mortgages, student loans and auto loans.

SMB products revenue includes revenue from loans, credit cards and other financial products and services intended for small and mid-sized businesses.

Emerging verticals revenue includes revenue from other product sources, including banking, insurance, investing and international.

Loans revenue includes revenue from personal loans, mortgages, student loans and auto loans.

Emerging verticals revenue includes revenue from other product sources, including banking, investing and international.

Cost of revenue

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The fair value of each contingent consideration liability is remeasured at the end of each reporting period, with any changes in fair value recognized as income or expense from operations in our consolidated income statement.

As of December 31, 2022, Fundera Inc.’s revenue and profitability milestones for 2022 were achieved and the contingent consideration liability was recorded at the full payout amount, with the contingent consideration liability paid in full during 2023.

As of December 31, 2022, Fundera’s revenue and profitability milestones for 2022 were achieved and the contingent consideration liability was recorded at the full payout amount, with the contingent consideration liability paid in full during 2023.

Other income (expense), net

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Interest income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents.

Interest expense consists of interest costs related to our revolving credit facility and long-term debt, including amortization of the debt premium on our long-term debt.

Other gains (losses), net is primarily related to changes in the fair value of the embedded derivative in our previously outstanding long-term debt, as well as realized and unrealized gains and losses on foreign currency transactions and balances.

Other gains (losses), net for 2021 includes a gain on extinguishment of debt as well as a nonrecurring gain.

Interest expense consists of interest costs related to our revolving credit facility, including amortization of debt issuance costs.

Other gains (losses), net for 2024 includes an $8.1 million impairment on an equity investment.

Other gains (losses), net is otherwise primarily related to realized and unrealized gains and losses on foreign currency transactions and balances.

Income tax provision (benefit)

Our income tax provision (benefit) consists of federal and state income taxes.

We have federal and state net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs), and federal and California research and development credit carryforwards, certain of which are subject to expiration dates if not utilized.

We have federal and state net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs), and California research and development credit carryforwards, certain of which are subject to expiration dates if not utilized.

Utilization of our NOLs and tax credit carryforwards, as well as of our other temporary differences, is dependent upon the generation of sufficient future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible.

Based on our ongoing assessment of all available evidence, both positive and negative, including consideration of our historical profitability and the estimated impact of our operating model on future profitability, we concluded that it is more likely than not that our U.S.

deferred tax assets in excess of deferred tax liabilities would not be realized and recorded a valuation allowance against these net U.S.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, based on our ongoing assessment of all available evidence, both positive and negative, including a significant improvement in our profitability coupled with anticipated future earnings, we concluded that it is more likely than not that our U.S.

federal and majority state deferred tax assets in excess of deferred tax liabilities would be realized and released $27.2 million of our valuation allowance against these net U.S.

deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2024.

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Interest expense (0.7) (0.8) (2.5)

Other gains (losses), net (0.1) — 2.6

Other losses, net

(8.5) (0.1) —

Total other income (expense), net (4.4) 2.7 (1.0)

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Income tax provision (benefit) (25.4) 18.1 (9.8)

Net income (loss)

$ 30.4 $ (11.8) $ (10.2)

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Interest expense — — —

Other gains (losses), net — — —

Other losses, net

Total other income (expense), net — — —

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Income tax provision (benefit) (3) 3 (2)

Net income (loss)

4 % (2 %) (2 %)

Our income from operations increased $5.8 million or 161% for 2024 compared to 2023.

The increase was driven by an $88.2 million increase in revenues, partially offset by an $82.4 million increase in costs and operating expenses, primarily due to increases of $69.1 million in sales and marketing expenses and $9.5 million in cost of revenue.

We had net income of $30.4 million for 2024, as compared to a net loss of $11.8 million for 2023.

The change reflects a $5.8 million increase in income from operations, and $4.4 million of other expense, net in 2024 as compared to other income, net of $2.7 million in 2023, which were more than offset by a $25.4 million income tax benefit in 2024 as compared to an income tax provision of $18.1 million in 2023.

