News Corp Q1 2025: Move Inc Records 2% Revenue Drop Amid Depressed Market Conditions

Realtor.com owner Move Inc. saw revenues dip slightly according to parent company News Corp's Q1 financial statement for the 2025 financial year.

Highlights include:

• News Corp's Digital Real Estate Services Segment sees revenues jump 13% YoY to $457 million
• Digital Real Estate Services EBITDA hits $140 million, up 15% YoY
• Move revenues of $140 million were down 2% YoY
• Real Estate revenue lags, down 4% YoY
• News Corp incurred $12 million of deal costs related to the withdrawn offer to acquire Rightmove

Robert Thomson, CEO at News Corp, commented:

“We have begun Fiscal 2025 robustly, with record first quarter revenue, strong net income and record first quarter profitability. Revenue rose 3 percent year-over-year to $2.58 billion, while our net income jumped 148 percent to $144 million. Total Segment EBITDA surged 14 percent to $415 million, and our EPS were 21 cents compared to 5 cents in same quarter last year. That we have achieved these record first quarter results in macro-conditions which are far from auspicious is compelling evidence of the successful transformation of News Corp over the past decade."

News Corp's positive numbers about digital real estate only tell half the story, with Australia's REA Group contributing the majority of revenues for the quarter.

The United States is suffering a highly depressed market with transaction numbers down by circa 33% since 2021 and the inevitable post-pandemic boom.

Realtor.com, which generates about 80% of its revenue from real estate transactions, saw slower performances for its ReadyConnect Concierge product and its lead-generation product.

News Corp said:

Revenues in the quarter increased $54 million, or 13%, compared to the prior year, driven by strong performance at REA Group. Segment EBITDA in the quarter increased $18 million, or 15%, compared to the prior year, due to higher contribution from REA Group, despite $12 million of deal costs related to the withdrawn offer to acquire Rightmove, and included a $3 million, or 3%, positive impact from foreign currency fluctuations.

Move’s revenues in the quarter decreased $2 million, or 1%, to $140 million, primarily as a result of lower real estate revenues. Real estate revenues, which represented 77% of total Move revenues, decreased 4%, driven by the ongoing impact of the macroeconomic environment on the housing market, which led to lower lead and transaction volumes.

Based on Move’s internal data, average monthly unique users of Realtor.com’s web and mobile sites for the fiscal first quarter grew 2% compared to the prior year to 77 million. Lead volume was down 1% year over year as it continues to be impacted by high mortgage rates.

Meanwhile, average monthly unique users of Realtor.com’s web and mobile sites for the quarter grew 2% YoY, to 77 million. Realtor.com still lays a valid claim to be the number two portal in the United States (behind Zillow).

However, stuttering financial performance and the imminent shift away from the lead diversion model that Zillow and Realtor.com rely on for large swathes of their respective revenues, means Andy Florance's CoStar Group—which on the flip side has racked up double-digit revenue growth for 54 consecutive quarters—means Move Inc and Realtor.com face a stern challenge in retaining its status as number two beyond web traffic figures.

It's a point 1000 Watt's Brian Boero made well on a recent episode of the PPW Podcast. Watch the full episode below: