EXP World Holdings, Inc. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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(Mark One)

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

or

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ________ to _________

Commission File Number: 001-38493

eXp World Holdings, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ☐    No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes ☐    No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☒    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes ☒    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.  ☒

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

Yes ☐    No ☒

Based on the registrant’s closing price of $11.08 as quoted on the Nasdaq on December 31, 2022, the aggregate market value of the voting and nonvoting common equity held by non-affiliates of eXp World Holdings, Inc. was approximately $716.6 million. The number of shares of the registrant’s $0.00001 par value common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2022 was 152,839,239.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE The registrant intends to file a definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. Portions of such proxy statement are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K. Portions of the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,2021 are incorporated into Part I, Item 1 and Part II, Item 7, of this Form 10-K.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report and our other public filings contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather represent current expectations and assumptions of future events. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Many of these risks and other factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “should,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “can,” “would,” “potential,” “seek,” “goal” and similar expressions. These risks and uncertainties, as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from management’s expectations, are described in greater detail in Item 1A, “Risk Factors”, Item 3, “Legal Proceedings,” Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” and Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures – Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls.”

Forward-looking statements are based on currently available operating, financial and market information and are inherently uncertain. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual future results and trends may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

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PART I

General

eXp World Holdings, Inc. (“eXp,” or, collectively with its subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) owns and operates a diversified portfolio of service- based businesses whose operations benefit substantially from utilizing our enabling technology platform. We strategically prioritize our efforts to grow our real estate brokerage by strengthening our agent value proposition, developing immersive and cloud-based technology to enable our model and providing affiliate and media services supporting those efforts.

The following are changes in our business in the most recent fiscal year:

Real Estate Brokerage Expansion – In addition to maintaining operations in all locations, in 2022 the Company continued its international growth with expansion into the Dominican Republic, Greece, New Zealand, Chile and Poland. In addition, in late 2022, we announced operations in Dubai, which is expected to be fully operational in 2023.  Except for certain employees who hold active real estate licenses, virtually all our real estate professionals are independent contractors.

Recent Acquisition – On July 1, 2022, the Company acquired Zoocasa Realty Inc. –, an Ontario, Canada company (“Zoocasa”). Zoocasa’s key product is a consumer real estate research portal that offers proprietary home search tools, market insights and a connection to local real estate experts. Zoocasa has been included in the North American Realty segment since its key asset, Zoocasa.com,  provides quality real estate referrals for the North American real estate markets.

New Programs and Services – During 2022, the Company launched various new ancillary programs and services to support the development and success of its agents, brokers and customers, including eXp Luxury™, Revenos™, SUCCESS^® Health and SUCCESS^® Coaching.

Details regarding the development of our businesses prior to 2022 are incorporated by reference herein from Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K dated February 25, 2022 (Commission File No. 001-38493).

Business Segments

Due to growth in international operations and changes to the North American markets, the Company began operating and managing the Company as four operating and reportable business segments beginning in December 2022, in order to increase our management effectiveness. The reportable segments are North American Realty, International Realty, Virbela and Other Affiliated Services. Our business segments bring together related eXp technologies and services to support the success and development of agents, entrepreneurs and businesses and provide them remote business solutions.

Both the North American Realty and the International Realty segments generate revenue primarily by serving as a licensed broker for the purpose of processing residential and commercial real estate transactions, from which we earn commissions. The Company in turn pays a portion of the commissions earned to the real estate agents and brokers. eXp offers an innovative cloud-based brokerage model, which reduces costs to our agents and brokers. The model features low entry fees, stock ownership opportunities for agents and brokers and a revenue sharing plan through which agents and brokers can earn commission from transactions conducted by agents and brokers they’ve attracted to eXp.  

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Markets and Customers

Real Estate Brokerage: Our clients are primarily residential homeowners and homebuyers in the markets in which we operate as serviced by our international network of independent agents and brokers. These customers are sellers or purchasers of new or existing homes and engage us to aid in the facilitation of the closing of the real estate transaction, including, but not limited to, searching, listing, application processing and other pre- and post-close support. Our experienced agents and brokers are well suited to support our customers’ needs with a high level of professionalism, knowledge and support as they endeavor on one of the largest transactions they will most likely experience.

Our North American Realty segment is comprised of operations in the U.S. and Canadian residential real estate markets. Through our network of independent agents and brokers, we have brokerages in all 50 states in the U.S. residential real estate market and residential real estate markets in most of the Canadian provinces. The U.S. residential real estate market for existing homes, seasonally adjusted, accounted for approximately 4.02 million homes sold with a median existing home sales price of $0.4 million in 2022, based on data released by the National Association of Realtors.

Our International Realty segment operates in the U.K., Australia, South Africa, India, Mexico, Portugal, France, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Colombia, Spain, Israel, Panama and Germany, the Dominican Republic, Greece, New Zealand, Chile and Poland. In late 2022, we announced operations in Dubai, which is expected to be fully operational in 2023. Our International Realty segment represented 0.8% of total consolidated revenues in 2022.

Virbela: Our innovative technologies are used primarily by our brokerage real estate agents and their clients within our U.S., Canadian and international markets. Additionally, eXp World Technologies, LLC ("World Tech") has continued to innovate the Virbela portfolio, expanding the product offering to agents, teams and other global companies and organizations who can benefit from having their own, always-on virtual environment for workplace collaboration.

Other Affiliated Services: We provide affiliated services to our agents, brokers and customers that support their professional efforts and personal betterment. Under its ownership, the Company has built upon SUCCESS^® magazine and its related media properties to develop a robust SUCCESS^® brand of innovative personal and professional development tools, including SUCCESS^® Health, SUCCESS^® Coaching and SUCCESS^® Space.

Competition

Our real estate brokerage competes with local, regional, national and international residential real estate brokerages with respect to the sale of homes and to attract and retain agents, teams of agents, brokers and consumers — both home sellers and buyers. We compete primarily on the basis of our service, culture, collaboration, utilization of cloud-based systems and technologies that reduce costs, while providing relevant and substantial professional development opportunities for our agents and brokers with an opportunity to generate more business and participate in the growth of our company.

Residential real estate brokerage companies typically realize revenues in the form of a commission based on a percentage of the price of each home purchased or sold, which can vary based on industry standards, geographical location and specific customer-agent negotiations, among other factors. Therefore, variability in the commissions earned in the real estate industry exists based on general economic and market factors, as well as price and volume of homes sold. When home prices and the volume of home sale transactions increase (decrease), commissions generally will also increase (decrease). However, we are positioned to earn commissions on either — or both — of the buy side or sell side of residential real estate transactions, as well as the ability to receive other fees for complementary services provided during the close process.

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We believe that we are the only international real estate brokerage presently using a 3D immersive office environment in place of physical brick-and-mortar offices. Additionally, this innovative operational structure coupled with our distribution model allows us to effectively enter new markets with speed and flexibility and without much of the investment and cost associated with establishing a traditional brokerage. We also believe our compensation and incentive programs to attract and retain highly productive agents is one of the most compelling in the industry. As such, we believe that we are well-positioned in our competitive landscape.

Resources

Software Development

Our Company continues to increase our investment in the development of our own cloud-based transaction processing platforms and further expand our products and service offerings. We continue to create process efficiencies and provide our agents and brokers with mobile applications designed to facilitate transactions in an efficient and consumer friendly way. To further expand our products and service offerings, we offer an on-demand, home tour mobile application that enables home shoppers to request immediate access to properties exclusive to eXp Realty agents in certain markets.

Our operational model and growth strategies necessitate the proprietary technologies used to support our operations now and in the future, as well as requiring us to, at times, consider existing and emerging technology companies for acquisition, partnerships and other collaborative relationships.

Intellectual Property

Our cloud-based real estate brokerage is highly dependent on the proprietary technology that we employ and the intellectual property that we create. “eXp Realty” is one of our registered trademarks in the United States. We have also placed the marks “3D MLS”, “3D Listing Service” and “RE Tech Campus” on the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Supplemental Register, among others. We also own the rights to key domain names used by our domestic and international brokerages: (e.g., https://exprealty.com and https://exprealty.ca). Additionally, we own registered trademarks and the rights to domain names which are leveraged in our other business segments and in connection with services that complement our real estate brokerage, such as the “SUCCESS” registered trademark and https://success.com. Other proprietary brands key to our suite of services include Revenos, eXp Luxury, SUCCESS Coaching and SUCCESS Health. We have also engaged various third parties to extend enterprise licenses for critical transaction management, CRM and other proprietary software.