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

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Year Ended December 31, 2024 2023 $ Change % Change

Credit cards $ 209.7 $ 210.3 $ (0.6) (0 %)

Loans 101.6 109.1 (7.5) (7 %)

$ 191.6 $ 45.0 $ 146.6 326 %

176.4 209.7 (33.3) (16 %)

109.8 101.2 8.6 9 %

Loans 84.5 101.6 (17.1) (17 %)

Emerging verticals

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Total revenue $ 687.6 $ 599.4 $ 88.2 15 %

Revenue increased $60.5 million, or 11%, for 2023 compared to 2022, driven by strong growth in Emerging verticals and SMB products revenues, partially offset by lower Loans revenue.

Credit cards revenue decreased $0.6 million for 2023 compared to 2022, as strong growth in the first quarter of 2023, reflecting our ability to capitalize on higher consumer intent through improved user experiences combined with our deep alignment with our financial services partners to deliver quality matches, was offset by reduced marketing spending by our financial services partners during the remainder of 2023 amidst a combination of increasingly cautious underwriting and heightened balance sheet conservatism following the regional banking crisis.

Loans revenue decreased $7.5 million, or 7%, for 2023 compared to 2022, primarily due to decreases of 41% in mortgages revenue and 23% in student loans revenue, mainly attributable to higher interest rates driving lower demand for refinancing and continuing macroeconomic headwinds, partially offset by a 29% increase in personal loans revenue driven by both organic growth as well as incorporating our acquisition of OTB in July 2022.

SMB products revenue increased $9.8 million, or 11%, for 2023 compared to 2022, reflecting our ability to drive diversified revenue growth across SMB products such as business credit cards, despite macroeconomic headwinds for the loans industry broadly.

Emerging verticals revenue increased $58.8 million, or 46%, for 2023 compared to 2022, primarily driven by increases of 74% in banking revenue mainly due to the higher interest rate environment and 30% in insurance products mainly driven by auto insurance.

Revenue increased $88.2 million, or 15%, for 2024 compared to 2023, driven by strong growth in Insurance products revenue as well as SMB products revenues, partially offset by lower Credit cards, Loans and Emerging verticals revenues.

Insurance revenue increased $146.6 million, or 326%, for 2024 compared to 2023, primarily driven by a strong increase in auto insurance products revenue as carriers expanded budgets.

Credit cards revenue decreased $33.3 million, or 16%, for 2024 compared to 2023, primarily due to pressures in organic search traffic and reduced marketing spending by our financial services partners amidst a cautious underwriting environment.

SMB products revenue increased $8.6 million, or 9%, for 2024 compared to 2023, primarily driven by revenue growth in products such as business credit cards, loan renewals and banking as we continue to scale our product offerings, partially offset by a decrease in business loan originations.

Loans revenue decreased $17.1 million, or 17%, for 2024 compared to 2023, primarily due to a 32% decrease in personal loans revenue as we continue to work through a high interest rate environment, partially offset by higher mortgage loans revenue from both organic growth as well as incorporating our acquisition of NDL in October 2024.

Emerging verticals revenue decreased $16.6 million, or 12%, for 2024 compared to 2023, primarily due to a 14% decrease in banking revenue as consumer demand for banking products continued to moderate.

Costs and Expenses

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General and administrative 61.6 59.8 1.8 3 %

Change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts — 6.7 (6.7) (100 %)

Total costs and expenses $ 678.2 $ 595.8 $ 82.4 14 %

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Cost of revenue increased $9.5 million, or 17%, for 2024 compared to 2023.

The increase was primarily attributable to an $11.0 million increase in amortization expense related to capitalized software development costs and intangible assets from our acquisition of OTB in July 2022, as well as a $2.2 million increase primarily related to third-party service charges.

The increase was primarily attributable to increases of $6.5 million primarily related to third-party service charges and $3.9 million in amortization expense related to capitalized software development costs, partially offset by a $1.6 million decrease in amortization expense related to intangible assets.

