Vacasa Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
November 7, 2023

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Operator

Thank you for standing by. My name is Greg, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Vacasa Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session.

Operator

Thank you so much. I would like to now turn the call over to Jay Ginsko, Vice President, Investor Relations. And with that, Jay, you have the floor.

Speaker 1

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Vacasa's Q3 2023 earnings call. I'm pleased to be joined today by CEO, with Rob Graber and CFO, Bruce Schumann. Before we begin, let me cover a few administrative details. This call contains information that speaks only as of today's date. We have posted a shareholder letter on the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.

Speaker 1

Vaca.com that will be referenced by our speakers. Comments made during this conference call and in our shareholder letter contain forward looking statements. Call. Such statements include those about future expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, strategies, targets, estimates, call. Objectives, events, conditions and financial performance, including guidance for future period results, which are based on what the company believes call is realizable as of today's date.

Speaker 1

We caution you that various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Call. For additional information concerning these risks and uncertainties, please read the forward looking statements section in the shareholder letter we issued earlier today and the forward looking statements and risk factors section in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. During this call, we will focus primarily on various non GAAP financial measures. Information regarding our non GAAP financial results, including a reconciliation of non GAAP results to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may be found in our shareholder letter.

Speaker 1

These non GAAP measures should be considered in addition to our GAAP results Call and are not intended to be a substitute for our GAAP results. And now, I would like to hand the call over to Rob Graber. Rob?

Speaker 2

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm pleased to be with you all today to share the progress the business has made during the Q3 and to review our financial results and outlook. We wrapped up the Q3, Vacasa's seasonally strongest, facilitating over 500,000 reservations, with the majority of those taking place in July August, the second 2 months of our 3 month peak season. That's over 500,000 family trips, weekend getaways, overdue breaks and highly anticipated summer vacations. Call.

Speaker 2

For our team, for our industry, bringing vacations home means creating moments for family and friends, Moments that happen at kitchen counters or around coffee tables and over board games. And in that way, moments that are unique to the vacation rentals category and so important for homeowners and guests. We are still navigating a dynamic macroeconomic and industry environment. Demand for our category in leisure markets looks different today during the highs of 2021 2022. And while reservation volume remains robust, many homeowners across the industry are now making less from their homes than in those prior years.

Speaker 2

While these dynamics have challenged our business in recent periods, notably in revenue and homeowner retention, We remain highly focused on delivering for our homeowners and guests. And once again, we generated 1,000,000 in income for our homeowners during the Q3. I remain extremely optimistic about Vacasa's potential and continue to believe we are by far the best option for homeowners who want to participate in the vacation rental industry. Our scale also uniquely positions Vacasa to develop technology driven products that results in a truly differentiated experience for our homeowners and our guests. We are working better and more efficiently in all our functions and you can see that in our results.

Speaker 2

We believe in the vast majority of our markets based on our data, Vacasa listings are generating more revenue than the industry. Last November, when I spoke with you all for the first time, I outlined 4 critical priorities I wanted to tackle during my 1st year at Vacasa. These were improving execution in local markets and customer support functions unlocking the potential of the individual sales approach Developing the right technology products and service offerings and ruthlessly prioritizing our business needs to drive profitable execution. Let me be clear, there is more to do and more that will get done. But as we look back over the past 12 months, we have made significant progress against each priority.

Speaker 2

I'm proud of how our local teams performed across our markets during our 3rd and busiest quarter. They delivered outstanding We have a very strong hospitality experience to our guests while also leveraging some of our latest technology tools to increase efficiency. For example, Earlier this year, we told you about new capabilities in the automated scheduling systems used by our field operations teams. These capabilities help our teams better manage daily tasks, including ensuring homes are in top condition, ready to welcome guests. These features are particularly helpful during peak season when home utilization is high and there may only be a small window between guest stays and it's imperative that we have a well planned schedule for our local teams.