While there can be no assurance that registered trademarks and other intellectual property rights will protect our proprietary information, we intend to assert our intellectual property rights against any infringement. Although any assertion of our rights could result in a substantial cost and diversion of management effort, we believe the protection and defense against infringement of our intellectual property rights are essential to our business.

Seasonality of Business

Seasons and weather traditionally impact the real estate industry in the markets in which we operate. Spring and summer seasons historically reflect greater sales periods and, in turn, higher revenues and operating results in comparison to fall and winter seasons. The Company has historically experienced higher revenue during the second and third quarters of its fiscal year due in part to seasonal industry patterns.  By contrast, our technology and affiliate services segments experience generally consistent revenue during the year, with some increased adoption around the Company’s spring and fall events.

Government Regulation

Real Estate Regulation

We primarily serve the residential real estate industry, which is regulated by federal, international, state, provincial and local authorities as well as private associations or state sponsored associations or organizations. We are required to comply with federal, state, provincial and local laws, as well as private governing bodies’ regulations, which combined results in a highly-regulated industry.

We are also subject to federal, international, state and provincial regulations relating to employment, contractor and compensation practices. Except for certain employees who have an active real estate license, virtually all real estate professionals in our brokerage operations have been retained as independent contractors, either directly or indirectly through third-party entities formed by these independent contractors for their business purposes. With respect to these independent contractors, like most brokerage firms, we are subject to the Internal Revenue Service regulations, foreign regulations and applicable state and provincial law guidelines regarding independent contractor classification. These regulations and guidelines are subject to judicial and agency interpretation.

Environmental Regulation

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The Company operates in a cloud-based model which, gives us an insignificant physical geographical footprint. Due to this, we are not materially impacted by any environmental regulation.

Other Regulation

Our technology and affiliate services businesses operate in multiple geographies and industries which subject them to various governmental and non-governmental rules and regulations, including without limitation, franchising, fair trade, health and data privacy rules. As we expand into new businesses and markets, we assign and/or engage appropriate personnel to manage and comply with such requirements.

Environmental, Social and Governance Initiatives

As a company dedicated to disrupting the traditional industry model, eXp understands the importance of ingraining environmental, social and governance (ESG) best practices across the organization.

In 2022, we conducted an ESG materiality assessment with the assistance of an external consultant, GlobeScan, to identify the material ESG topics that have the greatest impact on the Company’s success. Our approach included extensive desk research to identify the range of potential environmental, social, governance and economic issues that eXp might face.  To refine and prioritize the issues, a series of 16 in-depth interviews were conducted with key internal and external stakeholders to understand their expectations and perceptions of eXp’s business and environmental and social impacts. These interviews included a range of constituents such as eXp executives, agents, industry associations, investors, customers, academics and sustainability experts. Additionally, we conducted a data-driven analysis of issue areas through a structured online questionnaire. The company-wide survey was delivered in January 2023 to our leadership team, employees and agents. The objective of the survey was to assess and prioritize issues influencing eXp's business success.

The results of the materiality assessment were provided to the Company’s Board and management to identify our key focus areas and to develop a strategy to address the material ESG topics identified in the assessment.

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During 2022, the Company had various social initiatives, including the following:

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Human Capital

Our employees, including our brokers and our independent contractor real estate agents, represent the human capital investments imperative to our operations. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had approximately 2,016 full-time equivalent employees and 86,203 real estate agents. Our employees are not members of any labor union and we have never experienced business interruptions due to labor disputes. We also utilize part-time and temporary employees and consultants when necessary; in many of our foreign markets we rely on the use of indirect employment structures where personnel providing certain services to the foreign entities are employed by a contractor of the Company and are not employed by the Company.

Management: Our operations are overseen directly by management. Our management oversees all responsibilities in the areas of corporate administration, business development and technological research and development. We have successfully expanded our current management to retain skilled employees with experience relevant to our business and intend to continue with this initiative. Our management’s relationships with agents, brokers, technology providers and customers will provide the foundation through which we expect to grow our business in the future. We believe the skill set of our management team will be a primary asset in the development of our brands and trademarks.

Talent and Culture:  Our business is driven by nine core values of community, sustainability, integrity, service, collaboration, innovation, transparency, agility and fun. At eXp, these core values are manifested throughout everything we do and support the Company’s overall vision and shape our culture. We believe that our ongoing success is attributable in large part to our eXp employees who work across the U.S. and internationally in the cloud environment to support our agent-centric business model and core values. Attracting and retaining employee talent is a high priority for us and we look to hire passionate and driven individuals who want to be a part of our mission to continue to grow the brokerage and our related suite of services. We also value transparency and are committed to an open and accountable workplace where employees are empowered to raise issues. The Company provides multiple channels to speak up, ask for guidance and report concerns. eXp has been named one of the Best Places to Work on Glassdoor for each of the years 2019 through 2022. In 2021 and 2022, we were named as one of the Top 100 Companies to Watch for Remote Jobs by FlexJobs.

Health & Safety: Our employees operate in a fully remote environment and are located across the U.S. and internationally. During 2022, our human resources department expanded on our existing health and safety benefit offerings to support the health and safety of our employees in their remote work environments.

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Independent Agent and Broker Support: We provide entrepreneurial business opportunities and a competitive compensation structure to our agents and brokers. Additionally, our agents and brokers have a unique choice to attain a greater vested interest in eXp through the acceptance of equity awards in eXp stock as part of their compensation packages. These programs and our agent support platforms — including training, back-office support and communications — allow agents and brokers to successfully operate their own businesses that are aligned with our strategies and goals, creating synergies across our distribution network. We believe it is critical to our success that agent voices are heard at every level of the Company, including management, whose mission is supported by our Agent Advisory Council. Refer to our Agent Advisory Council section of our website at https://expworldholdings.com/agent-advisory-council/ for information on agent participation in the management of eXp. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report.

As the Company grows, management continually researches new directives and implementation efforts for the long-term success of the Company.

Available Information

The Company’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (as amended, the “Exchange Act”), are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Such reports and information  for the previous twelve-months are available free of charge through our website at www.expworldholdings.com/investors/sec-filings/. Additionally, the SEC maintains an internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The public can obtain any documents that we file with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Our Company also uses the following channels as a means of disclosing information about the Company on a broad, non-exclusionary basis, including information about our brokerage, upcoming investor and industry conferences, our planned financial and other announcements and other matters and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD:

eXp website (www.expworldholdings.com)

eXp Realty Twitter Account (https://twitter.com/eXpRealty)

eXp World Holdings Twitter Account (https://twitter.com/eXpWorldIR)

eXp Realty Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/eXpRealty)

eXp World Holdings Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/eXpWorldHoldings)

eXp Realty Instagram Page (https://www.instagram.com/eXpRealty_)

eXp World Holdings Instagram Page (https://www.instagram.com/eXpWorldHoldings)

Please note that this list may be updated from time to time. The contents of any website referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other report or document we file with the SEC and any references to our websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

In addition to the other information set forth in this report, you should carefully consider the following factors, which could materially affect our business, financial condition or results of operations in future periods. The risks described below are not the only risks facing our Company. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations in future periods. You should carefully consider the risk factors described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are forward-looking statements. See the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K titled “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Industries

Our profitability is tied to the strength of the residential real estate market, which is subject to a number of general business and macroeconomic conditions beyond our control.

Our profitability is closely related to the strength of the residential real estate market, which is cyclical in nature and typically is affected by changes in national, state and local economic conditions, which are beyond our control. Macroeconomic conditions that could adversely impact the growth of the real estate market and have a material adverse effect on our business include, but are not limited to, economic slowdown or recession, increased unemployment, increased energy costs, reductions in the availability of credit or higher interest rates, increased costs of obtaining mortgages, an increase in foreclosure activity,

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inflation, disruptions in capital markets, declines in the stock market, adverse tax policies or changes in other regulations, lower consumer confidence, lower wage and salary levels, war or terrorist attacks, natural disasters or adverse weather events, or the public perception that any of these events may occur. Unfavorable general economic conditions, such as a recession or economic slowdown, in the U.S., Canada, or other markets we enter and operate within, could negatively affect the affordability of and consumer demand for, our services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability. In addition, international, federal and state governments, agencies and government-sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae could take actions that result in unforeseen consequences to the real estate market or that otherwise could negatively impact our business.

Monetary policies of the U.S. federal government and its agencies may have a material adverse impact on our operations.

The U.S. real estate market is substantially reliant on the monetary policies of the U.S. federal government and its agencies and is particularly affected by the policies of the Federal Reserve Board, which regulates the supply of money and credit in the U.S., which, in turn impacts interest rates. Our business could be negatively impacted by any rising interest rate environment. As mortgage rates rise, the number of home sale transactions may decrease as potential home sellers choose to stay with their lower mortgage rate rather than sell their home and pay a higher mortgage rate with the purchase of another home. Similarly, in higher interest rate environments, potential home-buyers may choose to rent rather than pay higher mortgage rates. Changes in the interest rate environment and mortgage market are beyond our control and are difficult to predict and, as such, could have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.