Research and development expense

Research and development expenses increased $2.0 million, or 3%, for 2024 compared to 2023.

The increase was primarily attributable to increases of $1.6 million in personnel-related costs for our engineering, data, and product management personnel and contractors to support our continued growth, and $1.5 million in software and technology costs related to our platform.

The increase was primarily attributable to a $5.8 million restructuring charge as well as a $1.8 million increase in software and technology costs related to our platform, partially offset by a $4.0 million decrease in personnel-related costs for our engineering, data, and product management personnel and contractors.

Sales and marketing expense

For 2023 and 2022, our total sales and marketing expense was comprised of approximately 51% and 45% for performance marketing, respectively, and 21% and 28% for brand marketing, respectively, with the remainder for organic and other marketing expenses.

Components of sales and marketing expense, including as a percentage of total sales and marketing expense, are as follows:

(in millions) 2024 2023 2022

Year Ended December 31, $

Performance marketing $ 297.4 63 % $ 206.5 51 % $ 168.4 45 %

Brand marketing 68.6 15 % 84.4 21 % 106.3 28 %

Organic and other marketing 104.6 22 % 110.6 28 % 100.9 27 %

Total sales and marketing $ 470.6 100 % $ 401.5 100 % $ 375.6 100 %

We are able to adjust our marketing spend to reflect changes in external factors and consumer behavior.

Sales and marketing expenses increased $69.1 million, or 17%, for 2024 compared to 2023.

The increase was primarily attributable to increases of $38.1 million in performance marketing expenses and $9.7 million in organic and other marketing expenses primarily due to higher personnel-related costs due to our efforts to grow and increase our user base, partially offset by a $21.9 million decrease in brand marketing expenses.

The increase was attributable to a $90.9 million increase in performance marketing expenses, partially offset by decreases of $15.8 million in brand marketing expenses and $6.0 million in organic and other marketing expenses primarily due to lower personnel-related costs partially offset by a $2.0 million restructuring charge.

General and administrative expense

General and administrative expenses increased $1.6 million, or 3%, for 2023 compared to 2022, primarily attributable to a $5.7 million increase in personnel-related costs mainly due to higher stock-based compensation, and a $1.4 million impairment of right-of-use asset, partially offset by decreases of $3.4 million in acquisition-related costs primarily related to our acquisition of OTB in July 2022, and $1.8 million primarily related to director and officer liability insurance costs.

Change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts

The change in fair value of contingent consideration relates to our acquisitions of Fundera and KYM in the second half of 2020.

The fair value of the contingent considerations was subject to remeasurement at each reporting date until the payments were made.

See Note 1–The Company and its Significant Accounting Policies and Note 3–Fair Value Measurements in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for further discussion on these contingent considerations.

General and administrative expenses increased $1.8 million, or 3%, for 2024 compared to 2023, primarily attributable to a $1.2 million restructuring charge as well as higher personnel-related costs mainly due to stock-based compensation.

Other income (expense), net

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Other losses, net

(0.1) — (0.1) 85 %

(8.5) (0.1) (8.4) NM

Total other income (expense), net $ (4.4) $ 2.7 $ (7.1) NM

The change in other income (expense), net for 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily attributable to higher interest income reflecting higher interest rates and average cash balances, and lower interest expense related to debt activity.

The change in other income (expense), net for 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily attributable to an $8.1 million impairment on an equity investment, partially offset by higher interest income reflecting higher interest rates and average cash balances.

Income tax provision (benefit)

We had an income tax provision of $18.1 million for 2023, as compared to an income tax benefit of $9.8 million in 2022.

We had an income tax benefit of $25.4 million for 2024, as compared to an income tax provision of $18.1 million in 2023.

Our effective tax rate was (505.5%) and 286.7% for 2024 and 2023, respectively, as compared to the U.S.

