EverQuote, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVER) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Then turning to the first part of your question, when you look at the economics, I’d say the greatest opportunity really is if we see greater strength around carrier demand and the return to the market, we have a history of when we see greater demand, that translates pretty quickly into a higher VMM. And although we are below the VMM line, we are often making choices between growth and EBITDA usually when we see that. That translates into stronger EBITDA than expected, largely because it takes us time to deploy those dollars for growth. And so I think if you look and say what is certainly anything under the VMM line, we have that choice between investing for growth and today in our guidance, we have some investments baked in for growth around our agency business, both first party and third party.

And then I think beyond that, the leverage, the kind of accretion for EBITDA on additional VMD is very strong after that. And that would be the upside that we could see if we see stronger demand returning over the course of the year.

Daniel Day: Okay. That’s all I’ve got, guys. I appreciate the time.

John Wagner: Thanks, Dan.

Jayme Mendal: Thanks, Dan.

Operator: Thank you, Mr. Day. There are no additional questions waiting at this time. I’ll pass the conference back over to Jayme Mendal for closing remarks.

Jayme Mendal: Thank you. So we were really tested in ’22 with the most severe hard market in auto insurance memory. And I got to say, I’m incredibly proud of how the team rose to the occasion and adapted to it. Despite a significantly worse demand scenario than we predicted at the beginning of last year, we managed to drive efficiency and deliver an adjusted EBITDA above our original 2022 guidance. Looking ahead, we are working hard to restore growth, to improve adjusted EBITDA and generate positive cash flow from operations. And as we do, we are excited to just continue to build on the strategic momentum in our pursuit of an industry defining destination for insurance shopping in the digital age. Looking forward to sharing updates on our progress as the year goes on. Thank you all.

Operator: That concludes the EverQuote fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings call. Thank you for your participation. I hope you have a wonderful day.