# YELP earnings call intelligence

LOPJLB CallCard / temporal rollup · freemium · [stock page](https://www.lopjlb.com/stock/YELP) · [Earnings tab](https://www.lopjlb.com/stock/YELP?tab=earnings)

Updated: 2026-08-06T06:36:21

Quarters analyzed: 8

## Cross-quarter narrative

Across eight quarterly calls, Yelp’s core narrative shifted from record revenue growth driven by double‑digit service expansion to a more nuanced balance of growth, macro headwinds, and heavy AI investment. Services continued to post double‑digit quarterly growth from 2024 Q2 through 2025 Q3, offsetting a persistent decline in the RR&O segment, which fell each quarter but was partially mitigated by the RepairPal acquisition and later by AI‑enhanced offerings. Beginning in 2025 Q1, margins accelerated, reaching a 27% adjusted EBITDA margin in 2025 Q2, before a modest dip in 2026 Q1 as AI and paid‑search spend rose. Guidance evolved from modest raises to lowered revenue outlooks and flat‑year expectations, reflecting growing macro uncertainty and a challenging local‑business advertising environment. Share repurchases remained a constant capital return tool, expanding authorizations and execution each quarter. AI product rollout accelerated, with Yelp Assistant, Host, Receptionist, and data‑licensing initiatives moving from on‑track to delivery, while the Hatch acquisition integration progressed. Persistent fears centered on macro uncertainty and local‑business advertising weakness, compounded by geopolitical budget pressures and early‑stage AI partnership risks introduced in 2026 Q1.

## Latest CallCard · Q1

Yelp Q1 2026: revenue +1% to $361M, AI transformation accelerating with Yelp Assistant, Host, Hatch, data licensing; other revenue +75% YoY; targeting $250M other revenue run rate by 2028; full-year guidance maintained despite Q1 beat. Challenging local business environment persists. Share repurchas

**Guidance:** maintained — Full-year net revenue $1.455-1.475B and adjusted EBITDA $310-330M maintained despite Q1 beat; Q2 net revenue $363-368M, adjusted EBITDA $70-75M; guidance reflects continued uncertainty from March dynamics and challenging local business environment.

**Tone:** mgmt 0.3 · Q&A pressure 0.4 · divergence 0.2

Management expresses confidence in AI transformation progress, offensive positioning, and long-term profitable growth while acknowledging challenging economic environment for local businesses.

### Demand visibility

Challenging environment for local businesses persists; advertising locations down 6% YoY, ad clicks down 10% YoY, CPC up 8%.

Services ad revenue +1% YoY to $234M; RR&O ad revenue -11% YoY to $99M; paying advertising locations 485K (-6% YoY); ad clicks -10% YoY driven by lower consumer demand in RR&O, partially offset by slight increase in services; average CPC +8% as advertiser demand outpaced consumer demand. Expect challenging environment to persist into Q2.

### Margins / costs

Q1 adjusted EBITDA margin 22%, down 7% YoY but $15M above outlook; investing in AI transformation and marketing, expecting strong EBITDA margin growth over several years.

Stock-based compensation reduced to 8% of revenue (target <6% by end 2027); investing in high-return AI areas (Yelp Host, Hatch, data licensing); productivity gains from AI in product/engineering, sales/marketing, G&A; Q2 adjusted EBITDA $70-75M; full-year adjusted EBITDA $310-330M excluding Hatch acquisition-related payments.

### Capital allocation

Three priorities: strategic transactions, traffic acquisition, share repurchases. Q1 repurchased $125M shares at $24.58 avg; $414M remaining authorization; 12% YoY decline in diluted shares.

Plan to continue repurchases in 2026 subject to market conditions; Hatch acquisition closed Feb 2026; reallocated resources to high-growth AI-driven revenue streams; disciplined approach to capital allocation.

### Milestones

- **Yelp Assistant full category rollout** [delivered]: Rolled out across all categories in April; 15% of Request-A-Quote projects driven by Yelp Assistant, up from 5% last year.
- **Yelp Host AI call answering** [on_track]: Surpassed 1.5M annual run rate calls in April, more than doubling from January; food ordering over phone in live testing.
- **Hatch acquisition integration** [on_track]: Closed Feb 2026; $34M ARR in March, up 92% YoY; added go-to-market and engineering resources.
- **Data licensing partnerships** [on_track]: New agreements with OpenAI; expanded integrations with Amazon Alexa, Apple Maps, Microsoft Bing, Meta.ai, Yahoo.
- **DoorDash food ordering partnership** [on_track]: Revenue up 88% YoY; hundreds of thousands of new restaurants available.
- **Vagaro and Zocdoc appointment booking integrations** [delivered]: New integrations enable beauty, wellness, fitness, healthcare appointment booking.
- **AI-powered advertiser support chatbot** [delivered]: Streamlines administrative activities for business owners.
- **$250M other revenue run rate target by end 2028** [new]: More than double Q1 2026 run rate; driven by transaction, licensing, and Hatch revenue.

### Fears / risks

- **Challenging local business environment**: Persisting economic headwinds for local businesses impacting advertising demand across categories.
- **Geopolitical impact on advertiser budgets**: Middle East conflict caused March softness in advertiser budgets, persisting into Q2.
- **Declining advertising locations**: Paying advertising locations down 6% YoY to 485K.
- **Ad click decline**: Ad clicks down 10% YoY driven by lower consumer demand in RR&O categories.
- **AI partnership maturity uncertainty**: Partnerships with AI players extremely early; many have not yet built out local experiences.
- **Advertising revenue pressure**: Core advertising revenue under pressure (Services +1%, RR&O -11%) while relying on other revenue growth.
- **Hatch integration execution risk**: Acquisition closed recently; scaling go-to-market and product integration carries execution risk.
- **Ambitious other revenue target**: $250M run rate by 2028 target requires sustained high growth across three nascent revenue streams.

