Compass posts strong Q1 following Anywhere acquisition

Compass, Inc. reported strong first-quarter 2026 financial results Tuesday — reflecting its first full quarter as a combined company following its acquisition of Anywhere in January. Year-over-year comparisons reflect combined results of Compass and Anywhere for 2025, providing a like-for-like comparison with the newly merged company.

The firm posted $2.7 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, up from $1.36 billion a year earlier.

Revenue increased 7% year-over-year with net income totalling $22 million, compared with a net loss of $51 million in Q1 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2026 reached $61 million.

Leaders including CEO Robert Reffkin credited disciplined expense management and rapid integration progress for the results, highlighting early success in extracting synergies from the Anywhere deal.

“We achieved strong financial and operational results in our first quarter as a newly combined company,” he said. “Revenue came in above the mid-point of our guide and adjusted EBITDA came in above the high-end of our guidance range driven by continued (operating expenses or operational expenditure) discipline and healthy revenue growth.”

Reffkin added that Compass continued to outperform the broader housing market — with transactions rising faster than overall industry activity and gross transaction value also exceeding market growth rates.

He said the company has enacted more than $250 million in cost synergies within just 82 days of closing the deal and raised long-term synergy targets.

“(That’s) allowing us to now raise our 2026 realized cost synergy target from $100 million to $200 million,” Reffkin said. “Of the $200 million, we expect to realize approximately $130 million through the (profit and loss statement) and the remaining $70 million as a (capital expenditure) synergy.

“We are also increasing our year 1 target for actioned cost synergies from $250 million to $300 million, and raising our total actioned cost synergy target from $400 million to $500 million over the next three years.”

Compass ended the quarter with $484 million in cash and $3.14 billion in long-term debt.

The company said both Moody’s and S&P assigned initial credit ratings with positive outlooks in April, citing financial strength and capital discipline.

Looking ahead, Compass expects second-quarter revenue between $4 billion and $4.2 billion — with adjusted EBITDA projected between $310 million and $350 million.

Phased marketing and ‘coming soon’ listings

Reffkin also touched on Compass’ positioning around phased marketing — particularly its “coming soon” strategy — as competitors begin adopting similar approaches.

“We are pleased to see several other portals following our lead on home seller choice and phased marketing,” he said. “Sellers want more choices, not less choices, and as coming soons are provided as an option to more sellers, they will realize they have more options and more choices on how to market a home.”

Reffkin said Compass believes its model remains differentiated even as rivals attempt to replicate it.

“While we see others in the marketplace attempting to recreate an offering similar to ours, for several reasons, we are confident that the Compass three-phase marketing option, with the coming soon phase also being on Redfin, is the best option for phase marketing in real estate,” Reffkin said.

Reffkin pointed to what he believes to be structural advantages in Compass’ approach — including direct buyer inquiries going to listing agents and fewer restrictions on showings and open houses.

He also highlighted growing consumer engagement with Compass’ platform and benefits of its partnerships with entities including Rocket, such as lead generation and mortgage incentives.

Recruiting momentum post-acquisition

The combined company’s scale is also beginning to influence agent recruiting, particularly as Compass rolls out new partnerships and lead-generation capabilities.

“We have also seen recruiting momentum pick up in the Compass brand since our announcement and principal agent recruiting is off to a faster start in Q2 than expected,” Reffkin said. “One of the reasons for this is their interest in the Redfin and Rocket partnership as they want to benefit from these leads, as well.”

This momentum comes as Compass’ agent count surpasses 84,000, with retention remaining strong — especially among top-producing agents, the company added.

AI strategy both defensive and offensive

Artificial intelligence (AI) was another major focus of the call, with Reffkin outlining both risks and opportunities for brokerages.

“This includes growing base of proprietary data from our three-phase marketing listings, which cannot be screened by foundational AI models,” he said. “Then, number two is trust, which we believe will become even more important in a world where AI agents will bring inaccurate and fake information into the market — like fake offers, fake listings, fake accounts, fake pictures and fake renderings.”

At the same time, Compass is using AI to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Reffkin said internal initiatives have already generated measurable savings and identified further opportunities.

“Our internal initiatives to train Compass employees on how to best use AI tools has freed up an estimated $2 million of resources by deploying targeted AI workflow automations across support, compliance and brokerage operations,” he said. “The team has identified potential annualized efficiencies in the vicinity of $23 million.”

He also noted other areas where AI is ramping up productivity.

“We now estimate that 30% to 40% of all new code written at Compass is produced by AI, which is helping accelerate product development velocity by 20%,” Reffkin said.

Beyond internal efficiencies, Compass is embedding AI into agent workflows to help identify opportunities, streamline tasks and close transactions faster.

Reffkin said these tools are designed to enhance — not replace — agents, reinforcing their role in complex transactions.

“Ultimately, we believe AI will be an accelerant to how much business our professionals do, and we are confident that we have the assets to help them win,” he said.