Douglas Elliman Inc. (DOUG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to Douglas Elliman's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded and simultaneously webcast. An archived version of the webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website located at investors.elliman.com for 1 year. I would like to turn the conference over to Douglas Elliman's Vice President of Finance, Heather Capriola.

Thank you, and good morning. On the call with me today is Michael Liebowitz, President and CEO of Douglas Elliman, Inc.; and Bryant Kirkland, CFO of Douglas Elliman, Inc. During this call, the terms adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss will be used as well as last 12 months or LTM metrics. These terms are non-GAAP financial measures and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss are contained in the company's earnings release, which has been posted to the Investor Relations section of the company's website. Before the call begins, I would like to read a safe harbor statement. The statements made during this conference call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks are described in more detail in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission's filings. Any forward-looking statements made during this call are made as of today, and the company undertakes no duty to update or revise any such statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Now I would like to turn the call over to the Chief Executive Officer of Douglas Elliman, Michael S. Liebowitz.

Thank you, Heather. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. On today's call, we will discuss the current operating environment and Douglas Elliman's financial results for the 3 and 6 months ended June 30, 2026. All numbers presented this morning will be as of June 30, 2026, unless otherwise stated. Before we turn to our second quarter 2026 results, I would like to begin by summarizing some of our recent accomplishments that I believe speak directly to the strong future, vision and momentum of this company. First and foremost, last month, we announced the launch of our AI transformation. I want to be clear about what this launch is and what it is not. This is not simply a technology upgrade. This is a fundamental redesign of how Douglas Elliman operates and more importantly, how we create value. For generations, residential real estate has been organized around the transaction. And for just as long, the data that those transactions generate has been monetized by nearly everyone, except the brokerages that created it. Third-party portals and platforms built billion-dollar businesses on the back of data that our agents and our clients produced. We are changing that model. Our AI transformation is being conducted on 2 parallel tracks. The first is a company-wide modernization of our technology infrastructure using Agentic AI powered by Google Cloud to automate routine workflows, consolidate our technology stack and beginning in 2027, gradually achieve meaningful savings in our non-commission operating expenses. This is not aspirational. We are already in this execution. The second track is the build-out of Elius, our newly formed intelligence company. Elius is designed to take Douglas Elliman's proprietary luxury real estate data and build a platform with the potential to generate new products, new revenue streams and entirely new businesses beyond brokerage. Our AI transformation is in early stages, but we are excited about where this technology can take us. Equally important, we are pursuing it from a position of financial strength with no long-term debt and over $100 million in cash. And Bryant will provide more detail on our financial position later in the call. This is a disciplined, self-funded pursuit. We expect to fund this initial Google Cloud rollout and Elius discovery and development work through existing resources with a modest net incremental investment as a substantial portion of the spending replaces our existing technology expenditures. Moving on to our international pipeline, which continues to build and represents one of the most exciting growth opportunities in front of us. In June, we expanded into Paris, bringing our French network to 15 offices across France, Monaco and St. Barts. The Paris launch marks the next phase of our international growth strategy and positions the firm in one of the world's most closely watched and coveted residential property markets, and we believe we are in the early stages of what Elliman Capital Global can become. We also continued meaningful expansion of Elliman Capital in the second quarter. In May, we launched Elliman Capital in California through a strategic partnership with Mark Cohen and Cohen Financial Group, bringing our full suite of lending solutions, conventional and jumbo loans, construction financing, commercial lending, bridge loans, FHA, VA and more to agents and clients across Greater Los Angeles. Then last month, we extended the platform into Texas with dedicated loan officers serving agents across Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin, respectively. In both markets, the platform provides clients with competitive rates fast approvals and the expert guidance of our experienced mortgage professionals, all under the Douglas Elliman umbrella. Each expansion deepens the client relationship across the full transaction and adds a revenue opportunity beyond the commission. When I look at the talent we are bringing into this company, I am reminded of why Douglas Elliman remains the destination of choice for the best luxury agents in the business. In the second quarter, we extended our domestic footprint across several luxury markets, including New Hampshire. We also added a Georgetown office, our fourth in the Mid-Atlantic as well as high-level agents in key markets. Our recruiting pipeline remains strong. Additionally, our agents continue to set the standard. 29 Douglas Elliman agents and teams were recognized in this year's RealTrends Verified + The Thousand ranking spanning California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, The Hamptons and New York City. We are building a company that is smarter, faster and more efficient, one that is better equipped to support our clients, agents and employees than any other brokerage in the industry. Every decision we make, every investment we pursue, including our AI transformation, Elliman Capital, international expansion and the talent and leadership we are bringing in is in service of one goal to build something that has never existed in residential real estate, a technology-forward luxury enterprise with a truly global reach, one that resets its cost structure through enterprise-wide AI and deploys its proprietary data through Elius to create intelligence capabilities, new revenue streams and a fundamentally different future for our stockholders, agents and staff. With that, I will turn it over to Bryant, who will provide more details on our financial operating performance for the 3 and 6 months ended June 30, 2026. Bryant?