### Key quotes

> “Yelp continued to accelerate its AI transformation in the first quarter.” — Jeremy Stoppelman

> “We are targeting an annual run rate of $250 million in other revenue by the end of 2028, more than double the run rate delivered in the first quarter of this year.”

> “We anticipate that the challenging economic environment for local businesses will persist into the second quarter and continue impacting advertising revenue across categories.”

> “We're very excited about the opportunities we have to really ride this AI wave and take an offensive position here.” — Jeremy Stoppelman

## Quarter one-liners

- **2026 Q1:** Yelp Q1 2026: revenue +1% to $361M, AI transformation accelerating with Yelp Assistant, Host, Hatch, data licensing; other revenue +75% YoY; targeting $250M other revenue run rate by 2028; full-year guidance maintained despite Q1 beat. Challenging local business environment persists. Share repurchas
- **2025 Q4:** Yelp posted record 2025 revenue of $1.46B (+4%) but guided flat 2026 revenue and lower EBITDA ($310-330M vs $369M) as RR&O pressure persists and AI investments ramp.
- **2025 Q3:** Yelp Q3: record revenue $376M, Services +7%, RR&O -2%; AI products (Yelp Assistant, voice AI) driving transformation; lowered FY revenue guide to $1.46-1.465B on macro headwinds, raised adj EBITDA guide to $360-365M.','tone': {'mgmt': 0.3, 'mgmt_rationale': 'Management highlights AI-driven product m
- **2025 Q2:** Yelp Q2 revenue $370M (+4% YoY), services +8%, R&O -5%; AI products (Yelp Assistant, AI search API) driving growth; Q3 revenue guided flat, full year narrowed. Margins expanded, share repurchases continue. Macro uncertainty persists. SBC reduction on track. AI search API usage up 10x in 2 months, $1
- **2025 Q1:** Yelp Q1 2025: 8% revenue growth to $359M driven by Services (+14% YoY, 16th straight double-digit quarter) while RR&O declines 3%; margins expand sharply (adj. EBITDA margin 24% +4pp); guidance widened amid macro uncertainty. Share repurchases continue. AI products (Yelp Assistant, call answering) a
- **2024 Q4:** Yelp delivered 6% revenue growth in 2024 with services up 11% offsetting RRNO decline; 2025 guide reflects macro uncertainty but services momentum continues with RepairPal integration and AI-driven product expansion.','tone': {'mgmt': 0.3, 'mgmt_rationale': 'Management highlighted record revenue, 15
- **2024 Q3:** Yelp Q3 revenue $360M (+4% YoY) with 28% adj. EBITDA margin; Services +11% (14th straight double-digit quarter) offsets RR&O -6%; full-year revenue guidance lowered $18M midpoint, EBITDA raised $14M; $80M RepairPal acquisition announced to accelerate auto services.','tone': {'mgmt': 0.3, 'mgmt_ratio
- **2024 Q2:** Yelp Q2 revenue up 6% to record $357M, services +11% (13th straight double-digit quarter), RR&O -3%; raised full-year EBITDA guide $10M despite RR&O headwinds; narrowing paid project acquisition focus to high-ROI leads.','tone': {'mgmt': 0.6, 'mgmt_rationale': 'Management highlighted record revenue,

## Theme arcs

- **Services revenue growth** (improving): Double‑digit quarterly growth persisted, reaching a 16th straight quarter in 2025 Q1
- **RR&O decline** (deteriorating): Consistent year‑over‑year declines each quarter, offset by services and AI initiatives
- **AI product rollout** (new): Introduced in 2025 Q2 and accelerated through 2026 Q1 with multiple launches
- **Revenue guidance trajectory** (deteriorating): Guidance moved from modest raises to lowered and flat expectations amid macro headwinds
- **Margin expansion** (improving): Margins rose to 27% in 2025 Q2 before a slight dip in 2026 Q1 as AI spend increased
- **Share repurchase program** (stable): Ongoing repurchases with expanding authorization and consistent quarterly execution
- **Macro uncertainty** (deteriorating): Repeated references to macro and policy uncertainty affecting outlook
- **Advertising demand pressure** (deteriorating): Declining ad locations and clicks highlighted in 2026 Q1
- **Acquisition integration** (improving): RepairPal integration noted in 2024 Q4; Hatch integration on‑track in 2026 Q1

## Fear persistence

- **Macro uncertainty** [recurring]: Repeatedly cited as affecting guidance and outlook
- **Challenging local‑business environment** [recurring]: Consistent concern over advertising demand from local merchants
- **Geopolitical impact on advertiser budgets** [new]: Mentioned in 2026 Q1 due to Middle East conflict
- **Declining advertising locations** [recurring]: Ad locations down YoY noted in 2026 Q1
- **Ad click decline** [recurring]: Clicks down YoY highlighted in 2026 Q1
- **AI partnership maturity uncertainty** [new]: Early‑stage AI partnership risks noted in 2026 Q1

## Guidance path

2024 Q2:vague → 2024 Q3:vague → 2024 Q4:vague → 2025 Q1:vague → 2025 Q2:maintained → 2025 Q3:vague → 2025 Q4:lowered → 2026 Q1:maintained

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