2023 Net Revenue reached a record high of $1.34 billion
2023 Net Income up 173% to a strong $99 million
2023 Adjusted EBITDA grew 23% to a record $330 million
Expects 2024 Net Revenue in the range of $1.42 billion to $1.44 billion and Adjusted EBITDA¹ in the range of $315 million to $335 million
Board of Directors authorized $500 million increase to share repurchase program
Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), the company that connects people with great local businesses, today posted its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2023 in the Q4 and Full Year 2023 Shareholder Letter available on its Investor Relations website at yelp-ir.com.
“Yelp delivered one of our strongest financial performances ever in 2023,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “We grew net revenue to a new high and nearly tripled our net income year over year. We also rolled out nearly 60 new product features and updates in the last 12 months. Looking ahead, we’re increasing our focus on our Services categories in 2024 as we execute on a robust product roadmap to build Yelp into the best place for consumers to connect with trusted service pros and drive more quality leads to advertisers. Our team has repeatedly shown that focusing on our product-led strategy can drive durable growth, and we remain confident in the significant opportunities ahead to drive shareholder value over the long term.”
“Investments in our long-term strategic initiatives have led to multiple records as local advertisers continued to see the value of Yelp’s high-intent audience in 2023,” said David Schwarzbach, Yelp’s chief financial officer. “Net revenue increased by 12% year over year to a record $1.34 billion, while net income grew to $99 million, representing a 7% net income margin. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 23% year over year, representing a 25% adjusted EBITDA margin. As we look ahead to 2024, we’re focused on executing against our growth initiatives for the long term.”
¹ Yelp has not reconciled its Adjusted EBITDA outlook to GAAP Net income (loss) because it does not provide an outlook for GAAP Net income (loss) due to the uncertainty and potential variability of Other income, net and Provision for (benefit from) income taxes, which are reconciling items between Adjusted EBITDA and GAAP Net income (loss). Because Yelp cannot reasonably predict such items, a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure outlook to the corresponding GAAP measure is not available without unreasonable effort. We caution, however, that such items could have a significant impact on the calculation of GAAP Net income (loss). For more information regarding the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this release, please see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below.
2023 Key Business Highlights
Yelp’s product-led business model drove a number of record results in 2023:
- Net revenue increased by 12% year over year to a record $1.34 billion, at the high end of the outlook range we provided in November 2023 and approximately $30 million above the high end of the initial outlook range we provided in February 2023.
- Net income increased by approximately by 173% year over year to $99 million, representing a 7% net income margin.
- Adjusted EBITDA grew 23% year over year to $330 million, $6 million above the high end of the outlook range we provided in November 2023 and $20 million above the high end of the initial outlook range we provided in February 2023, representing a 25% adjusted EBITDA margin.
- Total advertising revenue increased by 13% year over year to a record $1.28 billion, driven by strong advertiser demand.
- Ad clicks for the year returned to year-over-year growth, increasing 5% from 2022. Average CPC for the year increased 9% as a result of robust advertiser demand for Yelp’s valuable, high-intent clicks, demonstrated by record average revenue per paying advertising location.
- In Services, Yelp demonstrated consistent year-over-year revenue growth throughout 2023, resulting in a record $793 million of advertising revenue from Services businesses for the year, up 14% from 2022. Advertiser demand was particularly robust in the Home Services category, where annual revenue increased by approximately 20% year over year and at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20% from 2019.
- Advertising revenue from Restaurants, Retail & Other businesses increased by 10% year over year to a record $483 million, driven by growth in advertiser demand as reflected in average revenue per location. Average revenue per location grew sequentially in each quarter of 2023 to reach a record level in the fourth quarter.
- Advertising revenue from Yelp’s most efficient channels, Self-serve and Multi-location, together accounted for approximately 50% of Yelp’s 2023 advertising revenue. Self-serve revenue increased by approximately 20% year over year and Multi-location revenue grew by approximately 15% year over year.
- On the consumer side of Yelp’s business, Yelp introduced a number of new products to enhance the consumer experience with new discovery, review and Services features. These included an AI-powered search experience, Yelp Guaranteed and a more visual and interactive review-writing experience. While Yelp’s overall traffic levels remained approximately flat in 2023, Yelp users contributed 22 million new reviews in 2023 to reach a total of 287 million cumulative reviews. While app unique devices were down 3% year over year, mobile web traffic increased by 2% year over year.
Outlook
The company expects 2024 Net revenue will be in the range of $1.42 billion to $1.44 billion as our Services initiatives gain traction. The company also expects 2024 Adjusted EBITDA¹ will be in the range of $315 million to $335 million.
Quarterly Conference Call
Yelp will host a live webcast today at 2 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial results and outlook for the first quarter and full year 2024. The webcast of the Q&A can be accessed on the Yelp Investor Relations website at yelp-ir.com. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same website.
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