Speaker 2

These systems help our local teams get to our homes at the right time with the right work planned ready to be completed on time and it's working. During the Q3, we achieved a higher property condition score every single week compared to last year based on guest feedback, while operating in a more efficient manner. In the spring, we also refined a number of internal processes around housekeeping, meeting, including sharing post clean photos from our clean inspection tool with owners. This had 2 important benefits. 1st, Our clean scores from guests have been higher year over year in Q3.

Speaker 2

2nd, homeowners see real time images of their home after every inspection that gives them the Peace of mind that their home is being taken care of and we received positive homeowner feedback on this feature. It's just another touch point that keeps them connected to their home and allows them to see the work our field teams do. The positive results from our automated scheduling tool and enhanced photo inspection process are important proof points that our investment in differentiated technology is paying dividends. It's driving efficiency in our operations and more importantly, it's resulting in a better experience for homeowners and guests. Over time, these products will only get better with 500,000 reservations, you have 500,000 new opportunities to identify areas of Improvement.

Speaker 2

Our individual sales approach, the primary way in which we add homes to our platform had another quarter of improving productivity year over year and another quarter of developing and building on the local market presence and expertise that attracts our prospective homeowners. We continue to refine the way we attract homeowners, Shifting more of our resources to local channels and initiatives. This supports our locally based sales and operating teams, allowing them to participate in community events and lets us sponsor unique local activities. We had a blast at the last annual Falmouth Road Festival on the Massachusetts Coast and the Golf Jam Festival in Panama City Beach, Florida. We're also giving potential homeowners more reasons to choose Vacasa over our local peers.

Speaker 2

For example, Vacasa was selected as a launch partner for the new offering from American Express Travel, Select Homes and Retreats, a channel that positions us to reach more premium travelers. Our scale and commitment to quality positions us to provide these types of opportunities for our homeowners to reach more travelers across an expanding channel mix. With all that said, the short term rental industry continues to adjust to a dynamic macroeconomic environment and changing travel patterns, and we see the impacts of this in elevated levels of homeowner churn. Homeowners are responding to recent market conditions evaluating if they should continue to rent out their home and if so, on what terms. We remain keenly focused on continuing to proactively communicate with homeowners, focused on building products that deliver a 1 two punch, making Vacasa's operations more efficient and improving the experience for our homeowners and guests.

Speaker 2

We do this by feature enhancements to existing products as well as by focusing our efforts on larger scale products that have this double benefit. These include the improved photo inspection tool and automated scheduling tool I just mentioned, which have generated measurable cost efficiencies and positive owner feedback. We are also rigorously evaluating and taking steps to improve our internal technology infrastructure. Examples include adding additional filtering criteria to vacasa. Comp to help guests find the perfect home, making it easier for guests to provide feedback on their stay and in the field simplifying the way they transact with owners and vendors.

Speaker 2

Finally, we continue to prioritize driving efficiency across our business. We are carefully managing our operating expenses with technology development, Sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses down year over year. We are also being judicious about the homes we manage on our platform, Conference. We are seeking to ensure all homes are the right fit across a variety of criteria, including homeowner objectives, rental income potential, the location of homes within a market and revenue potential for Vacasa. We will continue to regularly assess the quality fit and mix of our inventory of homes.

Speaker 2

In closing, we remain focused on making improvements across our business from the way we manage local operations to ruthlessly prioritizing our technology and product resources to the highest ROI. There is more to do, but I believe as you look back over the past 12 months, you'll see we have made substantial progress. I I want to take a moment to thank all our Vacasa team members across the country, across all functions, who are each playing an important role in continuing to improve our product offering and furthering our lead as the top vacation rental management platform in North America. Now, I'll turn the call over to Bruce to discuss our Q3 results and provide an updated outlook.

Speaker 3

Bruce? Thanks, Rob. First, I'll review our Q3 financial results, then I'll provide an updated outlook. Unless noted otherwise, I will be comparing our Q3 results to the Q3 of 2022 and I'll be referencing the operating expense lines Excluding the impact of stock based compensation, restructuring costs and business combination costs, which you can find outlined in our shareholder letter. For the Q3, gross booking value, which is the combination of nights sold and gross booking value per night sold was $830,000,000 call, down 14% year over year.

