RE/MAX on Thursday blew past analyst expectations for a second time this year, posting better-than-expected revenue and earnings per share during the third quarter of 2019.
In an earnings report, the company revealed it brought in $71.5 million in revenue — which represents a 30.4 percent year-over-year increase — during the quarter that ended on Sept. 30. The company also posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.61.
Analysts had expected RE/MAX to report $70.64 million in revenue and earnings per share of $0.59, according to financial research firm Zacks.
Additionally, RE/MAX said Thursday that it brought in $9.2 million in net income during the third quarter of 2019. Net income was up $1 million year-over-year.
The large franchisor also revealed that it saw a 3.5 percent year-over-year increase in its agent count. In total, RE/MAX now has 128,258 agents across the world, 84,067 of which are in the U.S. and Canada.
However, agent count in the U.S. alone actually declined slightly, while Canada saw a modest increase. The number of agents outside the U.S. and Canada grew by 15.7 percent year-over-year.
Adam Contos
In a statement, RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos said that “the successful launch of our booj technology platform, greater stability in U.S. agent count, continued double-digit growth in international agent count, and ongoing Motto Mortgage expansion were third-quarter highlights.”
RE/MAX stock was down slightly for the day Thursday before the company reported its earnings, but up about $2 per share for the year. However, the company’s share price has fluctuated significantly over the course of 2019. In April, it peaked at nearly $44 per share, then fell to less than $25 by September. Prices have steadily recovered over the past two months.
Credit: Google
Leading into Thursday’s earnings report, RE/MAX had already been experiencing a bullish year. The company last reported earnings in August, when it revealed during the second quarter of 2019 that it took in $71.4 million in revenue and had a net income of $8.6 million.
Those numbers were in line with analysts’ expectations for the company at the time.
However, RE/MAX’s numbers were even better during the first quarter of 2019. In May, the company revealed that during that quarter it brought in $71.2 million in revenue — a figure that easily surpassed analysts’ expectations.
RE/MAX also reported net income of $4.4 million during the first quarter of this year.
In addition to the strong financial numbers, 2019 has also seen RE/MAX making aggressive moves on a variety of business fronts. Early on, for example, the company focused on development of its end-to-end booj platform, then officially launched the product in August. The platform aims to streamline the day-to-day tasks of agents from lead generation to post-closing nurturing.
At the time of the platform’s launch, Contos revealed that his goal was to be the real estate industry’s technology leader.
In his statement Thursday, Contos further described the launch of booj as a “milestone event for RE/MAX” that has “helped energize our brokers.”
“After months of anticipation, our brokers and agents are extremely pleased with the new technology, which will help them better connect with clients and establish a far more effective digital presence,” Contos said.
Also in 2019, the large franchisor ended its nascent exclusive referral partnership with Redfin. That move came after the latter firm introduced a platform that allows consumers without buyer’s agents to make offers over the internet on Redfin-listed homes in certain markets.
And in February, RE/MAX revamped its consumer-facing website and app.
Contos ultimately explained Thursday in his statement that RE/MAX is now “starting to see positive traction from the multiple strategic moves we’ve made the past two years.”
“And although it’s still early,” he continued, “our recent performance coupled with the improving housing markets in both the U.S. and Canada gives us added confidence that we’ll end 2019 with momentum.”
Update: This post was updated after publication with additional information from RE/MAX’s earnings report.