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Our effective tax rate for 2024 differs from the U.S.

federal statutory income tax rate of 21% primarily due to the valuation allowance maintained against our net U.S.

federal statutory income tax rate of 21% primarily due to the decrease in the valuation allowance maintained against our net U.S.

deferred tax assets.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, we concluded that it is more likely than not that our net U.S.

federal and majority state deferred tax assets are realizable, resulting in a valuation allowance release of $27.2 million.

Our effective tax rate for 2023 differs from the U.S.

federal statutory income tax rate of 21% primarily due to the valuation allowance previously maintained against our net U.S.

deferred tax assets and state taxes, partially offset by research and development credits.

Our tax provision for 2023 primarily resulted from the requirement for us to capitalize and amortize research and development expenses, and an overall increase in our profitability before taxes.

Our tax benefit for 2023 primarily resulted from the requirement for us to capitalize and amortize research and development expenses, and an overall increase in our profitability before taxes.

As a result, we recorded a significant U.S.

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deferred tax assets.

During 2022, we recognized a nonrecurring tax benefit of $12.1 million related to the change in our existing full valuation allowance on deferred tax assets resulting from our acquisition of OTB in July 2022, which was partially offset by higher capitalization of research and development expenses under new tax regulations effective in 2022.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Non-GAAP operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA as we define them may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

We compensate for these limitations by reconciling non-GAAP operating income (loss) to income (loss) from operations, and adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most comparable GAAP financial measures, as follows:

We compensate for these limitations by reconciling non-GAAP operating income (loss) to income (loss) from operations, and adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, as follows:

(in millions)

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Acquisition-related expenses 0.6 0.1 3.5

Restructuring

Capitalized internally developed software costs (24.0) (32.4) (33.7)

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7 % 4 % (0 %)

Net income (loss)

$ 30.4 $ (11.8) $ (10.2)

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Acquisition-related expenses 0.6 0.1 3.5

Restructuring

Interest (income) expense, net

(4.1) (2.8) 1.0

Other (gains) losses, net 0.1 — (2.6)

Other losses, net

Income tax provision (benefit) (25.4) 18.1 (9.8)

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$ 47.6 $ 26.4 $ (1.0)

Net loss margin

Net income (loss) margin

4 % (2 %) (2 %)

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(2) Represents adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.

We had income from operations of $3.6 million for 2023, as compared to a loss from operations of $19.0 million for 2022, The change was driven by a $60.5 million increase in revenues, partially offset by a $37.9 million increase in operating expenses primarily due to increases of $25.9 million in sales and marketing expenses and $14.2 million in cost of revenue.

Our loss from operations decreased $20.0 million or 51% for 2022 compared to 2021.

The decrease was driven by a $159.3 million increase in revenues, largely offset by a $139.3 million increase in operating expenses primarily due to increases of $104.3 million in sales and marketing expenses, $19.7 million in general and administrative expenses, and $15.4 million in research and development expenses.

We had non-GAAP operating income of $26.4 million for 2023, as compared to a non-GAAP operating loss of $1.0 million for 2022.

The change was primarily driven by $3.6 million of income from operations in 2023, as compared to a loss from operations of $19.0 million in 2022, as well as increases in adjustments to reconcile income (loss) from operations to non-GAAP operating income (loss), including $11.2 million for depreciation and amortization and $2.5 million for acquisition-related retention, partially offset by decreases of $6.7 million for the change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts and $3.4 million for acquisition-related expenses, as well as $2.8 million of net interest income in 2023 as compared to net interest expense of $1.0 million in 2022.

Non-GAAP operating loss decreased $13.8 million, or 93%, for 2022 compared to 2021.

The decrease was primarily driven by a $20.0 million decrease in loss from operations, partially offset by decreases in adjustments to reconcile loss from operations to non-GAAP operating loss, including $11.4 million for the change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts and $9.7 million for capitalized internally developed software costs, partially offset by increases of $9.9 million for depreciation and amortization, and $3.4 million for acquisition-related expenses and $2.8 million for acquisition-related retention.

Our net loss increased $1.6 million or 16% for 2023 compared to 2022.