General changes in consumer attitudes and behaviors could negatively impact homesale transaction volume.

The real estate market is affected by changes in consumer attitudes and behaviors, including as a result of changing attitudes toward and behaviors related to home ownership. Certain real estate markets have or may experience a decline in homeownership based on changing social behaviors, including as a result of declining marriage and birth rates. Because of these changing attitudes and behaviors, consumers may be more or less likely to prefer renting a home versus purchasing a home. In the event consumer attitudes and behaviors in any of our markets cause a declining interest in home purchasing, it may adversely impact the volume of home sale transactions closed by our brokers and agents and, as such, could have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.

Home inventory levels may result in excessive or insufficient supply, which could negatively impact home sale transaction growth.

Home inventory levels have been meaningfully declining or increasing in certain markets and price points in recent years. In both instances, homeowners are more likely to retain their homes for longer periods of time resulting in a negative impact on home sale volume growth. Insufficient home inventory levels can cause a reduction in housing affordability, which can result in potential home buyers deferring entry or reentry into the residential real estate market. Alternatively, excessive home inventory levels can contribute to a reduction in home values, which can result in some potential home sellers deferring entry into the residential real estate market. These inventory trends are caused by many pressures outside of our control, including slow or accelerated new housing construction, macroeconomic conditions, real estate industry models that purchase homes for long-term rental or corporate use and other market conditions and behavioral trends discussed herein. In January 2022, the U.S. reported a record low for home inventory levels, which remained low through the remainder of 2022. Continuing constraints on home inventory levels may adversely impact the volume of home sale transactions closed by our brokers and agents and, as such, could have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.

Material decreases in the average brokerage commission rate, due to conditions beyond our control, could materially adversely affect our financial results.

There are many factors that contribute to average broker commission rates that are beyond our control. Factors that can contribute to a material decrease in brokerage commissions include regulation, a rise in discount brokers and agents, increased adoption of flat fees, commission models with more competitive rates, rebates or lower commission rates on transactions, as well as other competitive factors. The average broker commission rate for a real estate transaction is a key determinant of our profitability and a material decrease in brokerage commission rates could have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.

Our operating results are subject to seasonality and vary significantly among quarters during each calendar year, making meaningful comparisons of successive quarters difficult.

Seasons and weather traditionally impact the real estate industry. Continuous poor weather or natural disasters negatively impact listings and sales. Spring and summer seasons historically reflect greater sales periods in comparison to fall and winter seasons. We have historically experienced lower revenues during the fall and winter seasons, as well as during periods of unseasonable weather, which reduces our operating income, net income, operating margins and cash flow.

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Real estate listings precede sales and a period of poor listings activity will negatively impact revenue. Past performance in similar seasons or during similar weather events can provide no assurance of future or current performance and macroeconomic shifts in the markets we serve can conceal the impact of poor weather or seasonality.

Home sales in successive quarters can fluctuate widely due to a wide variety of factors, including holidays, national or international emergencies, the school year calendar’s impact on timing of family relocations, interest rate changes, speculation of pending interest rate changes and the overall macroeconomic market. Our revenue and operating margins each quarter will remain subject to seasonal fluctuations, poor weather and natural disasters and macroeconomic market changes that may make it difficult to compare or analyze our financial performance effectively across successive quarters.

Homesale transaction volume can be impacted by natural disasters and other climate-related interruptions.

Natural disasters are occurring more frequently and/or with more intense effects and may impact general population trends. Areas afflicted by natural disasters may experience a decline in home sale transaction volume due to home destruction and/or general population movement out of the afflicted area.  Such events can make it difficult or impossible for home owners and builders to sell their homes and result in slowdowns in home sale transaction volume. Because the real estate industry relies on home sale transactions, climate crises can exacerbate negative financial results for real estate companies operating in particularly affected areas.

Risks Related to our General Business and Operations

We may be unable to effectively manage rapid growth in our business.

We may not be able to scale our business quickly enough to meet the growing needs of our affiliated real estate professionals and if we are not able to grow efficiently, our operating results could be harmed. As the Company adds new real estate professionals, it will need to devote additional financial and human resources to improving its internal systems, integrating with third-party systems and maintaining infrastructure performance. In addition, we will need to appropriately scale our internal business systems and our services organization, including support of our affiliated real estate professionals as our workforce and agent network expand over time. Any failure of or delay in these efforts could cause impaired system performance and reduced real estate professional satisfaction. These issues could reduce the attractiveness of our Company to existing real estate professionals who might leave the Company, as well as resulting in decreased attraction of new real estate professionals. Even if we are able to upgrade our systems and expand our employees, such expansion may be expensive, complex and place increasing demands on our management. We could also face inefficiencies or operational failures as a result of our efforts to scale our infrastructure and we may not be successful in maintaining adequate financial and operating systems and controls as we expand. Moreover, there are inherent risks associated with upgrading, improving and expanding our information technology systems. We cannot be sure that the expansion and improvements to our infrastructure and systems will be fully or effectively implemented on a timely basis, if at all. These efforts may reduce revenue and our margins and adversely impact our financial results.

We may be unable to attract and retain additional qualified personnel.

To execute our business strategy, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. In particular, we compete with many other real estate brokerages for qualified brokers who manage our operations in each state. We must also compete with technology companies for developers with high levels of experience in designing, developing and managing cloud-based software, as well as for skilled service and operations professionals and we may not be successful in attracting and retaining the professionals we need. Additionally, in order to realize the potential benefits of acquisitions, we may need to retain employees from the acquired businesses or hire additional personnel to fully capitalize on the opportunities that such acquisitions may offer and we may not be successful in retaining or attracting such individuals following an acquisition. From time to time in the past we have experienced and we expect to continue to experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we do. In addition, in making employment decisions, particularly in the software industry, job candidates often consider the value of the stock options or other equity incentives they are to receive in connection with their employment. If the price of our stock declines or continues to experience significant volatility, our ability to attract or retain key employees may be adversely affected. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our growth prospects could be severely harmed.

We have experienced net losses in recent years and, because we have a limited operating history, our ability to fully and successfully develop our business is unknown.

We had a history of operating at losses since our inception in October 2009 until the fourth quarter of 2020 and have had consecutive periods of income since that time. Our ability to realize consistent, meaningful revenues and profit over a sustained period has not been established over the long term and cannot be assured in future periods.

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While we believe that we have made significant progress in revenue growth and managing our overhead by implementing our cloud-based technology strategy, our services must achieve broad market acceptance by consumers and we must continue to grow our geographical reach, attract more agents and brokers and increase the volume of our residential real-estate transactions. If we are unsuccessful in continuing to gain market acceptance, we will not be able to generate sufficient revenue to continue our business operations and could recognize future operating and net losses.

Despite our ongoing efforts to build revenue growth, both organically and through acquisitions and to control the anticipated expenses associated with the continued development, marketing and provision of our services, we may not be able to consistently generate significant net income and cash flows from operations in the future.

We may not be able to utilize a portion of our net operating loss or research tax credit carryforwards, which may adversely affect our profitability.

As of December 31, 2022, we had federal, state and foreign net operating losses carryforward due to prior years’ losses. The pre-fiscal 2018 federal, certain state and foreign net operating losses will carry forward for a limited number of years. Federal, as well as, some state and foreign net operating losses generated in and after fiscal 2018, do not expire and can be carried forward indefinitely. We also have recorded federal research tax credits for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 which will carry forward for 20 years and are expected to be fully utilized before expiration. A nominal portion of our net operating loss may expire, increasing future income tax liabilities which may adversely affect our profitability.

In addition, under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, our ability to utilize net operating loss carryforwards or other tax attributes, in any taxable year, may be limited if we experience an "ownership change.” A Section 382 “ownership change” generally occurs if one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders who own at least 5% of our stock increase their ownership by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. It is possible that an ownership change, or any future ownership change, could have a material effect on the use of our net operating loss carryforwards or other tax attributes, which could adversely affect our profitability.

We could be subject to changes in tax laws and regulations that may have a material adverse effect in our business.

We operate and are subject to taxes in the United States and numerous other jurisdictions throughout the world. Changes to federal, state, local, or international tax laws on income, sales, use, indirect, or other tax laws, statutes, rules or regulations may adversely affect our effective tax rate, operating results or cash flows.