Speaker 3

Nights sold were $2,000,000 in the 3rd quarter, down 1% year over year. And gross booking value per night sold was $406 in the 3rd quarter, down 14% year over year. Nights sold per home on our platform was roughly flat year over year. We've discussed the decline in average gross booking value per home year over year as the industry continues to come off of the record highs from the past few years and we saw this trend continue in the 3rd quarter. Remember also there is a strong relationship between nights sold and gross booking value per night sold and it's difficult to look at either in isolation.

Speaker 3

Our revenue management algorithms and data team constantly evaluate the trade off between price and occupancy and the mix of nights sold and gross booking value per night call with the goal of optimizing homeowner income. Revenue, which consists primarily of our commission on the rents we generate for homeowners, The fees we collect from guests and revenue from home care solutions provided directly to our homeowners was $379,000,000 in the 3rd quarter, call down 8% year over year. Now turning to our expenses. Cost of revenue was 40% of revenue in the 3rd quarter versus 42% of revenue in the same period last year. Operations and support expense was 17% of revenue in the 3rd quarter versus 18% of revenue in the same period last year.

Speaker 3

These two expense lines primarily consist of our local market and customer support costs. Our 3rd quarter results are the strongest example yet of the progress we are making in operating our local markets in a more efficient manner. We decreased cost of revenue by 13% year over year and operations and support expense by 15% year over year, Call supporting roughly the same number of homes and nights sold and delivering better guest satisfaction results. We are also demonstrating operating discipline in our central operations where we achieved year over year leverage across our 3 other operating expense lines in the Q3. Specifically on a year over year basis, technology and development expense was down 11%, Sales and marketing expense declined 23% and general and administrative expenses declined 33%.

Speaker 3

Adjusted EBITDA was $74,000,000 for the 3rd quarter compared to $46,000,000 in the same period last year. Now turning to the outlook. With peak season now complete, we are raising our outlook for full year 2023. Based on current business trends and conditions, we now expect 2023 revenue to decline by 7% to 6% year over year. We also expect adjusted EBITDA of between $5,000,000 $15,000,000 At the midpoints of our guidance, This implies expected 2023 revenue about $75,000,000 lower than last year, but adjusted EBITDA about $35,000,000 call higher compared to last year.

Speaker 3

While there is more to do, I believe our improved outlook for 2023 speaks to the progress the team is making in advancing our operating discipline against a dynamic industry backdrop. That said, while it's early, as we look ahead to 2024, We believe many of the trends we are seeing in the back half of this year, specifically the normalization of traveler demand for domestic non urban vacation rentals call from the highs of 2021 2022, which impacts our revenue and homeowner retention will likely continue. We remain focused on improving our execution and driving targeted initiatives to support further efficiency gains throughout our business, Call, all while adapting to the changing environment. We will provide you with more color during our Q4 and full year 2023 financial results call. With that, Rob and I will take your questions.

Speaker 3

Operator, please open up the lines.

Speaker 4

Okay. Thank you. And at this time, I

Operator

would like to remind everyone that in order to ask a question, press star and then the number one on your telephone keypad. Once again, star 1. And our first question today. It looks like it comes from the line of Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer. Jed, go ahead.

Speaker 5

Hey, great. Thanks for taking my questions. 2, if I may. Once again, you're getting a lot of efficiencies on a lower revenue base. So can you just talk about where that's coming from?

Speaker 5

How sustainable that is heading into next year? And then following up on the commentary you just gave for 'twenty four. You said the trends are likely to continue. I think industry RevPAR is probably down around 13% this year. So do you think per unit RevPAR can start to grow in the back half?