The increase reflects $3.6 million of income from operations for 2023 as compared to a loss from operations of $19.0 million for 2022, and $2.7 million of other income, net in 2023 as compared to other expense, net of $1.0 million in 2022, which were more than offset by an $18.1 million income tax provision in 2023 as compared to an income tax benefit of $9.8 million in 2022.

Our non-GAAP operating income increased $21.2 million, or 80%, for 2024 compared to 2023.

The increase was driven by increases of $5.8 million in income from operations, and $15.4 million in adjustments to reconcile income from operations to non-GAAP operating income, including a $9.0 million restructuring charge and an $8.4 million decrease in capitalized internally developed software costs..

Adjusted EBITDA increased $10.3 million, or 10%, for 2024 compared to 2023.

The increase was primarily attributable to increases in adjustments to reconcile adjusted EBITDA to net loss, including$27.9 million for income taxes, $11.2 million for depreciation and amortization, and $4.4 million for stock-based compensation, partially offset by decreases of $6.7 million for the change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts, $3.4 million for acquisition-related expenses, and $3.8 million for interest income (expense), net.

The increase was primarily attributable to net income of $30.4 million for 2024, as compared to a net loss of $11.8 million for 2023, partially offset by a decrease in adjustments to reconcile adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), including $43.5 million for income taxes and $2.5 million for stock-based compensation, partially offset by a $9.0 million restructuring charge and an $8.4 million increase in other losses, net.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal sources of liquidity to meet our business requirements and plans, both in the short-term (i.e., the next twelve months from December 31, 2023) and long-term (i.e., beyond the next twelve months), have historically been cash generated from operations and, more recently, sales of our common stock, and borrowings under our credit facilities.

Our principal sources of liquidity to meet our business requirements and plans, both in the short-term (i.e., the next twelve months from December 31, 2024) and long-term (i.e., beyond the next twelve months), have historically been cash generated from operations and, more recently, borrowings under our credit facilities.

Our primary liquidity needs are related to the funding of general business requirements, including working capital requirements, research and development, and capital expenditures, as well as other liquidity requirements including, but not limited to, business combinations.

On November 8, 2021, we completed our IPO, in which we sold 8.3 million shares of our Class A common stock, which includes the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase 1.1 million shares of Class A common stock, at a public offering price of $18.00 per share.

We received net proceeds from our IPO of $140.0 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $10.1 million.

As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $66.3 million and $100.4 million, respectively.

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More broadly, we also have purchase obligations under contractual arrangements with vendors and service providers, including for certain web-hosting and cloud computing services, which do not qualify for recognition on our consolidated balance sheet but which we consider non-cancellable.

As of December 31, 2023, amounts to be spent under non-cancellable purchase obligations were $6.8 million over the next twelve months, and approximately $6 million in 2025 and $5 million in 2026.

As of December 31, 2024, amounts to be spent under non-cancellable purchase obligations were $18.4 million over the next twelve months, and approximately $9 million in 2026.

Trends, Uncertainties and Anticipated Sources of Funds

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However, we expect to fund our operations, capital expenditures and other investments principally with cash flows from operations, and to the extent that our liquidity needs exceed our cash from operations, we would look to our cash on hand to satisfy those needs.

We announced on May 2, 2023 that our Board of Directors authorized a plan under which we may repurchase up to $20 million of our Class A common stock and, following our utilization of that share repurchase authorization, we announced on October 26, 2023 that our Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase authorization under which we may repurchase up to an additional $30 million of our Class A common stock (collectively, the Repurchase Plans).

Subject to market conditions and other factors, the Repurchase Plans are intended to make opportunistic repurchases of our Class A common stock to reduce our outstanding share count.

Under the Repurchase Plans, shares of Class A common stock may be repurchased in the open market through privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, in accordance with applicable securities laws and other restrictions.

The Repurchase Plans do not have fixed expiration dates and do not obligate us to acquire any specific number of shares.

The timing and terms of any repurchases under the Repurchase Plans are at management’s discretion and depend on a variety of factors, including business, economic and market conditions, regulatory requirements, prevailing stock prices and other considerations.

