What Happened?
Shares of online real estate marketplace Zillow (NASDAQ: ZG) jumped 2.9% in the afternoon session after it announced a partnership with Esusu to expand its rent reporting services nationwide, making it easier for renters to build their credit history. Through the new program, any renter, not just those paying through Zillow, could have their on-time rent payments reported to all major credit bureaus for an annual fee of $20. The partnership built upon a previous Zillow program that had already helped over 141,000 renters. Esusu, the market leader in this field, reported that renters in its program saw an average positive credit score increase of 45 points. This initiative was designed to help renters improve their financial standing, potentially moving them closer to homeownership.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $69.27, up 3.4% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Zillow’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 12 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 7 days ago when the stock dropped 2.9% as a confluence of negative economic data pointed to a weak economy. The latest Survey of Consumer Expectations from the New York Fed revealed that households' short-term inflation expectations rose, while their outlook on the labor market deteriorated. Consumers expressed greater concern about potential job losses and expected lower earnings growth, factors that directly impact discretionary spending. Adding to the unease, Chief Economist at Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, warned that 22 states demonstrated clear signs of a recession, placing the broader U.S. economy in a precarious position. The U.S. government shutdown further dampened sentiment, threatening to weigh on incomes and purchasing power.
Zillow is down 1.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $69.27 per share, it is trading 20.2% below its 52-week high of $86.76 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Zillow’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $670.18.
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