Speaker 5

And then Just on the churn comment, do you think you're losing homes to other property managers or is this more of a function of the homeowners doing it themselves? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Yes, Jed, this is Bruce. I think the first one I'll touch on your kind of what's driving the The EBITDA improvements, the efficiency improvements, really this is primarily a function of our kind of this focus we've had on the local market operations efficiency year over year, kind The central ops efficiencies we've driven year over year. We're just really laser focused on those and that's really what's driving kind of this year over year improvement in EBITDA. I think your question on 2024, as we think about how that plays into next year, I think We are focused on it's early in the booking cycle, first of all, kind of the bookings on the books for 2024, it's very early. As we look ahead, while we're still in the early planning phase, as we think about some of the trends we've seen in the second half of twenty twenty three, Things like the declining homeowner income, some of the churn dynamics we've seen, we think those likely could continue.

Speaker 3

So we're focused on improving that as we we're also seeing some changing booking patterns like for Q4. For example, length of Today is coming in a bit lower. So really keeping an eye on that and how that evolves. So it's pretty early to provide further color there. We're just focused on Taking care of our needs of our owners and guests and really continuing to operate the business more efficiently and drive savings.

Speaker 3

And if you look at what we delivered in Q3, I think that's kind of the best results, example of what we can drive that in that area.

Speaker 5

Thanks. And then just on a follow-up, you did mention Some of your technology progress, I think last week or a couple of weeks ago was the largest industry event. I mean, it was a pretty full vendor hall. So can you just talk about sort of where you're winning on the technology front versus say the smaller property manager that can take a 3rd party technology and sort of do distribution and do rate management as well. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. Hey, Jed, this is Rob. Good to talk with you. I think first of all, I think there's a Couple of different dimensions where we see advantage and we continue to invest behind it. So first, when it comes to how we think about revenue management, there are a number of Schools out there, we look very closely at how those different platforms are performing versus what we're able to drive in the market and for our owners.

Speaker 2

And we think that We're performing very favorably against those other platforms and how those teams are deploying them. And that should be intuitive, right? There are There's powerful technologies out there, but we have the biggest platform. We can see how dynamics evolve across the largest spectrum of markets. And we also have the ability to control that technology and to tune it over time.

Speaker 2

So we think that The market bears that out. Now we're obviously we want to do that for every owner in it, for every home in every market and we work I'll try to make that as true as possible. But I think when you zoom back, I think that Vaca has executed well there, and we're going to continue to invest to to keep that advantage over the long term. I think there's also a number of great technology platforms that are out there in the market. But again, it comes down to What type of integrated experience can those operators deliver if they're having to try to knit together these various scenes versus what we're able to drive and what we're call.

Speaker 2

Starting to really drive to optimize now. The home visit optimization is one example of that. In a peak season, you don't just need to be able to get a booking and and to try to turn it clean. Those hubs need maintenance during a very busy season and being able to get The right teams with the right work scheduled and the right pieces in place to be able to take care of the home and then turn it quickly, Those are the things that a more integrated platform can provide and those are some of the those are two examples of where I think that we have that advantage. Those are the areas where we're focused.

Speaker 2

We think you see the impact of them in the numbers that we deliver. All of that is against the tough industry backdrop. But we think that that's going to be a source of advantage for us in a long term and in lots of different economic seasons.

Speaker 5

Thank you.

Operator

Great. Thanks, Jed. And our next question comes from the line of Doug Anmuth with at JPMorgan. Doug, go ahead.

Speaker 4

Hey, this is Day on for Doug. Thanks for taking the questions. I have 2. So the first one on the homeowner churn. I think last quarter you guys had talked about it being elevated but stable.

Speaker 4

Just wondering given your comment this quarter if there's any changes that you're seeing in the homeowner churn. And then secondly, your comments about some of the current trends continuing into 2024, I guess, when we look out, is this the case that normalization is still kind of happening and that You expect things to get a little bit worse before it improves or is it just more of things are stable now and you just need to lap I guess lower base that you guys could grow off of. Just wanted to get any clarification around that. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yes. Why don't I start and then I'll hand it over to Bruce to sort of add some thoughts. So on churn, as we called out, we've begun to see some Higher levels of churn as we move through the Q4 last year and I think that coincided with changes in the slowings of booking growth, Some changes in the demand environment and we began to see owners citing homeowner revenue as a reason call for churn as they were frustrated by bookings coming off of the record highs the industry had experienced in 2021 in 2022. So we've been continuing to kind of take the steps to set those expectations to listen to what they want to see play out in the marketplace and do our call. And do our best to manifest that and make it happen against an industry backdrop that I think is continuing to translate into Lower rental income in 2023.