Share Repurchase Program:

We announced on May 2, 2023 that our Board of Directors authorized a plan under which we may repurchase up to $20 million of our Class A common stock and, following our utilization of that share repurchase authorization, we announced on October 26, 2023, September 9, 2024 and October 29, 2024 that our Board of Directors approved additional share repurchase authorizations under which we may repurchase up to an additional $30 million, $50 million and $25 million, respectively, of our Class A common stock (collectively, the Repurchase Program).

Subject to market conditions and other factors, the Repurchase Program is intended to make opportunistic repurchases of our Class A common stock to reduce our outstanding share count.

Under the Repurchase Program, shares of Class A common stock may be repurchased in the open market through privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, in accordance with applicable securities laws and other restrictions.

The Repurchase Program does not have fixed expiration dates and does not obligate us to acquire any specific number of shares.

The timing and terms of any repurchases under the Repurchase Program are at management’s discretion and depend on a variety of factors, including business, economic and market conditions, regulatory requirements, prevailing stock prices and other considerations.

Additionally, we may, from time to time, enter into Rule 10b-5 trading plans to facilitate repurchases.

Shares repurchased under the Repurchase Plans are retired.

Shares repurchased under the Repurchase Program are retired.

We expect to fund repurchases with existing cash and cash equivalents.

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We believe our current cash and cash equivalents and future cash flow from operations, as well as access to our credit facility with JPMorgan Chase Bank and a syndicate of other lenders, subject to customary borrowing conditions, will be sufficient to meet our ongoing working capital, capital expenditure and other liquidity requirements for the next twelve months and beyond.

On September 26, 2023, we, including three of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, entered into a credit agreement (the Credit Agreement) with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association.

as Administrative Agent, and a syndicate of lenders.

Credit Facility:

On September 26, 2023, we, including three of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, entered into a credit agreement (the Credit Agreement) with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and a syndicate of lenders.

The Credit Agreement provides for a $125.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the Credit Facility), with the option to increase up to an additional $75.0 million, and is available to be used by us and certain of our domestic subsidiaries for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions.

On October 1, 2024, we entered into an amendment to the Credit Agreement which, among other things, permits us to acquire an unrestricted subsidiary and/or to invest up to an aggregate of $15 million in unrestricted subsidiaries in any fiscal year, subject to standard provisions and limitations for unrestricted subsidiaries.

The Credit Facility matures on September 26, 2028.

See Note 7–Debt in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

The Credit Facility replaced our prior credit facility under the Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facilities Credit Agreement dated February 19, 2021 between us and Silicon Valley Bank, as administrative agent (the Prior Credit Agreement), which was terminated substantially concurrently with the Company’s entering into the Credit Agreement.

Under the terms of our Prior Credit Agreement, we could have borrowed up to $100.0 million, subject to borrowing conditions.

We had no outstanding balance on our credit facility as of December 31, 2024 or 2023.

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We were in compliance with all covenants as of December 31, 2024 and 2023.

For additional information on these covenants, see Note 7–Debt in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

See Note 7–Debt in the notes to the consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

Warehouse Line of Credit:

NDL, a wholly-owned subsidiary, maintains a $15.0 million warehouse line of credit to provide NDL short-term funding for mortgage loans originated for sale.

Borrowings under the warehouse line of credit bear interest at the greater of the interest rate of the underlying mortgage loans held for sale or a minimum rate of 6%, and are secured by the underlying promissory notes of the mortgage loans held for sale as well as NDL’s other assets.

The warehouse line of credit matures on February 1, 2026.

NDL had $2.5 million outstanding under the warehouse line of credit as of December 31, 2024, which is included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet.

The warehouse line of credit requires NDL to comply with certain minimum tangible net worth, liquidity, and insurance requirements.

NDL was in compliance with all covenants as of December 31, 2024.

See Note 7–Debt in the notes to the consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

Our future capital requirements may vary materially from those planned and will depend on certain factors, such as our growth and our operating results.

