Compass, the largest residential real estate brokerage in Greater Washington, has made a major local acquisition, creating a giant with some of the region's highest-profile listings.

Compass CEO Robert Reffkin (Getty, Compass)While most national residential players ended the year licking their wounds, Compass capped off 2024 by flexing its muscles.The brokerage recorded a net loss of $40.5 million in the fourth quarter, a $43.2 million improvement in 2023, according to its latest earnings report.Revenue grew 26 percent to $1.4 billion in the third quarter, and transactions grew over 24 percent. Compass, which relied heavily on acquisitions to power its growth in 2024, said around 80 percent of its growth was organic in the fourth quarter. For the year, the company recorded $5.6 billion in revenue, up over 15 percent from 2023.The company’s quarterly market share grew to 5.06 percent from 4.41 percent.“Despite higher mortgage rates in a volatile environment, the company’s structural advantages and initiatives around [operating expense] containment are working,” said CEO Robert Reffkin.The company also recorded free cash flow of $26.7 million in the fourth quarter, marking the first full year in the company’s 12 years of operation to be free cash flow positive.Margin squeeze…for nowCommission expenses as a percent of revenue increased to 82.53 percent from 81.71 percent. Chief financial officer Kalani Reelitz attributed a quarter of the increase to acquisitions, and the remainder to geographic and changes in agent ranks.Operating expenses were $224.4 million in the fourth quarter, slightly above the same period in 2023. Reelitz said adjusting for M&A-related expenses and transaction costs, operating expenses were down five percent from the fourth quarter of 2023.Reffkin said he expects margins to improve as the company hires newer agents with lower splits. The company is also poised to expand its title, escrow and affiliate businesses following its acquisition of Christie’s International Real Estate, which is a 30 to 35 percent adjusted EBITDA margin business.Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was $16.7 million, an improvement of $40.4 million from the same period in 2023

Revenue in Q4 Grew 25.9% YoY and Organic Revenue Grew 20.9% YoYQuarterly Market Share Grew 65bps YoY to 5.06% and Organic Share Was Up 48bps$122 Million in Full-Year Operating Cash Flow; $150 Million Prior to NAR-related Settlement. NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Compass, Inc. (NYSE: COMP) ("Compass" or "the Company"), a leading tech-enabled real estate services company that includes the largest residential real estate brokerage in the United States by sales volume1, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2024. "Despite a year in which resale transactions experienced a 29-year low, Compass grew both Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA2 significantly and delivered $122 million in operating cash flow, or $150 million prior to the NAR-related settlement payment. As the market recovers, we believe the combination of our cost discipline and structural advantages, which include our end-to-end proprietary technology platform, national scale, network of top agents, and depth of inventory, positions Compass to capture significant upside," said Robert Reffkin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Compass