Our effective tax rate could increase due to several factors, including: changes in the relative amounts of income before taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we operate that have differing statutory tax rates; changes in tax laws, tax treaties and regulations or the interpretation of them, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”) which requires research and experimental expenditures attributable to research conducted in the United States to be capitalized as of January 1, 2022 and amortized over a five-year period or expenditures attributable to research conducted outside the United States to be amortized over a 15 year period; the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which imposes a 1% non-deductible excise tax on repurchase of stock that are made by U.S. publicly traded corporations after December 31, 2022; changes to our assessment about our ability to realize our deferred tax assets that are based on estimates of our future results, the prudence and feasibility of possible tax planning strategies and the economic and political environments in which we do business; the outcome of current and future tax audits, examinations or administrative appeals; and limitations or adverse findings regarding our ability to do business in some jurisdictions.

In particular, new income, sales and use or other tax laws or regulations could be enacted at any time, which could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. Further, existing tax laws and regulations could be interpreted, modified or applied adversely to us. For example, the Tax Act enacted many significant changes to the U.S. tax laws. Future guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities with respect to the Tax Act may affect us and certain aspects of the Tax Act could be repealed or modified in future legislation.  In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Act or any newly enacted federal tax legislation. Changes in corporate tax rates, the realization of net operating losses and other deferred tax assets relating to our operations, the taxation of foreign earnings and the deductibility of expenses under the Tax Act or future reform legislation could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets and could increase our future U.S. tax expense.

We intend to evaluate acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures or investments in third-party technologies and businesses, but we may not realize the anticipated benefits from and may have to pay substantial costs related to, any acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, or investments that we undertake.

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As part of our business and growth strategy, we evaluate acquisitions of, or investments in, a wide array of potential strategic opportunities, including third-party technologies and businesses, as well as other real estate brokerages. If we are not able to effectively integrate acquired businesses and assets or successfully execute on joint venture strategies, our operating results and prospects could be harmed. Since 2019, we have acquired new technology and operations and entered into various joint venture arrangements. We will continue to look for opportunities to acquire technologies or operations that we believe will contribute to our growth and development, including our July 2022 acquisition of Zoocasa. The success of our future acquisition strategy will depend on our ability to identify, negotiate, complete and integrate acquisitions. The success of our future joint venture strategies will depend on our ability to identify, negotiate, complete and successfully manage and grow joint ventures with other parties. In addition, acquisitions and joint ventures could cause potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities or incurrence of debt.

Acquisitions and joint ventures are inherently risky and any we complete may not be successful. Any acquisitions and joint ventures we pursue would involve numerous risks, including the following:

Our failure to address these risks or any other challenges we encounter with our future acquisitions, joint ventures and investments could cause us to not realize all or any of the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures or investments, incur unanticipated liabilities and harm our business, which could negatively impact our operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

Our international operations are subject to risks not generally experienced by our U.S. operations.

In addition to operating in Canada, we expanded our business into Australia and the United Kingdom in 2019 and into South Africa, India, Mexico, Portugal and France, during 2020 and into Puerto Rico, Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Colombia, Spain, Israel, Panama and Germany in 2021. During 2022 we commenced operations in the Dominican Republic, Greece, New Zealand, Chile and Poland and announced the opening of the Dubai market, which is expected to be fully operational in 2023. Our international operations are subject to risks not generally experienced by our U.S. operations. The risks involved in our international operations and relationships that could result in losses against which we are not insured and, therefore, affect our profitability include:

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In addition, activities of agents and brokers outside of the U.S. are more difficult and more expensive to monitor and improper activities or mismanagement may be more difficult to detect. Negligent or improper activities involving our agents and brokers may result in reputational damage to us and may lead to direct claims against us based on theories of vicarious liability, negligence, joint operations and joint employer liability which, if determined adversely, could increase costs and subject us to incremental liability for their actions.

Loss of our current executive officers or other key management could significantly harm our business.

We depend on the industry experience and talent of our current executives. We believe that our future results will depend in part upon our ability to retain and attract highly skilled and qualified management. The loss of our executive officers could have a material adverse effect on our operations because other officers may not have the experience and expertise to readily replace these individuals. To the extent that one or more of our top executives or other key management personnel depart from the Company, our operations and business prospects may be adversely affected. In addition, changes in executives and key personnel could be disruptive to our business.

Failure to protect intellectual property rights could adversely affect our business.

Our intellectual property rights, including existing and future trademarks, trade secrets, patents and copyrights, are important assets of the business. We have taken measures to protect our intellectual property, but these measures may not be sufficient or effective. We may bring lawsuits to protect against the potential infringement of our intellectual property rights and other companies, including our competitors, could make claims against us alleging our infringement of their intellectual property rights. There can be no assurance that we would prevail in such lawsuits. Any significant impairment of our intellectual property rights could harm our business.

Our business could be adversely affected if we are unable to expand, maintain and improve the systems and technologies which we rely on to operate.

As the number of agents and brokers in our company grows, our success will depend on our ability to expand, maintain and improve the technology that supports our business operations, including, but not limited to, our cloud office platform. Loss of key personnel or the lack of adequate staffing with the requisite expertise and training could impede our efforts in this regard. If our systems and technologies lack capacity or quality sufficient to service agents and their clients, then the number of agents who wish to use our products could decrease, the level of client service and transaction volume afforded by our systems could suffer and our costs could increase. In addition, if our systems, procedures or controls are not adequate to provide reliable, accurate and timely financial and other reporting, we may not be able to satisfy regulatory scrutiny or contractual obligations with third parties and may suffer a loss of reputation. Any of these events could negatively affect our financial position.

Our business, financial condition and reputation may be substantially harmed by security breaches, interruptions, delays and failures in our systems and operations.

The performance and reliability of our systems and operations are critical to our reputation and ability to attract agents, teams of agents and brokers into our company as well as our ability to service home-buyers and sellers. Our systems and operations are vulnerable to security breaches, interruption or malfunction due to events beyond our control, including natural disasters, such as earthquakes, fire and flood, power loss, telecommunication failures, break-ins, sabotage, computer viruses, intentional acts of vandalism and similar events. In addition, we rely on third-party vendors to provide the cloud office platform and to provide additional systems and related support. If we cannot continue to retain these services on acceptable terms, our access to these systems and services could be interrupted. Any security breach, interruption, delay or failure in our systems and operations could substantially reduce the transaction volume that can be processed with our systems, impair quality of service, increase costs, prompt litigation and other consumer claims and damage our reputation, any of which could substantially harm our financial condition.

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Cybersecurity incidents could disrupt our business operations, result in the loss of critical and confidential information, adversely impact our reputation and harm our business.

Cybersecurity threats and incidents directed at us could range from uncoordinated individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to information technology systems to sophisticated and targeted measures aimed at disrupting business or gathering personal data of customers. In the ordinary course of our business, we and our agents and brokers collect and store sensitive data, including proprietary business information and personal information about our clients and customers. Our business and particularly our cloud-based platform, is reliant on the uninterrupted functioning of our information technology systems. The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of information are critical to our operations, especially the processing and closing of real estate transactions. Although we employ measures designed to prevent, detect, address and mitigate these threats (including access controls, data encryption, vulnerability assessments and maintenance of backup and protective systems), cybersecurity incidents, depending on their nature and scope, could potentially result in the misappropriation, destruction, corruption, or unavailability of critical data and confidential or proprietary information (our own or that of third parties, including potentially sensitive personal information of our clients and customers) and the disruption of business operations. Any such compromises to our security could cause harm to our reputation, which could cause customers to lose trust and confidence in us or could cause agents and brokers to stop working for us. In addition, we may incur significant costs for remediation that may include liability for stolen assets or information, repair of system damage and compensation to clients, customers and business partners. We may also be subject to legal claims, government investigation and additional state and federal statutory requirements.

The potential consequences of a material cybersecurity incident include regulatory violations of applicable U.S. and foreign privacy and other laws, reputational damage, loss of market value, litigation with third parties (which could result in our exposure to material civil or criminal liability), diminution in the value of the services we provide to our customers and increased cybersecurity protection and remediation costs (that may include liability for stolen assets or information), which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our competitiveness and results of operations.

We are actively and intend to continue, developing new products and services complementary to our brokerage business and our failure to accurately predict their demand or growth could have an adverse effect on our business.