Thank you, Michael. Beginning in May 2026, we began to see positive momentum in our financial performance as cash receipts from existing home sales in May and June 2026 were up 15% and 16%, respectively, from the prior year. This momentum has continued into July 2026 with cash receipts from existing home sales up 8% compared to July 2025. During the 3-month period from May to July 2026, the weighted average cash receipts from existing home sales increased by 13% from the comparable 2025 period with Florida, The Hamptons, Texas, Nevada and Boston leading the way. These results demonstrate that despite elevated mortgage rates, our luxury homebuyers are beginning to look past the macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties that were present in early 2026. Before reviewing the financial performance, we will provide some updates on our trends. First, our industry-best average price per transaction through the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, has been consistent with the 2025 year-to-date period at approximately $1.9 million per home sale. For the last 12 months, our average price per transaction has been $1.85 million per home sale compared to $1.77 million for the 12 months ended June 30, 2025. Next, our development marketing division remains the preeminent industry player with a pipeline of actively marketed projects of approximately $26.1 billion. Approximately $18.9 billion of gross transaction value is in Florida alone. In addition to this pipeline, we have another $9.7 billion of gross transaction value coming to market through September 2027. We believe this foundation of business bodes well for the future as we will recognize commission income from these projects when they close, which is generally expected to be between 2026 and 2032. And our balance sheet remains strong with $105 million of cash at June 30, 2026, and $121 million of cash and cash equivalents at July 31, 2026. The $16 million increase in cash and cash equivalents in July 2026 reflects the net receipt of $13 million from our settlement of a stockholder derivative action lawsuit. The strength of our balance sheet provides a competitive advantage as we implement plans to transform our technology infrastructure, scale our operations and strengthen our services platform. Moving to the operating performance of the business in the second quarter, which reflected stronger performance than both the second quarter of 2025 as well as the first quarter of 2026. Douglas Elliman reported $283.4 million in revenues compared to $271.4 million in the 2025 period. Excluding revenues from our property management business, which was disposed of in October 2025, revenues increased by 8.6% from the second quarter of 2025 to $283.4 million from $260.9 million. Net loss for the second quarter was $2.7 million or $0.03 per diluted share and narrowed from a net loss of $22.7 million or $0.27 per diluted share in the 2025 period. Net loss in the 2025 period included a noncash interest expense of $17 million associated with the decline in fair value of derivatives embedded within our convertible debt, which was retired in October 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was a loss of $986,000 compared to a loss of $3.6 million in the 2025 period. Adjusted net loss for the second quarter was $3.9 million or $0.05 per share compared to adjusted net loss of $7.3 million or $0.09 per share in the 2025 period. Moving to the operating performance of the business for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026. As a reminder, the year-over-year comparisons for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, are impacted by a difficult comparable due to an unusually strong first quarter of 2025. Douglas Elliman reported $497.8 million in revenues for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, compared to $524.8 million in the 2025 period. Existing -- excluding revenues from our property management business, revenues declined by 1.4% from the 2025 period to $497.8 million from $504.8 million. Net loss for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, was $19 million or $0.22 per diluted share compared to $28.7 million or $0.34 per diluted share in the 2025 period. Net loss in the 2025 period included a noncash charge of $17.7 million associated with our convertible debt, which was retired in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, was a loss of $11.4 million compared to a loss of $4.5 million in the 2025 period and adjusted net loss for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026, was $16.3 million or $0.19 per share compared to $11.6 million or $0.14 per share in the 2025 period. Thank you for your attention. And now back to you, Michael.