Speaker 2

So we've been very responsive from a revenue management perspective, from a product perspective. We think that we're delivering above average performance on a per listing basis, but it continues to be against a tough backdrop. Call. So we think this is a dynamic that others are dealing with. We think that there's not a lot of great data out there about that, but we're watching it very closely.

Speaker 2

And we think This is something that the industry is going to wrestle with and that's to be expected when you kind of come off some pretty high levels. As we look forward to next year, again, we haven't set we haven't kind of set our plan or set guidance to that. We're going to be watching those trends and Continuing to be focused on delivering a business that is more nimble and able to execute well on the top line and the bottom line in any season that we see evolve in the market. Yes, I think that's good. The only thing

Speaker 3

I would add, again, our focus on efficiency, you look at what we Delivered in the Q3, we grew EBITDA by nearly $30,000,000 despite nearly a $35,000,000 decline in revenue. That focus on efficiency will continue into 2024 even as some of these trends like you noted do continue To materialize, we'll be

Speaker 2

watching that very carefully.

Speaker 4

Understood. Thank you.

Operator

Great. Thanks, Doug. And our next question comes from the line of Ben Miller with Goldman Sachs. Ben, go ahead.

Speaker 3

Thanks for taking the questions. I'm wondering if there's any color you can share on what profitability or margins look like in some of your more mature markets or markets where you think you're closer to optimizing the cost structure with some of the operational changes and recent product initiative rollouts? And then the second would just be any thoughts on the Google vacation rentals price comparison product and impact this might have on the industry? Thanks.

Speaker 2

Bruce, do you want to take the first one and I'll take the second? Yes.

Speaker 3

The first one, we haven't really Indicated any per market profitability metrics in the past. We really look at every single market trying to optimize our contribution margins. We've not really Indicated a per market breakdown at this time. Yes.

Speaker 2

And I think that we do see markets that are Call. More mature and less mature, by and large, what we're doing is executing a set of product and business initiatives that have actually seen Good results across all those markets. So we're pleased on that progress. We haven't provided that disclosure. Look, when it comes to the channel structure, I think there's been a lot of call.

Speaker 2

Different types of investments and changes that have happened over the last decade when it comes to the maturing the vacation rental category. We've seen a lot of investment on the OTA side, a lot of investment on the metasearch side, a lot of investment. I think as Jed called out earlier on platforms that have come into the market to better manage across channels. Look, we'll look at we evaluate those Pretty critically when it comes to our channel participation, we believe that having a diverse channel mix is a great source of strength for us as a company. I'm not going to comment any particular investments that the different players are making.

Speaker 2

Generally speaking, having good partners on the agency side has been very helpful. Metasearch has been more of a mixed bag as an industry, but we'll keep an eye on call. And we'll be watching how it falls.

Speaker 4

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

And the next question comes from Nick Jones with JMP Securities. Nick, go ahead.

Speaker 1

Hi, this is Luke on for Nick. Just taking a step back, so top line year over year declines accelerated in 3Q. So I guess on a more broader level, what do you think are the main 1 or 2 factors in focus when it comes to reaccelerating that top line heading into next year? Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks, Luke, for the question. Really appreciate it. So look, when I first spoke with this group in November, I shared how excited I was about Vacasa's long term potential, about what I see as a terrific category Conference. In the market, really one of the last categories in the travel industry to undergo the type of transformation and growth that I think has been demonstrated over the last several years and I think is still ahead of the industry by and large.

Speaker 2

But when I joined the Vacasa team, I've been seeking out and been very Try to be very forthright about acknowledging areas where I see opportunities for improvement. I think we're making the changes that we need to make As an organization, I'm not satisfied. Our team isn't satisfied. I think we've demonstrated good progress on an absolute basis and also How we're able to execute in a challenging dynamic. So when I think about the long term, Luke, I think about really the opportunity to build platform based business that can on an iterative basis build and continue to improve on superior guest experiences, superior owner experiences And we've seen businesses like that transform so many other categories across travel and across the broader economy.