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Net cash used in investing activities (29.7) (29.5) (100.3)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (26.2) (8.4) 100.2

Net cash used in financing activities (76.5) (26.2) (8.4)

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 0.3 0.1 (0.2)

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Operating activities

Net cash provided by operating activities increased $47.1 million in 2023 compared to 2022 driven by a $25.9 million decrease in net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities and a $22.8 million increase in non-cash charges, partially offset by a $1.6 million increase in net loss.

The decrease in net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to decreases of $29.4 million for accounts receivable, and $7.8 million for other liabilities, partially offset by an $8.2 million increase for accrued expenses and other current liabilities.

The increase in non-cash charges was primarily due to increases of $12.1 million in deferred taxes, $11.2 million in depreciation and amortization, and $4.4 million in stock-based compensation, partially offset by a $6.7 million decrease in change in fair value of contingent consideration related to earnouts.

Net cash provided by operating activities decreased $0.3 million in 2024 compared to 2023 as the impact of net income of $30.4 million in 2024 as compared to a net loss of $11.8 million in 2023 was more than offset by a $41.4 million decrease in non-cash charges and a $1.1 million increase in net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities.

The decrease in non-cash charges was primarily due to a $45.6 million decrease in deferred taxes, partially offset by a $5.7 million increase in other losses, net.

The increase in net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to increases of $37.7 million for accounts receivable and $5.1 million for other liabilities, partially offset by decreases of $14.9 million for accrued expenses and other current liabilities, $8.4 million for accounts payable, $2.6 million for prepaid expenses and other current assets, and $2.1 million for mortgage loans held for sale, as well as a $14.0 million payment for contingent consideration in 2023.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities decreased $70.8 million in 2023 compared to 2022, primarily due to $68.1 million of cash paid, net of cash acquired, for our acquisition of OTB in 2022, as well as a $3.9 million decrease in purchases of property and equipment.

Net cash used in investing activities increased $0.2 million in 2024 compared to 2023, primarily due to an $8.1 million purchase of an investment and $0.3 million of cash paid, net of cash acquired, for our acquisition of NDL in 2024, substantially offset by an $8.1 million decrease in capitalized software development costs.

Financing activities

Net cash used in financing activities increased $17.8 million in 2023, primarily due to $20.0 million for repurchases of Class A common stock, partially offset a $2.5 million increase from exercises of stock options and a $2.1 million decrease in payments for contingent consideration recorded at the acquisition date.

Additionally, in 2022, we had $70.0 million of proceeds from our line of credit to finance the cash portion of the purchase consideration for our acquisition of OTB in 2022, with a $70.0 million repayment in full in December 2022.

Net cash used in financing activities increased $50.3 million in 2024, primarily due to a $60.1 million increase in repurchases of Class A common stock, a $3.9 million decrease from exercises of stock options and a $2.0 million net payment on our warehouse line of credit, partially offset by a $16.9 million payment in 2023 for contingent consideration recorded at the acquisition date.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

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For a comprehensive list of all significant accounting policies, see Note 1–The Company and its Significant Accounting Policies in the notes to consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue from fees paid by our financial services partners in the form of either revenue per action, revenue per click, revenue per lead and revenue per funded loan arrangements.

Services are generally transferred to the customer at a point in time and the performance obligation is a series of distinct actions, leads or clicks.

For some of our arrangements, under ASC 606 (Revenue from Contracts with Customers) our contractual right to fees is not contemporaneous with the satisfaction of the performance obligation to match the consumer with the customer.

As a result, the transaction price is considered variable and an estimate of the constrained transaction price is recorded as revenue when the match occurs, subject to a constraint .

Constrained revenue is recognized to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur.

After our initial estimate and constraints are made, we reassess our estimates and constraints at the end of each reporting period.

Various factors are analyzed to estimate the constrained revenue, including historical approval rates and historical time between when a consumer request for a financial product is delivered to a financial services partner and when the financial product is approved by such financial services partner.

