Benzinga | Nov 3, 2021 10:13AM EDT

Why Zillow Shares Are Falling

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) shares are trading lower after the company reported third-quarter earnings results and said it will wind down its 'Zillow Offers' service.

Zillow reported $1.74 billion in sales this quarter, representing a 164.51 percent increase over sales of $656.69 million the same period last year.

"We've determined the unpredictability in forecasting home prices far exceeds what we anticipated and continuing to scale Zillow Offers would result in too much earnings and balance-sheet volatility," said Zillow Group co-founder and CEO Rich Barton.

The wind-down is expected to take several quarters and will include a reduction of Zillow's workforce by approximately 25%.

"While we built and learned a tremendous amount operating Zillow Offers, it served only a small portion of our customers," Barton said.

Zillow Group, Inc., a digital real estate company, operates real estate brands on mobile applications and websites in the United States. It operates through three segments: Homes; Internet, Media & Technology; and Mortgages.

Zillow's stock was trading about 19% lower at $70.55 per share on Wednesday at the time of publication. The stock has a 52-week high of $208.11 and set a new 52-week low of $70.54.