Speaker 2

I think that there's that opportunity. I think it exists here and it's ours for the taking. I think when I think about the short term, they're really the 2 things that I'm focused on that have Driven the results that you can see so far. 1st is around how we think about revenue management. And again, this is against the difficult market backdrop this year, You can see the progress that we've made in our financial performance despite declines in revenue.

Speaker 2

We're seeing those investments on the revenue management I help navigate a difficult environment we think better than others. And I think then the second piece of that is investing in technology products, business processes, and the people to really deliver better experiences for guests and owners every single day. I've highlighted a few of those things on the technology side. When I think about our ability to optimize home visits to make sure that we can get the right people in the right place at the right time to get the work done that's needed to take care of our owners' homes and to have our guests enjoy their time away and their holidays. We think that's absolutely critical.

Speaker 2

We're also doing a lot of work in other elements of our platform to improve the systems of how guests and owners interact with us, giving more owner visibility into the status of their homes, The progress that we're making on maintenance items and so forth. So on the process side, there's a lot of work that we've gotten done. On the technology side, there's a lot We've gotten done. We've been very judicious, I think, in how we're allocating capital and making sure we're being efficient with our workforce and where we're investing. So I think all of those things to me say that we're going to be able to build the business for the long term.

Speaker 2

You can see the beginning of that impact flow into our business results. We're going to be looking for where we see that really getting traction and try to allocate capital there more aggressively. So there's a lot more for us to do. We're pretty key focused on execution and efficiency. And we think that that is also going to point us in the right direction on better customer experiences for the long term.

Operator

Okay. Thanks, Luke. And our next question comes from the line of Bernie MacTiernan with Needham and Company. Bernie, go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hi, this is Stefanos Chris calling in for Bernie. Thanks for taking our questions.

Operator

I'm just curious on the

Speaker 6

Type of visibility you have at this point for the quarter, especially with last minute holiday trips being booked? Is what you typically see in Q4?

Speaker 3

Yes. So Q4, I mean, as we get into the quarter, it's still a little bit early. I think the only thing I would notice, like I talked about earlier, There's just kind of some evolving booking patterns specifically in so the length of stay is coming down just slightly. So it's not a huge impact to revenue, but I think that does just talk to kind of the evolving booking patterns. That's one of the things we're keeping a close eye on.

Speaker 3

No other specific guide to call out other than that at this point.

Speaker 6

Got it. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Lee Horowitz with Deutsche Bank. Lee, go ahead.

Speaker 7

Hi. This is Jeff on for Lee. Thanks for taking our questions. So when you're thinking about supply growth, where do you think you can move the needle Is it more to efficient to go to market to drive new homeowners to the platform? Or is it spending time and investment dollars aimed at lowering the increased churn that you've seen recently?

Speaker 7

And then you talked about the trade offs between pricing and occupancy. And given the declines in pricing that we've seen so far this year, Would you expect the pricing declines to moderate into next year or would more continue at current levels?

Speaker 2

Why don't I go ahead and start and then I'll ask Bruce to jump in as well. So I think when it comes to home growth, there are a couple of things. So I think 1st, as we've shared before, we've pulled back on the portfolio program. I think that there's a real value in having a robust organic growth motion to the business that lets us build the relationship with the owner directly rather than through something that we inherit. We want to build that out.

Speaker 2

There's going to be opportunities for us to deploy capital through portfolio approach in the future, but that's really been a focus. And again, as we've said, we've been pleased with Progress we've seen so far through the year. I think we're pleased with the progress we've seen in Q3, but we want to see that continue to bed in and become a very Reliable repeatable source of results for us as we move into 2024, Which brings me to the other leg when it comes to Home Group, which is around retaining our homeowner relationships. We think that there's a backdrop of things that we can control. There's a backdrop of things that are happening in the market.