We are actively and intend in the future to continue, investing resources in developing new technology, services, products and other offerings complementary to our brokerage business. New business initiatives are inherently risky and may involve unproven business strategies and markets with which we have limited or no prior development or operating experience. Risks from these new initiatives include those associated with potential defects in the design, ongoing development and maintenance of technologies, reliance on data or user inputs that may prove inadequate or unavailable, failure to design products and services in a way that is more effective or affordable than competing third-party products and services and failure to scale businesses as they grow, among others. As a result of these risks, we could experience increased legal claims, reputational damage, financial loss or other adverse effects, which could be material. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to efficiently or effectively develop, commercialize and achieve market acceptance of new products and services. Additionally, the human and financial capital committed to develop new products and services may either be insufficient or result in expenses that exceed the revenue actually originated from these new products and services. In addition, our efforts to develop new products and services could distract management from current operations and could divert capital and other resources from our existing business, including our brokerage business. Failure to achieve the expected benefits of our investments may occur and could harm our business.

Risks Related to our Real Estate Business

We may be unable to maintain our agent growth rate, which would adversely affect our revenue growth and results of operations.

We have experienced rapid and accelerating growth in our real estate broker and agent base. During the year ended December 31, 2022, our agent and broker base grew to 86,203 agents and brokers, or by 21%, from 71,137 agents and brokers as of December 31, 2021. Because we derive revenue from real estate transactions in which our brokers and agents receive commissions, the amount and rate of growth of our revenue typically correlate to the amount and rate of growth of our agent and broker base, respectively. The rate of growth of our agent and broker base cannot be predicted and is subject to many factors outside of our control, including actions taken by our competitors and macroeconomic factors affecting the real estate industry in general. We cannot assure that we will be able to maintain our recent agent growth rate or that our agent and broker base will continue to expand in future periods. A slowdown in our agent growth rate would have a material adverse effect on revenue growth and could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Inflation and rising interest rates have and may continue to contribute to declining real estate transaction volumes, which have and may continue to materially impact operating results, profits and cash flows.

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Inflation and rising interest rates have generally impacted real estate transaction volumes in the U.S., Canada and other international markets. During 2022, the Company has experienced declining transaction volume, which has had an impact on operating results in the last few months of 2022. If we are not able to organically grow our market share, to offset the declining transactions, our operating results, profits and cash flow may be materially impacted in the event interest rates stay level or continue to rise. The Company believes that it continues to be well positioned for growth in the current economic climate, due to our strong base of agent support, along with our efficient operating model, with lower fixed costs and no brick-and-mortar locations.

If we fail to grow in the various local markets that we serve or are unsuccessful in identifying and pursuing new business opportunities our long-term prospects and profitability will be harmed.

To capture and retain market share in the various local markets that we serve, we must compete successfully against other brokerages for agents and brokers and for the consumer relationships that they bring. Our competitors could lower the fees that they charge to agents and brokers or could raise the compensation structure for those agents. Our competitors may have access to greater financial resources than us, allowing them to undertake expensive local advertising or marketing efforts. In addition, our competitors may be able to leverage local relationships, referral sources and strong local brand and name recognition that we have not established. Our competitors could, as a result, have greater leverage in attracting new and established agents in the market and in generating business among local consumers. Our ability to grow in the local markets that we serve will depend on our ability to compete with these local brokerages.

We may implement changes to our business model and operations to improve revenues that cause a disproportionate increase in our expenses or reduce profit margins. For example, we may allocate resources to acquiring lower margin brokerage models and have invested in the development of a mortgage servicing division, a commercial real estate division, a title and escrow company, a mortgage lending company, a personal development company and a continuing education division. Expanding our service offerings could involve significant up-front costs that may only be recovered after lengthy periods of time. The barrier to entry in new real estate markets is low given our cloud-based operating model; however, attempts to pursue new business opportunities could result in a disproportionate increase in our expenses and in reduced profit margins. In addition, expansion into new markets and business lines, including internationally, could expose us to additional compliance obligations and regulatory risks. If we fail to continue to grow in the local markets we serve or if we fail to successfully identify and pursue new business opportunities, our long-term prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed and our stock price may decline.

Our value proposition for agents and brokers includes allowing them to participate in the revenues of our Company and is not typical in the real estate industry. If agents and brokers do not understand our value proposition, we may not be able to attract, retain and incentivize agents.

Participation in our revenue sharing plan represents a key component of our agent and broker value proposition. Agents and brokers may not understand or appreciate its value due to the intricacies of our programs. In addition, agents may not appreciate other components of our value proposition, including the cloud office platform, the mobility it affords, the systems and tools that we provide to agents and brokers and the professional development opportunities we create and deliver. If agents and brokers do not understand the elements of our agent value proposition, or do not perceive it to be more valuable than the models used by most competitors, we may not be able to attract, retain and incentivize new and existing agents and brokers to grow our revenues.

Risks Related to our Virbela Business

The utilization of a 3D cloud-based immersive office as a suitable substitute for a physical brick-and-mortar location is a new and unproven strategy and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to operate and grow within its confines.

Currently, our cloud office adequately supports the needs of our agent population located across the markets we serve. We cannot guarantee that our cloud office platform will continue to support our agent population and meet our business needs as we grow. The effectiveness of our cloud office platform is tied to a number of variables at any given time, including server capacity and concurrent users. In addition, the use of the cloud office platform and the use generally of 3D immersive office environments as an acceptable substitute among agents and brokers for physical office locations is unproven. We cannot guarantee that industry rank and file will adopt or accept cloud-based 3D office environments as a substitute for a physical office environment in a sustainable, long-term manner.

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If we do not remain an innovative leader in the real estate industry, we may not be able to grow our business and leverage our costs to achieve profitability.

Innovation has been critical to our ability to compete against other brokerages for clients and agents. For example, we have pioneered the utilization of a 3D immersive online office environment in the real estate market, which reduces our need for office space and facilitates the transaction of business away from an office. If competitors follow our practices or develop innovative practices, our ability to achieve profitability may diminish or erode. For example, certain other brokerages could develop or license cloud-based office platforms that are equal to or superior to ours. If we do not remain on the forefront of innovation, we may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability.

The market for internet products and services including, without limitation, 3D immersive experiences, virtual reality and augmented reality is characterized by rapid technological developments, evolving industry standards and consumer demands and frequent new product introductions and enhancements. The Company’s future success will depend in significant part on its ability to continually improve the performance, features and reliability of its internet-based virtual environment, its tools and other properties in response to both evolving demands of the marketplace and competitive product offerings and there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in doing so. In addition, the widespread adoption of new virtual reality and augmented reality applications through new technology developments could require fundamental changes in the Company’s services.

Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters

We offer our independent agents the opportunity to earn additional commissions through our revenue sharing plan, which pays under a multi-tiered compensation structure similar in some respects to network marketing. Network marketing is subject to intense government scrutiny and regulation and changes in the law, or the interpretation and enforcement of the law, might adversely affect our business.

Various laws and regulations in the United States and other countries regulate network marketing. These laws and regulations exist at many levels of government in many different forms, including statutes, rules, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative orders. Network marketing regulations are inherently fact-based and often do not include "bright line" rules. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that the regulations, or a regulator's interpretation and enforcement of the regulations, could change. From time to time, we have received requests to supply information regarding our revenue sharing plan to regulatory agencies. We could potentially in the future be required to modify our revenue sharing plan in certain jurisdictions in order to comply with the interpretation of the regulations by local authorities.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has entered into several highly publicized settlements with network marketing companies that required those companies to modify their compensation plans and business models. Those settlements resulted from actions brought by the FTC involving a variety of alleged violations of consumer protection laws, including misleading earnings representations by the companies' independent distributors, as well as the legal validity of the companies' business model and distributor compensation plans. FTC determinations such as these have created an ambiguity regarding the proper interpretation of the law and regulations applicable to network marketing companies in the U.S. Although a consent decree between the FTC and a specific company does not represent judicial precedent, FTC officials have indicated that the network marketing industry should look to these consent decrees and the principles contained therein, for guidance. Additionally, following the issuance of these consent decrees, the FTC issued non-binding guidance to the network marketing industry, suggesting it was intending to reinforce the principles contained in the consent decrees and provide other operational guidance to the network marketing industry.

While we strive to ensure that our overall business model and revenue sharing plan, are regulatory compliant in each of our markets, we cannot assure you that a regulator, if it were to review our business, would agree with our assessment and would not require us to change one or more aspects of our operations. Any action against us in the future by the FTC or another regulator could materially and adversely affect our operations.

We cannot predict the nature of any future law, regulation, or guidance, nor can we predict what effect additional governmental regulations, judicial decisions, or administrative orders, when and if promulgated, would have on our business. Failure by us, or our independent agents, to comply with these laws, could adversely affect our business.

We face significant risk to our brand and revenue if we fail to maintain compliance with the law and regulations of federal, state, county and foreign governmental authorities, or private associations and governing boards.

We operate in a heavily regulated industry subject to complex, federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations within the markets in which we operate and third-party organizations’ regulations, policies and bylaws governing the real estate business.

