Compass used its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call to unveil a sweeping three-year exclusive alliance with Rocket Companies that will push the brokerage’s private and coming-soon listings onto Redfin—a direct shot at the “Zillow ban” just weeks after a federal judge handed Compass a significant setback in its antitrust lawsuit against the portal.
Under the deal, Compass’s “Coming Soon” listings will immediately appear on Redfin, with “Private Exclusive” listings to follow.
Compass says the partnership could add more than 500,000 listings to the Redfin platform, reaching what the companies describe as nearly 2 billion annual visits to Redfin.com.
The industry-shaking move came in tandem with the company’s first earnings call since closing the acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate in January, which transformed Compass into arguably the largest residential real estate company in the world, with roughly 340,000 real estate professionals across approximately 120 countries.
Record quarter
Compass posted Q4 revenue of 1.7 billion, a 23% year-over-year increase that beat the top of the company’s guidance range. Adjusted EBITDA reached $58.3 million—a 249% jump from $16.7 million a year ago—and the highest Q4 adjusted EBITDA in company history. On an organic basis, excluding mergers and acquisitions, revenue grew 11.3%, marking the 19th consecutive quarter Compass outperformed the market.
For the full year, Compass generated $6.96 billion in revenue, increasing 23.7% year-over-year. Full-year adjusted EBITDA of $293.4 million and operating cash flow of $216.7 million were also all-time company highs. Free cash flow for the year came in at $203.3 million.
Gross transaction value hit $65.6 billion for the quarter, up 21.5% year-over-year, reflecting a 19.7% increase in total transactions to 60,328. The company ended the quarter with 21,190 principal agents, up 19.4% year-over-year. Principal agent retention was 96.8%, and the company added 830 principal agents in Q4—a fourth-quarter record, achieved without being permitted to recruit any Anywhere agents while the merger was pending, noted CEO Robert Reffkin. Starting in Q1 this year, the company will no longer report principal agent counts due to the differing methodology between the legacy Compass and Anywhere businesses, but will continue reporting total agent counts.
The Rocket-Redfin partnership
Despite the newsworthy earnings, the bigger headline was the exclusive Rocket-Redfin partnership announcement.
Reffkin framed the deal explicitly as a defense of seller rights against Zillow’s Listing Access Standards, which require homes that are publicly marketed outside the MLS to be submitted to the portal within one business day.
“Home sellers should have the freedom to publicly market their home wherever and however they want, without the fear of being banned off a platform,” noted Reffkin. “The Rocket-Redfin partnership…stands up for home seller choice as it provides homeowners the flexibility in how they introduce their homes to the market and does not subject homeowners to any negative insights for listings off Zillow.”
He pressed the point further with a blunt analogy: “Imagine if Google banned everyone that advertised off Google. What would the world say?”
“When barriers are removed and supply grows, affordability improves,” said Varun Krishna, CEO of Rocket Companies, in a release. “Today’s challenge is friction in the homebuying process and a lack of inventory. By bringing search, agents and financing into one connected platform, we can help more sellers enter the market, reduce complexity for buyers and make homeownership more attainable.”
The partnership’s four components include 1.2 million high-intent buyer leads flowing to Compass agents from Redfin and Rocket Mortgage over the three-year term, structured to increase annually. All leads on Compass listings will route directly to the listing agent. Buyers will be offered either a one-percentage-point mortgage rate reduction in year one or a $6,000 lender credit through Rocket Mortgage. And Compass agent names and brokerage affiliations will be prominently displayed on every listing on Redfin — what Reffkin called “reclaiming the digital yard sign.”
“We believe listing agents should be connected directly with interested buyers, and sellers should have the freedom to list their homes in the manner and method they choose without fear of misleading insights that damage its value,” Reffkin said in a release. “Now, our real estate professionals can give sellers the choices they deserve, with increased exposure to 60 million potential buyers.”
A shot over the bow
The partnership lands at a pointed moment in Compass’s legal battle with Zillow. On Feb. 6, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York denied Compass’s bid to block Zillow’s listing rules, finding the company failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of its antitrust lawsuit.
Vargas also specifically rejected Compass’s claim that Zillow and Redfin had conspired to adopt aligned listing policies, calling the evidence “ambiguous at best.”
By announcing a commercial alliance with Redfin, Compass has now turned its former alleged co-conspirator into a business partner.
According to a statement from a Zillow spokesperson, “In a housing market already facing significant affordability challenges, approaches that limit broad listing visibility reduce transparency, constrain resale inventory access and fragment the marketplace. Broad access to real estate information has consistently been foundational to a healthy, competitive housing market that serves buyers, sellers and all agents.
“Zillow is the preferred real estate destination for consumers and continues to operate the most comprehensive and open digital real estate platform. We serve the full housing ecosystem — renters, buyers, sellers and agents — and provide an end-to-end suite of tools that supports consumers throughout the entire real estate transaction lifecycle, from search to financing to renting to selling. Real estate has always been competitive and dynamic, and we expect that to continue. We remain focused on executing our strategy, investing in innovation, and delivering long-term value for consumers, partners and shareholders.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:08 p.m. on 2/26/26 with a statement from Zillow.