Speaker 2

And we're very focused on mobilizing and executing across the company on that basis. When it comes to how pricing is going to evolve call in 2024. Again, we haven't made a lot of comments about 2024. We do see some trends continuing in terms of what's going to happen with Consumer demand in our markets, the markets that we serve, which again are maybe not as broadly representative as some of the larger agency platforms that you see, which Generally are in more urban markets versus ours and also in more international markets ex U. S, ex Canada.

Speaker 2

So it's hard to kind of speak to how pricing will evolve. There's a lot that we're looking at. We're looking at the macro dynamics. We're looking at different alternatives in the travel categories. So I really don't know that there's a lot for us to say there yet.

Speaker 2

But I think that The markets that we've seen have already seen some of the pricing declines that you've seen as a result of And a changing consumer demand and we're going to watch and see how those evolves as we head into next year.

Speaker 3

Yes, Rob, I think you said that well. I mean our revenue management team because we're really always looking at this carefully. They're analyzing kind of that trade off between occupancy and price and we've made a very kind of conscious decision to really drive the occupancy and I think our revenue management team has driven some really nice results for our homeowners, but we're going to be Just carefully evaluating that as we head into 'twenty four. And Rob said it well, not a lot we can guide on that yet.

Speaker 7

Great. Thank you very much.

Operator

Thanks, Jeff. Call. And our next question comes from Justin Patterson at KeyBanc. Justin, go ahead.

Speaker 8

Great. Thank you very much and good afternoon. I wanted to revisit Jeff's question from earlier. You've done the hard part. You've gotten to higher EBITDA year over year on a lower revenue base.

Speaker 8

As we think about just the business scaling up from here. How should we think about incremental margins versus what we used to look at this business in the past? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yes. Again, I'll start on this one and then I'll ask Bruce to make a comment as well. I appreciate the question, Justin.

Speaker 3

I think we don't think of ourselves as being done. But we are

Speaker 2

pleased with the progress we've seen in the past.

Speaker 3

Call. All is being done,

Speaker 2

but we are pleased with the progress we've seen the team make so far this year. There's a lot more for us to do. I think that We believe that there is an opportunity like we've seen play out in so many other businesses and categories where you deliver better customer experiences by delivering more efficient experiences. And think about And Amazon delivery experience, think about the experiences that so many of these platforms can deliver as they integrate and then iterate and improve over time. We think that that path to being more efficient paves the way along the way toward really Differentiated customer experiences and that's what we're building.

Speaker 2

How that translates into short term and long term financial results? Look, we're pleased with what we're seeing so far, but there is a lot more for us to do along those lines. We're not kind of yet making comment to what we see evolving and how that will balance out in 2024. But we think that, That same discipline on the financial side is actually what will translate into really differentiated experiences for guests for our owners and the ability for us to continue to improve those things and improve those things over time.

Speaker 3

Yes, I think a proof point I would highlight is in Q3. I mean, we drove a double digit decline in our local market operations costs. We supported the same number of nights, the same number roughly homes on our platform. And And we didn't do that by sacrificing guest demand, guest customer satisfaction scores. That just kind of tells you what's possible when you really focus on this.

Speaker 3

We're going to continue on that trend. We're going to continue injecting technology into our local market ops, get better and better, and that's what we're going to

Speaker 2

be focused on for 2024.

Speaker 1

Thank you.

Operator

Okay. And with that, I will now turn The call back over to CEO, Rob Graber for closing remarks. Rob, the floor is yours.

Speaker 2

Thanks very much. I want to say again, thank you for Everyone for joining for the questions today. I want to thank our homeowners for their partnership with Vacasa and I want to thank everyone who works at Vacasa for working so hard every day to bring vacations home for our owners and our guests. Thanks everyone. Look forward to speaking with you and updating you on the full year and our outlook for 2024 in the coming months.

Operator

And ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's call. Thank you all for joining and you may now disconnect. Have a great day everyone.

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Earnings Conference Call
Vacasa Q3 2023
00:00 / 00:00