In general, the laws, rules and regulations that apply to our business practices include, without limitation, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), the federal Fair Housing Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, the Exchange Act and federal

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advertising and other laws, as well as comparable state statutes; rules of trade organizations such as NAR, local MLSs and state and local AORs; licensing requirements and related obligations that could arise from our business practices relating to the provision of services other than real estate brokerage services, including without limitation, our mortgage lending services; privacy regulations relating to our use of personal information collected from the registered users of our websites; laws relating to the use and publication of information through the internet; and state real estate brokerage and mortgage lending licensing requirements, as well as statutory due diligence, disclosure, record keeping and standard-of-care obligations relating to these licenses.

Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act contains the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (“Mortgage Act”), which imposes a number of additional requirements on lenders and servicers of residential mortgage loans, by amending certain existing provisions and adding new sections to RESPA and other federal laws. It also broadly prohibits unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices and knowingly or recklessly providing substantial assistance to a covered person in violation of that prohibition. The penalties for noncompliance with these laws are also significantly increased by the Mortgage Act, which could lead to an increase in lawsuits against mortgage lenders and servicers.

As we expand our business into new international markets, including our existing international markets, we are subject to additional foreign governmental regulation. Ensuring compliance with these newly applicable laws could substantially increase our operating expenses. In addition, entry into these new markets exposes us to increased risk and liability. A violation of any of these applicable laws could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Maintaining legal compliance is challenging and increases our costs due to resources required to continually monitor business practices for compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations and to monitor changes in the applicable laws themselves.

We may not become aware of all the laws, rules and regulations that govern our business, or be able to comply with all of them, given the rate of regulatory changes, ambiguities in regulations, contradictions in regulations between jurisdictions and the difficulties in achieving both company-wide and region-specific knowledge and compliance.

If we fail, or we have alleged to have failed, to comply with any existing or future applicable laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to lawsuits and administrative complaints and proceedings, as well as criminal proceedings. Our noncompliance could result in significant defense costs, settlement costs, damages and penalties.

Our business licenses could be suspended or revoked, our business practices enjoined, or we could be required to modify our business practices, which could materially impair, or even prevent, our ability to conduct all or any portion of our business. Any such events could also damage our reputation and impair our ability to attract and service home-buyers, home sellers, agents, clients and customers as well our ability to attract brokerages, brokers, teams of agents and agents to our company, without increasing our costs.

Further, if we lose our ability to obtain and maintain all of the regulatory approvals and licenses necessary to conduct business as we currently operate, our ability to conduct business may be harmed. Lastly, any lobbying or related activities we undertake in response to mitigate liability of current or new regulations could substantially increase our operating expenses.

We may suffer significant financial harm and loss of reputation if we do not comply, cannot comply, or are alleged to have not complied with applicable laws, rules and regulations concerning our classification and compensation practices for the agents in our owned-and-operated brokerage.

Except for our employed state brokers and commission only employees, all real estate professionals in our brokerage operations have been retained as independent contractors, either directly or indirectly through third-party entities formed by these independent contractors for their business purposes. With respect to these independent contractors, like most brokerage firms, we are subject to the taxing authorities’ regulations and applicable laws regarding independent contractor classification. These regulations and guidelines are subject to judicial and agency interpretation and it might be determined that the independent contractor classification is inapplicable to any of our affiliated real estate professionals. Further, if legal standards for classification of real estate professionals as independent contractors change or appear to be changing, it may be necessary to modify our compensation and benefits structure for our affiliated real estate professionals in some or all of our markets, including by paying additional compensation or reimbursing expenses.

In the future we could incur substantial costs, penalties and damages, including back pay, unpaid benefits, taxes, expense reimbursement and attorneys’ fees, in defending future challenges by our affiliated real estate professionals to our employment classification or compensation practices.

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We are subject to certain risks related to legal proceedings filed by or against us and adverse results may harm our business and financial condition.

We are subject to risk of and are from time to time involved in, or may in the future be subject to, claims, suits, government investigations and proceedings arising from our business, including actions with respect to securities, intellectual property, privacy, information security, data protection or law enforcement matters, tax matters, labor and employment, including claims challenging the classification of our agents and brokers as independent contractors and compliance with wage and hour regulations and claims alleging violations of RESPA or state consumer fraud statutes and commercial arrangements. We are also subject to risk related to shareholder derivative actions, standard brokerage disputes like the failure to disclose hidden defects in a property such as mold, vicarious liability based upon conduct of individuals or entities outside of our control, including our agents, brokers, third-party service or product providers and purported class action lawsuits.

We cannot predict with certainty the cost of defense, the cost of prosecution, insurance coverage or the ultimate outcome of litigation and other proceedings filed by or against us, including remedies or damage awards. Adverse results in such litigation and other proceedings may harm our business and financial condition. Class action lawsuits can often be particularly burdensome given the breadth of claims, large potential damages and significant costs of defense. In the case of intellectual property litigation and proceedings, adverse outcomes could include the cancellation, invalidation or other loss of material intellectual property rights used in our business and injunctions prohibiting our use of business processes or technology that is subject to third-party patents or other third-party intellectual property rights. In addition, we may be required to enter into licensing agreements (if available on acceptable terms) and be required to pay royalties. In the case of securities litigation and proceedings, adverse outcomes could include the cancellation, invalidation, or modification of our existing equity incentive program.

From time to time, we may become involved in lawsuits and legal proceedings which arise in the ordinary course of business. At present, we are not involved in any material pending legal proceedings and there are no proceedings in which any of our directors, officers or affiliates is an adverse party or has a material interest adverse to our interest.

We are and may, in the future, be blocked from or limited in providing our agent compensation plans in certain jurisdictions and may be required to modify our business model in those jurisdictions as a result.

Our agent compensation plans represent a key lever in our strategy to attract and retain independent agents and brokers and are subject to various international, federal, state, territorial and local laws, rules and regulations which differ in each of our existing and future markets. As a result, we are and may, in the future, be blocked from or limited in providing each of our agent compensation plans in certain markets. In addition, these laws, rules and regulations are subject to judicial and agency interpretation and it might be determined that our agent compensation plans are not permitted to be offered to independent contractors. In response to such limitations, we have and may, in the future, be required to modify our agent compensation practices in such markets. Failure to comply with applicable law, rules and regulations or failure to subsequently modify our business model in certain jurisdictions to effectively attract and retain agents and brokers could negatively affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. The costs attributable to developing compliant agent compensation plans can be significant and could adversely affect our financial condition.  

If we fail to protect the privacy and personal information of our customers, agents or employees, we may be subject to legal claims, government action and damage to our reputation.

Hundreds of thousands of consumers, independent contractors and employees have shared personal information with us during the normal course of our business processing real estate transactions. This includes, but is not limited to, Social Security numbers, annual income amounts and sources, consumer names, addresses, telephone and cell phone numbers and email addresses. To run our business, it is essential for us to store and transmit this sensitive information in our systems and networks. At the same time, we are subject to numerous laws, regulations and other requirements that require businesses like ours to protect the security of personal information, notify customers and other individuals about our privacy practices and limit the use, disclosure, or transfer of personal data across country borders. Regulators in the U.S. and abroad continue to enact comprehensive new laws or legislative reforms imposing significant privacy and cybersecurity restrictions. The result is that we are subject to increased regulatory scrutiny, additional contractual requirements from corporate customers and heightened compliance costs. These ongoing changes to privacy and cybersecurity laws also may make it more difficult for us to operate our business and may have a material adverse effect on our operations. For example, the European Union’s GDPR conferred new and significant privacy rights on individuals (including employees and independent agents) and materially increased penalties for violations. In the U.S., California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act — which went into full effect in 2021 — imposing new and comprehensive requirements on organizations that collect and disclose personal information about California residents. In March 2017, the New York Department of Financial Services’ cybersecurity regulation went into effect, requiring regulated financial institutions to establish a detailed cybersecurity program. Program requirements include corporate governance, incident planning, data management, system testing, vendor oversight and regulator notification rules. Now, other state regulatory agencies are expected to enact similar requirements

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following the adoption of the Insurance Data Security Model Law by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that is consistent with the New York regulation.

Any significant violations of privacy and cybersecurity could result in the loss of new or existing business, litigation, regulatory investigations, the payment of fines, damages and penalties and damage to our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We could also be adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded to require changes in our business practices or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that negatively affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

In addition, while we disclose our information collection and dissemination practices in a published privacy statement on our websites, which we may modify from time to time, we may be subject to legal claims, government action and damage to our reputation if we act or are perceived to be acting inconsistently with the terms of our privacy statement, customer expectations or state, national and international regulations. Our policy and safeguards could be deemed insufficient if third parties with whom we have shared personal information fail to protect the privacy of that information.