Valuation of Goodwill and Intangible Assets

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As a result of the goodwill impairment assessments in 2024, 2023 and 2022, we determined that it was not more likely than not that the fair value of its single reporting unit was less than its carrying amount.

As such, goodwill was not impaired during 2023, 2022 and 2021.

As such, goodwill was not impaired during 2024, 2023 or 2022.

We evaluate intangible assets and other long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that they may not be recoverable.

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This consideration includes a variety of factors such as historical and projected future taxable income and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies.

deferred tax assets in excess of deferred tax liabilities would not be realized and recorded a valuation allowance against these net U.S.

Based on our past assessment of all available evidence, both positive and negative, including consideration of our historical profitability and the estimated impact of our operating model on future profitability, we had previously maintained a valuation allowance against our net U.S.

deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2023.

During the three months ended December 31, 2024, we concluded that it was more likely than not that our net U.S.Federal and majority state deferred tax assets would be realized, with a significant improvement in our profitability, coupled with anticipated future earnings, deemed to provide positive evidence to support sufficient taxable income in future periods, and accordingly we recorded a valuation allowance release of $27.2 million.

We continue to maintain a valuation allowance on our California deferred tax assets, which consist primarily of tax credits, as of December 31, 2024.

Our judgment regarding the likelihood of realization of these deferred tax assets could change in future periods, which could result in a material impact to our income tax provision in the period of change.

Given our current earnings projections, sufficient positive evidence may become available for us to release all, or a portion, of the valuation allowance within the next twelve months.

However, the timing and amounts of such valuation allowance releases are subject to change based on the level of profitability achieved in future periods.

Stock-Based Compensation

Prior to our IPO, as our common shares were not listed on a public marketplace, the calculation of the fair value of our common shares was subject to a greater degree of estimation in determining the basis for share-based awards that were issued.

Given the absence of a public market, we were required to estimate the fair value of the common shares at the time of each grant.

Stock Options

We have granted stock-based awards consisting primarily of stock options and RSUs to employees and non-employees.

We estimate the grant date fair value of stock options granted to employees and nonemployees using the Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model.

The fair value of stock options that is expected to vest is recognized as compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is typically the vesting period of the respective awards.

We recognize forfeitures as they occur for equity awards with only a service condition, rather than estimate expected forfeitures.

The Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model considers several variables and assumptions in estimating the grant date fair value of stock-based awards.

These assumptions include:

• Fair Value of Class A Common Stock —For periods over which our Class A common stock was not yet publicly traded, we were required to estimate the fair value of our Class A common stock.

Our Board of Directors considered numerous objective and subjective factors to determine the fair value of our Class A common stock as discussed in “Common Stock Valuations” below.

Subsequent to our IPO in November 2021, the fair value of our Class A common stock is determined on the grant date using the closing price of our Class A common stock.

• Expected Term —The expected term represents the period that the stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding.

We estimate the expected term based on the simplified method.

• Expected Volatility —Expected volatility is a measure of the amount by which the stock price is expected to fluctuate.

Since we do not have sufficient trading history of our Class A common stock, we estimate the expected volatility by taking the average historical volatility of a group of comparable publicly traded companies over a period equal to the expected term of the awards.

• Risk-Free Interest Rate —The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S.

Treasury yield in effect at the time of grant for zero-coupon U.S.

Treasury notes with maturities approximately equal to the expected term of the stock option award.

• Expected Dividend —We utilize a dividend yield of zero, as we do not currently issue dividends, nor do we expect to do so in the future.

Restricted Stock Units

The fair value of RSUs is estimated based on the fair value of our Class A common stock on the date of grant.

The fair value of RSUs that are expected to vest is recognized as compensation expense over the requisite service period.

The fair value of purchase rights granted under our employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) is estimated using the component measurement approach with valuations of the components based on the Company’s stock price on the date of the grant and/or the Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model, as appropriate for the applicable components.

The fair value of the purchase rights is recognized over the requisite service period.

We recognize forfeitures as they occur, rather than estimate expected forfeitures.

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis