What they do
ZipRecruiter, Inc., of Santa Monica, California, runs an online employment marketplace that connects job seekers with employers. Employers pay through subscription plans or performance-based campaigns; in the third quarter subscription revenue rose 7% and performance-based revenue 13%.
- ZIP
- $5.64 -4.7%
- US microcaps (IWC)
- -2.1%
- When
- Nov 12, 2026
Prices from Yahoo Finance; daily closes. Not adjusted for dividends.
Why we picked it
- 018.2%
Growth is speeding up. Revenue rose 8.2% to $124.4M in the third quarter, after a 5.2% rise in the second quarter and a 2.3% fall in the first. Subscription revenue rose 7% and performance-based revenue 13%, and the 10-Q credits a higher number of Quarterly Paid Employers, up 10% from a year earlier, and an overall increase in employer spending. The offset: the CEO says hires and quits were relatively flat from a year earlier and from the second quarter, so the growth is not coming from a busier job market. See the numbers
- 02$10.9M
Costs down, profit up. Total operating expenses fell 6.1% to $100.9M while gross profit rose to $111.8M, for operating income of $10.9M against a $5.0M operating loss a year earlier. Research and development fell 18% to $25.3M, mainly on lower headcount (10-Q). Net income was $5.1M, 6 cents a share, against a $9.8M loss, but income tax took $4.6M of the $9.7M of pre-tax income. See the numbers
- 03$299.3M
Over half the bonds bought back below face value. This year the company repurchased $299.3M of its 5% notes due 2030 for $236.8M, about 79 cents on the dollar, and booked a $60.0M gain. $250.7M of notes remain, and quarterly interest expense fell to $3.3M from $7.4M. The offset: cash and marketable securities fell from $409.1M at the end of 2025 to $174.7M of cash at 30 September.
- 044.5M
Fewer shares, but insiders are selling. The company bought back 4.5M of its own shares for $13.9M in the first nine months, has $107.3M left under its program, and diluted shares fell 3.5% to 83.2M. No insider has bought on the open market in the past year, and EVP and Chief Technology Officer Boris Shimanovsky sold 30,000 shares at a weighted $4.70 on 4 November under a 10b5-1 plan. At 9 April, CEO Ian Siegel's family trust held 13.2M shares, about 16% of the company and about 79% of the vote.
The numbers behind it
Each bar is a quarter as ZipRecruiter, Inc. filed it; hover one for its filing, or select it to open the filing.
The risk
The balance sheet still shows a stockholders' deficit of $27.3M at 30 September, and the $250.7M of notes due January 2030 are more than the $174.7M of cash. The nine-month net income of $43.8M includes the $60.0M gain on the bond buybacks; without it nine-month pre-tax income would have been $4.0M. The CEO says hires and quits were flat, so growth depends on winning more employers in a slow hiring market. Officers keep selling under 10b5-1 plans and no insider has bought in the past year, and through his family trust the CEO held about 79% of the vote at 9 April. The stock rose 54% on 10 Nove
Against its peers
ZipRecruiter, Inc. next to listed companies in its industry closest to it in size, on growth, margins and valuation, each as it reported. Pick a figure; hover a company to light it.
Compare a figure
Gross margin, by quarter, Q4 '23 to Q3 '26
- ZipRecruiter ZIP
- 89.8%
- Ceva CEVA
- 85.4%
- Nextdoor NXDR
- 83.3%
- Bumble BMBL
- 73.4%
- Rackspace RXT
- 18.6%
Gross profit over revenue, GAAP; from the earnings release where the filing data has none. A gap means a figure it needs is not stated for that period.
- Ceva Inc CEVA
- Same industry code as ZIP (7370, services-computer programming, data processing, etc.); similar in size: market value about $769M against ZIP's $485M.
- Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. NXDR
- Same industry code as ZIP (7370, services-computer programming, data processing, etc.); similar in size: market value about $787M against ZIP's $485M.
- Bumble Inc. BMBL
- Same industry code as ZIP (7370, services-computer programming, data processing, etc.); similar in size: market value about $793M against ZIP's $485M.