The occurrence of a significant claim in excess of our insurance coverage or which is not covered by our insurance in any given period could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations during the period. In the event we or the vendors with which we contract to provide services on behalf of our customers were to suffer a breach of personal information, our customers and independent agents could terminate their business with us. Further, we may be subject to claims to the extent individual employees or independent contractors breach or fail to adhere to Company policies and practices and such actions jeopardize any personal information. Our legal liability could include significant defense costs, settlement costs, damages and penalties, plus, damage our reputation with consumers, which could significantly damage our ability to attract customers. Any or all of these consequences would result in a meaningful unfavorable impact on our brand, business model, revenue, expenses, income and margins.

In addition, concern among potential home-buyers or sellers about our privacy practices could result in regulatory investigations, especially in the European Union as related to the GDPR. Additionally, concern among potential home-buyers or sellers could keep them from using our services or require us to incur significant expense to alter our business practices or educate them about how we use personal information.

SUCCESS Lending and SUCCESS Franchising are new business initiatives with regulatory and compliance risks, many of which are beyond our control.

The SUCCESS Lending and SUCCESS Franchising businesses, both launched in 2021, have limited operating histories and have encountered and will continue to encounter risks, uncertainties, difficulties and expenses, including, without limitation, ongoing compliance with a complex and evolving regulatory environment. If we are not able to timely and effectively respond to these requirements, or if risks arise outside our reasonable ability to respond effectively, our business and financial condition may be harmed.

Additionally, SUCCESS Lending relies on third-party sources, including credit bureaus, for credit, identification, employment and other relevant information in order to review and select qualified borrowers. If this information becomes unavailable, becomes more expensive to access or is incorrect, our business may be harmed.

Risks Related to Our Stock

Glenn Sanford, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, together with Penny Sanford, a significant shareholder, Jason Gesing, a director and our Chief Industry Relations Officer and Gene Frederick, a director and agent, own a significant percentage of our stock and have agreed to act as a group on any matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders. As a result, the trading price for our shares may be depressed and they can take actions that may be adverse to the interests of our other stockholders.

On November 2, 2022, Glenn Sanford, Penny Sanford, Jason Gesing and Gene Frederick filed an amended Schedule 13D with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which disclosed that they beneficially owned approximately 51.73% of our outstanding common stock as of September 30, 2022 and that they had agreed to vote their shares as a group with respect to the election of directors and any other matter on which our shares of common stock are entitled to vote. This significant concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price for our common stock because investors may perceive disadvantages in owning stock in a company with a controlling stockholder group. The group can significantly influence all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election and removal of directors and any proposed merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, due to his significant ownership stake and his service as our Principal Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Sanford controls the management of our business and affairs. Together, Messrs. Sanford, Gesing and Frederick hold three of our seven board seats. This

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concentration of ownership and control could have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change in control, or impeding a merger or consolidation, takeover or other business combination that could be favorable to our other stockholders.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we qualify for and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

As of September 30, 2022, Glenn Sanford, Penny Sanford, Jason Gesing and Gene Frederick beneficially owned approximately 51.73% of the total combined voting power of our outstanding common stock. Accordingly, we qualify as a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq corporate governance standards.

Under Nasdaq rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power Nasdaq is held by an individual, group, or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance standards, including:

We intend to use these exemptions. As a result, we will not have a majority of independent directors, our compensation and our nominating and corporate governance committees will not consist entirely of independent directors and such committees may not be subject to annual performance evaluations. Consequently, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance rules and requirements. Our status as a controlled company could make our common stock less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price.

Because we can issue additional shares of common stock and because we issue stock under Equity Incentive Plans, our stockholders may experience dilution in the future.

We are authorized to issue up to 900,000,000 shares of common stock, of which 171,656,030 shares were issued and 152,839,239 shares were outstanding as of December 31, 2022. Additionally, the Company maintains a 2015 Equity Incentive Plan from which employees, agents, brokers and certain service providers of the Company and its affiliates can receive awards of the Company’s common stock. As of December 31, 2022, there were 84,011,043 shares registered and authorized under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, of which 28,125,785 are available for future issuance. Our Board of Directors has the authority to cause us to issue additional shares of common stock without consent of any of our stockholders. Consequently, current stockholders may experience more dilution in their ownership of our common stock in the future.

The stock price of our common stock has been and likely will continue to be volatile and may decline in value regardless of our performance.

The market price for our common stock could fluctuate significantly for various reasons, many of which are outside our control, including those described above and the following:

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In addition, the stock markets have experienced periods of high price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of the equity securities of many companies, including technology companies and real estate brokerages. Such price fluctuations can be unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. In the past, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business and harm our business.

Because we may not pay any cash dividends on our shares of common stock in the near future, our stockholders may not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell them.

On August 4, 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors declared and subsequently paid its first cash dividend. The Company then declared and paid subsequent dividends during each quarter of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. There is no assurance that future dividends will be paid and if dividends are paid, there is no assurance with respect to the amount of any such dividend. The declaration, payment and amount of any future dividends will be made at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend upon, among other things, the results of operations, cash flows and financial condition, operating and capital requirements and other factors as the board of directors considers relevant. Unless we pay dividends, our stockholders will not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell them.

Delaware law and our organizational documents may impede or discourage a takeover, which could deprive our investors of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares.

We are a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law impose various impediments to the ability of a third party to acquire control of us, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may make it more difficult for, or prevent a third party from, acquiring control of us without the approval of our Board of Directors. Among other things, these provisions:

The foregoing factors could impede a merger, takeover or other business combination or discourage a potential investor from making a tender offer for our common stock which, under certain circumstances, could reduce the market value of our common stock and our investors’ ability to realize any potential change-in-control premium.

Not applicable.

Our principal corporate office is located at 2219 Rimland Drive, Suite 301, Bellingham, WA and is leased office space. We also lease small office spaces in a number of regions in which we operate, in order to comply with regulatory and licensing requirements within those jurisdictions and, in certain instances, to provide office space to our managing brokers and drop-in space for our agents. In some of these instances, the managing brokers are financially responsible for a significant portion of the rental expense associated with a leased office space. We generally do not provide office space for the agents other than for drop-in service. We do not own any real property. We believe that leased facilities are adequate to meet current needs and that additional facilities will be available for lease to meet future needs.

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Refer to Item 1A. – Risk Factors” and Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 13 – Commitments and Contingencies to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this report for additional information on the Company’s legal proceedings. 

The Company believes that it has adequately and appropriately accrued for legal matters. We recognize expenses for legal claims when payments associated with the claims become probable and can be reasonably estimated.

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Litigation and other legal matters are inherently unpredictable and subject to substantial uncertainties and adverse resolutions could occur. In addition, litigation and other legal matters, including class-action lawsuits, government investigations and regulatory proceedings can be costly to defend and, depending on the class size and claims, could be costly to settle. As such, the Company could incur judgments, penalties, sanctions, fines or enter into settlements of claims with liability that are materially in excess of amounts accrued and these settlements could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in any particular period.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Market Information

The common stock of eXp World Holdings, Inc. (“eXp”, or, collectively with its subsidiaries, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market operated by Nasdaq, Inc. under the trading symbol “EXPI”.

Trading in our common stock quoted on the Nasdaq Global Market is characterized by wide fluctuations in trading prices due to many factors, some of which may have little to do with our Company’s operations or business prospects. We cannot assure investors that there will be a market for our common stock in the future.

Holders of Record

As of February 17, 2023, we had approximately 116,394 shareholders of record which hold shares of the Company’s common stock. This does not include persons whose stock is in nominee or “street name” accounts through brokers.

Dividends

During 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors declared the following dividends on its common stock:

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Payment of cash dividends is at the discretion of the Company’s Board of Directors in accordance with applicable law after taking into account various factors, including our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs and plans for growth. Under Delaware law, we can only pay dividends either out of surplus or out of the current or the immediately preceding year’s earnings. Therefore, no assurance is given that we will pay any future dividends to our common stockholders, or as to the amount of any such dividends.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

We may repurchase shares of our common stock from time to time at prevailing market prices, depending on market conditions, through open market, privately negotiated transactions, or through a 10b5-1 plan. No date has been established for the completion of the share repurchase program and we are not obligated to repurchase any shares. Subject to applicable corporate securities laws, repurchases may be made at such times and in such amounts as management deems appropriate. Repurchases under the program can be discontinued at any time management feels additional repurchases are not warranted. Any shares repurchased under the program are returned to the status of authorized but unissued shares of common stock until retired.

