ZipRecruiter (ZIP) Q3 2026 Earnings Report

The call was strongly positive. Revenue growth accelerated to 8% year-over-year, adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 17%, paid employers and engagement metrics reached notable highs, AI platform traffic nearly doubled, and full-year revenue and EBITDA expectations improved relative to earlier expectations. The main challenges were the low-hire, low-fire labor market, expected seasonal hiring softness in Q4, a 2% year-over-year decline in revenue per paid employer, uneven vertical performance and reduced opportunity from Google Organic traffic.

For the fourth quarter of 2026, ZipRecruiter expects revenue in the range of $118 million to $122 million, representing 6% to 9% year-over-year growth, and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $15 million to $20 million, representing 14% to 16% adjusted EBITDA margin. This implies full year revenue of $468 million to $472 million, representing 4% to 5% year-over-year growth, and full year adjusted EBITDA of $61 million to $65 million, or an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13% to 14%, representing a meaningful expansion from 9% in 2025. The outlook assumes continued product momentum driven by the conversation strategy, partially offset by a typical seasonal slowdown in hiring, as well as sustained investment in sales and marketing, with spend managed in a disciplined manner and investment adjusted based on ROI, with the level of investment ultimately determining margin performance.