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EXp Realty doubled sales volume in Q3, earnings preview reveals

AJ Canaria of PlanOmatic / Inside Real Estate

EXp World Holdings (NASDAQ: EXPI), the parent company of the virtual cloud real estate brokerage eXp Realty, estimates its transaction volume and sales volume approximately doubled in the third quarter of 2020, according to a preliminary, unofficial earnings preview the company self-released Tuesday.

Glenn Sanford | Photo credit: eXp World Holdings

EXp World Holdings’ official earnings report is set to be released on November 9 and will provide a much fuller financial picture — including whether or not the company was profitable in the quarter — but the company released select numbers Tuesday showing transaction sides increased 95 percent, to 75,392, and sales volume increased 112 percent to $23.6 billion for the three months ending September 30, 2020.

“As one of the fastest-growing residential real estate brokerages, we continue to deliver on our value proposition to agents, consumers and shareholders,” Glenn Sanford, the founder chairman and CEO of eXp World Holdings, said in a statement. “Our world-class agents combined with a progressive cloud-based model provides a significant competitive advantage in the real estate industry, driving eXp to yet another quarter of record results.”

The company’s overall agent count continued to explode, hitting 35,877 at the end of the quarter, a year-over-year increase of 56 percent.

VirBELA, the virtual world platform owned by eXp World Holdings – and used by the company for its virtual cloud brokerage — is expected to report a revenue increase of more than 360 percent year over year, in the third quarter.

Companies typically release preliminary results when they expect to materially beat Wall Street consensus estimates or when the company’s stock is under considerable pressure despite sound fundamentals, John Campbell, an analyst with Stephens, told Inman.

“I think EXPI’s pre-release fits the bill relative to these considerations,” Campbell said. “I think that this was a smart and timely move by EXPI given how heavy the stock has been in recent weeks (EXPI down 26 percent over last 2 weeks vs. the Russell index down only [approximately] 2 percent).”

EXp World Holdings’ share price climbed 14 percent to $47.44 per share at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, even as the Dow Jones closed the day down slightly.

Redfin also released preliminary results this quarter, but that release coincided with the company’s senior notes offering, a move likely intended to entice more investors.

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