- Rackspace Technology, Inc. RXT
- Same industry code as ZIP (7370, services-computer programming, data processing, etc.); similar in size: market value about $823M against ZIP's $485M.
Chosen automatically by industry code and size: US-listed companies with the pick's SEC industry code (SIC), closest in market value, with the rest of its three-digit industry group filling in when the code has fewer than three. Market value is the latest share count filed with the SEC times the last price from Yahoo; growth and margins come from each company's own filings.
The full analysis
ZipRecruiter ($ZIP): faster growth, an operating profit and over half its bonds bought back below face value
Our view: bullish, because ZipRecruiter's revenue growth picked up for a second quarter running, to 8.2% in the third quarter, it turned a $5.0M operating loss into $10.9M of operating income, and this year it bought back $299.3M of its 5% notes due 2030 for $236.8M. The case needs paying employers to keep growing in a slow hiring market: the CEO says hires and quits were flat, the balance sheet still shows a stockholders' deficit, and the stock rose 54% on the day after the results.
The thesis
ZipRecruiter, Inc., of Santa Monica, California, runs an online employment marketplace that connects job seekers with employers (release). Employers pay through subscription plans or performance-based campaigns (10-Q). Our case is that the business is growing again without a busier job market, that cost cuts made the growth profitable, and that the bond buybacks cut both the debt and the interest bill.
The evidence
Growth is speeding up. Revenue rose 8.2% to $124.4M in the third quarter, after a 5.2% rise in the second quarter and a 2.3% fall in the first (10-Qs). Subscription revenue rose 7% and performance-based revenue 13% (10-Q). The 10-Q credits a higher number of Quarterly Paid Employers, up 5% from the second quarter and 10% from a year earlier, and an overall increase in employer spending (10-Q). Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA both came in above the high end of the company's guidance (release).
Costs down, profit up. Total operating expenses fell 6.1% to $100.9M while gross profit rose to $111.8M, for operating income of $10.9M against a $5.0M operating loss a year earlier (10-Q). Research and development fell 18% to $25.3M, mainly on lower headcount (10-Q). Net income was $5.1M, 6 cents a share, against a $9.8M loss, though income tax took $4.6M of the $9.7M of pre-tax income (10-Q). Adjusted EBITDA was $20.8M, a 17% margin, against $9.2M a year earlier (release, 10-Q).
Over half the bonds bought back below face value. This year the company repurchased $299.3M of principal of its 5% notes due January 2030 for $236.8M, about 79 cents on the dollar, most of it in private deals in June, and booked a $60.0M gain (10-Q). $250.7M of notes remain, and quarterly interest expense fell to $3.3M from $7.4M (10-Q). Cash and marketable securities fell from $409.1M at the end of 2025 to $174.7M of cash at 30 September to pay for it (10-Q).
Fewer shares. The company bought back 4.5M of its Class A shares for $13.9M in the first nine months and has about $107.3M left under its program (10-Q). Diluted weighted shares fell 3.5% to 83.2M (10-Q). Nine-month operating cash flow was $27.3M against $3.2M a year earlier (10-Q).
What the market is missing
The stock closed at $5.92 on 11 November, a market value of about $483.5M on the 81.7M Class A and Class B shares on the 10-Q cover (Yahoo Finance and Nasdaq, 10-Q). With $174.7M of cash against $250.7M of notes, net debt is about $76M, against about $141M at the end of 2025 before the buybacks (10-Q, 10-K). The notes left cost $3.3M of interest a quarter, against $10.9M of operating income (10-Q).
The risks
The balance sheet shows a stockholders' deficit of $27.3M at 30 September, and the notes left are more than the cash (10-Q). The nine-month net income of $43.8M includes the $60.0M gain on the bond buybacks; without it nine-month pre-tax income would have been $4.0M (10-Q). The CEO says hires and quits were relatively flat from a year earlier and from the second quarter, so growth depends on winning more employers in a slow hiring market (release). No insider has bought on the open market in the past year, and officers sell under 10b5-1 plans: EVP and Chief Technology Officer Boris Shimanovsky sold 30,000 shares at a weighted $4.70 on 4 November (Forms 4). At 9 April, CEO Ian Siegel's family trust held about 79% of the vote through the Class B shares (proxy). The stock rose 54% on 10 November and is up about 250% from its $1.69 close on 12 February 2026 (Nasdaq, Yahoo Finance).
