DOUG Douglas Elliman Inc
$1.60
Douglas Elliman Inc Q3 F2026 Earnings Call Transcript
AI Conference Call Analysis
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Conference Call Operator
Welcome to Douglas Elliman's third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. 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 An archived version of the webcast will be available on the investor relations section of the company's website located at investor.elliman.com for one year. I would like to turn the conference call over to Douglas Elliman, Vice President of Finance, Heather Capriola. Please go ahead.
Heather Capriola
Vice President of Finance
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 to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking. These risks are described in more detail in the company's securities and exchange commission filings. Now, I would like to turn the call over to the Chief Executive Officer of Douglas Elliman, Michael S. Liebowitz.
Michael S. Liebowitz
President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Heather. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. On today's call, we will discuss the current operating environment, Douglas Elliman's financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30th, 2026 and provide an update on the AI transformation we launched last quarter. All numbers presented this morning will be as of September 30th, 2026, unless otherwise stated. Before turning to the quarter, I want to step back for a moment and talk about where Douglas Elliman stands today and the significant progress we have made against the priorities we laid out earlier this year. Over the last two years, much of our attention has been focused on strengthening the foundation of this company and we have succeeded in doing exactly that. Douglas Elliman is stronger and more focused today, allowing us to shift the conversation to what comes next, how we grow, where we see the future and how we position Douglas Elliman to capture the opportunities ahead. We have sharpened our focus around what this company does best, luxury residential real estate. At the same time, we are building a more productive, more efficient organization around that core. We have also been very deliberate about what we want Douglas Elliman to stand for. Success for us is not about being the largest for the sake of being the largest. It's about quality. It's about people, technology and culture. It's about having exceptional agents and professionals and giving them the support We've accomplished a great deal, but we are not standing still. We are continuing to allocate our resources against the measures that matter most, productivity, quality, service, and ultimately, profitable growth. Technology is central to that strategy, and the transformation we introduced last quarter has continued to advance as part of our broader efforts to modernize the business and reduce costs. I said previously that this was more than a technology upgrade and that remains true. What is changing now is that the strategy is moving deeper into execution. Some of the most meaningful early opportunities are behind the scenes. There are workflows and processes across Douglas Elliman that can be simpler, faster, and better connected. Modernizing those systems should make the company more efficient while giving our agents and employees better tools and more time to focus on clients, relationships, and growing their businesses. That work is underway and we remain focused on gradually realizing meaningful efficiencies in our non-commissioned operating expenses beginning in 2027. We are also continuing our efforts to reduce our lease obligations and optimize our physical footprint, another important part of modernizing Douglas Elliman and creating a leaner, more efficient cost structure. At the same time, we are being more strategic about the spaces we maintain. creating purposeful environments that serve as both agent workspaces and client-facing showrooms with an elevated in-person experience designed to better support how our agents work and engage with clients today. Taken together, these efforts are about modernizing how Douglas Elliman operates and building a more efficient platform to support the business over time. Just as important as building the technology is putting the right people in place to turn it into results. Over the past quarter, we have added dedicated leadership around both technology and operations. Sharon Mills joined Douglas Elliman Realty as head of AI technology transformation. Sharon is overseeing our enterprise AI strategy and deployment, as well as the broader technology transformation across the company. Nick Pitino joined us as director of AI enablement, focusing on making sure these capabilities become part of how we actually get And I'm extremely pleased to have Jamie Gagliano back at Douglas Elliman Realty as Douglas Elliman Realty's Chief Operations Officer of Brokerage. Jamie brings significant experience working with agents and building businesses, and she is already looking across our national operations and how we simplify processes, strengthen support, and build a more scalable organization. This will also allow me to focus more of my attention on the broader strategic opportunities ahead, including ways to expand our services and build new revenue streams. Vision is important, but it only matters if you execute. These additions give us experienced leaders who can drive that execution across the firm. That brings me to talent. The residential real estate industry continues to evolve, and we are positioning Douglas Elliman to remain the destination of choice for the most talented professionals in luxury real estate. Our focus is on building the highest quality brokerage and investing in productive agents and future producers who represent the strength of the Douglas Elliman brand and our long standing commitment to exceptional service. To support them, we are making meaningful investments in our technology, operations, and agent resources while continuing to strengthen the high touch service and support that have long differentiated Douglas Elliman. We see a significant opportunity to bring those strengths together, the relationships expertise and trusted advice our agents provide, supported by a more modern and efficient operating platform that allows them to better serve their clients and grow their businesses. This is particularly important in the luxury markets where Douglas Elliman operates. These are highly personal and often complex transactions, and our clients continue to value the expertise, judgment, and market expertise of exceptional real estate professionals. Another important contributor to our long-term pipeline is development marketing, where our relationships with developers create an opportunity to do more across the life of a project. That can mean financing, capital relationships, and other services that sit naturally alongside the residential brokerage business. Over time, us expanding those capabilities can make Douglas Elliman more valuable to developers while creating additional and potentially more recurring sources of revenue for the company. Element Capital fits directly into that strategy. Bringing financing capabilities closer to our agents, clients, and developers expands the services we can provide and allows us to participate in more of the economics surrounding the residential transaction. That same principle guides how we think about growth more broadly. The most compelling opportunities are those that reinforce our core business, extend the reach of our agents and brand, and make sense financially. That is exactly how we are approaching geographic expansion, both domestically and internationally. Internationally, the Douglas Elliman brand is reaching more and more markets and more clients, and we are increasingly finding opportunities to generate value from the strength of our brand globally. Importantly, the economics of our international expansion have fundamentally changed. Where we once paid others to extend our global reach, today we are increasingly getting paid for the use of the Douglas Elliman brand. There are additional international markets we are evaluating, but the approach will remain thoughtful and disciplined. This is not about putting dots on a map. It's about finding the right partners in the right luxury markets where Douglas Elliman can add value and where the economics make sense to us. The same standard applies domestically. There are luxury markets where our brand platform and agent network can travel extremely well, and we will pursue those opportunities when the people, economics, and strategic fit make sense. Taken together, these initiatives represent an important evolution in the Douglas Elliman story. Douglas Elliman enters this next phase from a position of strength with a strong balance sheet, no long-term debt, a more focused business, and a clear path for growth. We are investing in talented people. We are modernizing the infrastructure beneath the company. We are giving our agents better tools. We are expanding our capabilities around new development and residential finance, and we are taking the Douglas Elliman brand into new luxury markets where the opportunity makes sense. Each of these efforts connects back to the same objective, a higher quality, more productive, and more profitable Douglas Elliman. There's a tremendous opportunity in front of this company, and we are excited about where Douglas Elliman is headed. With that, I will turn it over to Bryant, who will provide more details on our financial and operating performance for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026. Bryant?
Bryant Kirkland
Chief Financial Officer
Before reviewing the financial performance, we will provide average price per transaction during the nine months ended September 30th, 2026 at approximately $1.88 million per home sale. were to spend $1.87 million per home sale compared to 1.8 in September 30, 2025. Next, our average daily cash receipts were up 1.9% October 2025. However, because October 2025 receipts from existing home sales were down 2.7% from October 2000 division, continues to demonstrate significant skill and momentum With a pipeline of actively marked gross transaction value and another $11.8 billion of gross transaction value expected to come tomorrow, we believe this foundation of business bodes well for the future. as we would recognize commission income from these projects in 2026 and 2032. In particular, we see positive indicators of late $19.5 billion of gross transaction value of the $26 billion for most projects in Florida. We receive progress payments during the marketing progress.