Date clarification: The report is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, 2026—today, not tomorrow—based on the event date provided. This preview is written ahead of that release.
CoStar enters 2Q26 with a relatively straightforward headline test: can it deliver the second consecutive quarter of material EBITDA outperformance while proving that the Homes.com investment is transitioning from a drag to a profitable growth engine?
The company exited 1Q with revenue growth of 23%, adjusted EBITDA up 100% year over year, and a raised full-year EBITDA outlook. For 2Q, management guided to $922–932 million of revenue, $160–180 million of adjusted EBITDA, and $0.27–0.30 of adjusted EPS. More important than merely reaching those ranges will be the quality of the result:
The stock closed at $29.19 on July 27, down roughly 19% from $36.24 immediately before 1Q earnings on April 28. That setup suggests the market is looking for proof—not just promises—on bookings, Homes.com unit economics, and the path to higher margins.
| Metric | 2Q26 guidance | Midpoint | 2Q25 actual | Implied YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $922–932M | $927M | $781M | +19% |
| Commercial revenue | $479–484M | $482M | $446M | +8% |
| Residential revenue | $443–448M | $446M | $335M | +33% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $160–180M | $170M | $85M | +100% |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 17%–19% | 18% | 11% | ~700 bps |
| Adjusted EPS | $0.27–0.30 | $0.285 | $0.17 | +59%–76% |
Source: CoStar’s 1Q26 earnings release and call, April 28, 2026.
The revenue guide calls for continued high-teens reported growth, with Residential the major contributor. The earnings debate, however, is centered on margins: the midpoint implies adjusted EBITDA margin of roughly 18.3%, versus about 10.9% in 2Q25.
Homes.com is the central swing factor for CSGP. It remains a large investment, but management has framed 2026 as the year when its residential segment reaches profitability.
The earnings release should clarify whether Homes.com’s growth is becoming more productive rather than simply more expensive. The most valuable datapoints would be: subscriber additions, annualized run-rate revenue, net-new bookings, ARPU/pricing realization, retention, and sales-force productivity.
Management has maintained a $550 million net investment target for Homes.com in 2026, so an improvement to breakeven segment profitability in 2Q would be a meaningful signal that the broader Apartments.com/Homes.com ecosystem can absorb that spend. Conversely, a miss in Residential profitability—especially if paired with weak bookings—would likely renew concerns that monetization is lagging traffic and engagement investments.
Commercial Real Estate generated $472 million of revenue in 1Q, up 15% year over year, with adjusted EBITDA of $161 million and a 34% margin. For 2Q, the company guided commercial revenue to $479–484 million, or 7–9% year-over-year growth.
Key sub-businesses to watch:
Commercial growth in line with guidance is likely acceptable; a reacceleration in CoStar or Apartments.com, or stronger-than-expected LoopNet price realization, would improve the narrative.
CoStar reported $67 million of annualized net-new bookings in 1Q, up 20% year over year but sequentially lower for a third straight quarter. Management argued that seasonality matters—2Q is historically its strongest bookings period, helped by the Apartmentalize industry event—and that the sales-force expansion during 2025 should increasingly support productivity.
Investors are likely to focus heavily on whether 2Q bookings show the anticipated seasonal step-up.
Constructive outcome - Meaningful sequential improvement in total net-new bookings; - Further acceleration in Homes.com bookings; - Evidence that field-sales additions and Homes.com pricing are improving productivity.
Concerning outcome - Another weak or sequentially declining bookings figure; - Slow agent additions or limited pricing contribution at Homes.com; - Commentary that sales-force ramping will take longer than expected.
Bookings do not translate one-for-one or immediately into reported revenue, but they are an important indicator of the subscription growth required to support CoStar’s medium-term growth algorithm.
In 1Q, CoStar maintained its full-year revenue guidance of $3.78–3.82 billion but raised adjusted EBITDA guidance to $780–820 million, from a prior midpoint that was $30 million lower. Full-year adjusted EPS guidance increased to $1.32–1.39.
At the midpoint, the company’s guidance implies:
That creates a high bar for the back half. While some of the improvement is expected to come from Residential turning profitable, personnel efficiencies, sales-force maturation, and operating leverage, investors will likely scrutinize whether management reaffirms the full-year EBITDA target and explains the cadence of margin expansion.
CoStar finished 1Q with approximately $1.2 billion of cash and cash equivalents and $994 million of long-term debt. It repurchased $505 million of stock in 1Q, including the bulk of an accelerated share repurchase, retiring 11.4 million shares. Management expected a further $195 million of repurchases over the remaining nine months of 2026.
The buyback is supportive of adjusted EPS, but it also raises the importance of sustained operating cash generation and disciplined spending while Homes.com continues to consume investment dollars.
On July 13, 2026, CoStar announced that CFO Christian Lown will step down effective July 31, 2026. Robin Rossmann, formerly Managing Director of Europe, will become CFO. The company emphasized Rossmann’s record of reducing the European cost structure by approximately $51 million while producing double-digit revenue growth.
The timing means investors will likely seek reassurance on:
Management stated that Lown’s departure was not due to a disagreement regarding company operations, policies, or practices. Still, a CFO change immediately around earnings adds an avoidable uncertainty to the event.
CSGP’s 2Q report is less about whether it can meet a high-teens revenue-growth target and more about whether it can convert that growth into credible, durable margin expansion.
A favorable report would feature revenue and EBITDA at or above the upper end of guidance, positive Residential adjusted EBITDA, a clear sequential recovery in bookings, and strong evidence that Homes.com price increases and sales-force investments are improving monetization. Such an outcome would validate management’s claim that 2026 marks the transition from investment-heavy growth to profitable scaling.
The downside risk is a more familiar combination: growth that remains intact but bookings disappoint, Homes.com’s economics fail to improve fast enough, or management’s explanation of the large second-half EBITDA step-up lacks conviction. Given the stock’s decline into the report and the CFO transition, investors are likely to reward tangible execution rather than aspirational engagement metrics alone.