What would change our mind
Paid employer growth stalling, operating expenses rising faster than revenue, the remaining cash spent on buybacks while the deficit persists, or new debt.
Sources: ZipRecruiter third-quarter 2026 results release (8-K Exhibit 99.1, 9 Nov 2026); 10-Q for the quarter to 30 Sep 2026 (9 Nov 2026) and its Exhibit 31.2; 10-Qs for the quarters to 31 Mar and 30 Jun 2026; 2025 10-K (25 Feb 2026); 2026 proxy statement (24 Apr 2026); 8-K of 28 Jul 2026; Form 4 filed 6 Nov 2026; closes from Yahoo Finance and Nasdaq, 11 Nov 2026.
By the numbers
| Quarter | Revenue | Gross margin | Net income | Cash | Debt | Diluted shares | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2630 September 2026 | $124.4M | 89.8% | $5.1M | $174.7M | $248.7M | 83.2M | 10-Q, 9 November 2026 |
| Q2 2630 June 2026 | $118.1M | 89.3% | $43.4M | $129.7M | $253.3M | 82.7M | 10-Q, 5 August 2026 |
| Q1 2631 March 2026 | $107.5M | 88.9% | -$4.7M | $251.0M | $545.1M | 83.7M | 10-Q, 7 May 2026 |
| Q4 25*31 December 2025 | $111.7M | 89.1% | -$835K | $188.0M | $544.8M | n/a | 10-K, 25 February 2026 |
| Q3 2530 September 2025 | $115.0M | 89.1% | -$9.8M | $211.8M | $544.5M | 86.3M | 10-Q, 9 November 2026 |
| Q2 2530 June 2025 | $112.2M | 89.3% | -$9.5M | $203.5M | $544.2M | 90.6M | 10-Q, 5 August 2026 |
| Q1 2531 March 2025 | $110.1M | 89.4% | -$12.8M | $221.1M | $543.9M | 98.1M | 10-Q, 7 May 2026 |
| Q4 24*31 December 2024 | $111.0M | 89.6% | -$10.8M | $218.4M | $543.6M | n/a | 10-K, 25 February 2026 |
Source: the company's 10-Q and 10-K filings on SEC EDGAR, as tagged in their XBRL data. Each quarter uses the most recent filing that reports it, so restated quarters compare cleanly. Quarters are labelled by the calendar quarter they end in. Debt is current plus long-term debt; net income is as reported, including any discontinued operations. *Fourth quarter: the full year in the 10-K less the first nine months. n/a: not reported for that quarter on its own.
Insiders
The Siegel Family Trust (CEO Ian Siegel and Rochelle Siegel, co-trustees) own 16.2% of the shares (140,318 Class A and 13,029,486 Class B shares, about 16% of the 81.5M shares outstanding and about 79% of the vote, at 9 April 2026. Directors and executive officers as a group (12 persons) held 2,419), according to the DEF 14A proxy statement, 2026 filed 24 April 2026, as of 9 April 2026.
What to watch
- 15 January 2027
Semiannual interest payment on the $250.7M of 5% notes due 2030; the company says it may retire more of them through open-market or private purchases. 10-Q for the quarter to 30 Sep 2026, 9 Nov 2026
- Late February 2027
Fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results, against the full-year outlook the company updated on 9 November. Last year the 10-K was filed on 25 February. 8-K Item 5.02, filed 28 Jul 2026; Q3 2026 release, 9 Nov 2026
Sources: Q3 2026 release and 10-Q (9 Nov 2026), close 11 Nov 2026.
Returns: closes two of Nasdaq, Cboe and Yahoo Finance agree on within 1%, adjusted for splits, not for dividends.