Refer to Note 10 – Stockholders’ Equity to the consolidated financial statements herein for more details regarding our stock repurchase program.

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The following table provides information about repurchases of our common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2022:

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Company Stock Performance

The following graph compares the performance of our common stock to the Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 Index, the S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index and the S&P Internet Select Industry Index by assuming $100 was invested in each investment option as of February 28, 2018, which represents the month our common stock began trading on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 Index is a capitalization-weighted index of domestic equities of the largest companies traded on the NYSE and Nasdaq. The S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index is a diversified group of holdings representing home building, building products, home furnishings and home appliances. The S&P Internet Select Industry Index is comprised of U.S. equities of internet and direct marketing retail, internet services and infrastructure and interactive media and services companies.

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to inform the reader about material information relevant to an assessment of the financial condition and results of operations of eXp World Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries for the three-year period ended December 31, 2022. The following discussion should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere within this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that constitute our estimates, plans and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. See “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. – Risk Factors” included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions associated with these statements.

This section generally discusses items pertaining to and comparisons of financial results between 2022 and 2021. Discussions of 2020 items and comparisons between 2021 and 2020 financial results can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 (the “2021 MD&A”). The 2021 MD&A is incorporated by reference herein from Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K dated February 25, 2022 (Commission File No. 001-38493).

This MD&A is divided into the following sections:

All dollar amounts are in USD thousands except share amounts and per share data and as otherwise noted.

OVERVIEW

eXp is a diversified portfolio of service-based businesses whose operations benefit substantially from utilizing our enabling technology platform. Effective in December 2022, the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”) began managing the business and allocating resources as four separate operating segments. The change to business segments aligns with how the CODM assesses performance and allocates resources for the Company’s business segments. Information provided herein reflects the impact of this change for all periods presented. See additional information in Note 14 –Segment Information.

eXp manages its operations in four operating business segments: North American Realty; International Realty; Virbela; and Other Affiliated Services.

While we do not consider acquisitions a critical element of our ongoing business, we seek opportunities to expand and enhance our portfolio of solutions.

Strategy

Our strategy is to grow organically in the North American and certain international markets by increasing our independent agent and broker network. Through our cloud-based operations and technology platform, we strive to achieve customer-focused efficiencies that allow us to increase market share and attain strong returns as we scale our business within the markets in which we operate. By building partnerships and strategically deploying capital, we seek to grow the business and enter attractive vertical and adjacent markets.

During 2022, we believe that we made progress towards achieving our strategic goals, including a 21% increase in our agent base year over year and an increase of 15% of real estate transactions year over year, as well as opening new business operations in six countries. The expected outcome of these activities will be to better position us to deliver on our full potential, to provide a platform for future growth opportunities and to achieve our long-term financial goals.

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MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY TRENDS

Our business is dependent on the economic conditions within the markets for which we operate. Changes in these conditions can have a positive or negative impact on our business. The economic conditions influencing the housing markets primarily include economic growth, interest rates, unemployment, consumer confidence, mortgage availability and supply and demand.

In periods of economic growth, demand typically increases resulting in higher home sales transactions and home sales prices. Similarly, a decline in economic growth, increasing interest rates and declining consumer confidence generally decreases demand. Additionally, regulations imposed by local, state and federal government agencies and geopolitical instability, can also negatively impact the housing markets for which we operate.

In 2022, the existing home sales market declined 16%, according to the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”), which is the lowest the market has been since 2014.  Due to the increasing interest rates and increasing inflation, the market began a contraction trend beginning in the second quarter of 2022. According to NAR housing statistics, existing home sales continued to decline for the 11^th straight month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.02 million in 2022, down 34.0% from the same period in 2021. NAR reported that pending home sales increased by 2.5% in December 2022 compared to November 2022, after six consecutive months of decreases. The pending home sales index measures housing contract activity and is based on signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes and condos.

The Company believes that it continues to be well positioned for growth in the current economic climate. We have a strong base of agent support, which should drive organic market share growth, retention and productivity.  Additionally, we have an efficient operating model with lower fixed costs driven by our cloud-based model, with no brick-and-mortar locations.

Regardless of whether the housing market continues to slow or grow, we continue to believe that we are positioned to leverage our low-cost, high-engagement model, affording agents and brokers increased income and ownership opportunities while offering a scalable solution to brokerage owners looking to prosper in a series of fluctuations in economic activity.

National Housing Inventory

Throughout 2022, increased mortgage interest rates and higher home prices have caused inventory levels, as measured in months of supply, to rise. Construction of new homes continues to slow also due to rising mortgage rates and the strained availability of labor and materials. According to NAR, inventory of existing homes for sale in the U.S. was 970,000 at the end of December 2022 compared to 910,000 at the end of December 2021.

Mortgage Rates

The sharp increase in mortgage rates is negatively impacting the demand for homebuying.  Based on Freddie Mac data, the average rate for a 30-year, conventional fixed rate mortgage was 6.42% in December 2022 compared to 3.1% in 2021. As inflation continues to moderate into 2023, mortgage rates are expected to decline, which we expect to boost homebuyer demand and homebuilder sentiment.

Housing Affordability Index

According to NAR, the composite housing affordability index decreased to 95.5 for December 2022 (preliminary) from 142.2 for December 2021. As home prices and interest rates have increased, the housing affordability index has become unfavorable. When the index is above 100, it indicates that a family earning the median income has sufficient income to purchase a median-priced home, assuming a 20 percent down payment and ability to qualify for a mortgage. The unfavorable housing affordability index is due to increased mortgage rate conditions and low inventory levels, driving increases in the average home price.

Existing Home Sales Transactions and Prices

According to NAR, seasonally adjusted existing home sale transactions for the year ended December 2022 (preliminary) decreased to 4.02 million compared to 6.09 million for the year ended December 2021. NAR anticipates transactions to decrease slightly in 2023 due to higher mortgage rates.

According to NAR, nationwide existing home sales average price for December 2022 (preliminary) was $366,900, up 2.3% from $358,000 December 2021.

SEGMENTS

Historically, management made operating decisions and assessed performance based on product lines with three operating segments and one single reportable segment. Effective in December of 2022, as a result of the growth in international operations and changes in the North American markets, the Company revised the presentation of segment information to align with changes to how the CODM manages the business and allocates resources as four operating segments.  The Company determines an operating segment if a component (i) engages in business activities from which it earns revenues

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and incurs expenses, (ii) has discrete financial information and is (iii) regularly reviewed by the CODM, who is Glenn Sanford, Chief Executive Officer, eXp World Holdings and eXp Realty, to make decisions regarding resource allocation for the segment and assess its performance. Once operating segments are identified, the Company performs an analysis to determine if aggregation of operating segments is applicable. This determination is based upon a quantitative analysis of the current and historic revenues and profitability for each operating segment, together with a qualitative assessment to determine if operating segments have similar operating characteristics. Based on this analysis, in December 2022, we determined that there are four operating segments and three reportable segments.

The CODM uses Adjusted Segment EBITDA as a key metric to evaluate the operating and financial performance of a segment, identify trends affecting the segments, develop projections and make strategic business decisions.

The Company has four reportable segments as follows: North American Realty, International Realty and Virbela and Other Affiliated Services. We report corporate expenses, as further detailed below, as “Corporate expenses and other.” All segments follow the same basis of presentation and accounting policies. See Note 2 of the Notes included herein for the Company’s significant accounting policies.

Corporate expenses include costs incurred to operate the corporate parent of eXp, including expenses incurred in connection with strategic resources provided to the agents, as well as certain other centrally managed expenses that are not allocated to the operating segments, including administrative, brokerage operations and legal functions.

The following discussion focuses on the operating performance of the Company for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 and the financial condition of the Company as of December 31, 2022.

KEY BUSINESS METRICS

Management uses our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and key business metrics related to our business and industry to evaluate our performance and make strategic decisions.

The following table outlines the key business metrics that we periodically review to track the Company’s performance:

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Our strength is attracting real estate agent and broker professionals that contribute to our growth. Brokerage real estate transactions are recorded when our agents and brokers represent buyers and/or sellers in the purchase or sale, respectively, of a home. The number of real estate transactions are key drivers of our revenue and profitability. Real estate transaction volume represents the total sales value for all homes bought and sold by our agents and brokers and is influenced by several market factors, including, but not limited to, the pricing and quality of our services and market conditions that affect home sales, such as macroeconomic factors, local inventory levels, mortgage interest rates and seasonality. Real estate transaction revenue represents the commission revenue earned by the Company for closed brokerage real estate transactions.

We continue to increase our agents and brokers significantly in the United States and Canada through the execution of our growth strategies. We are continuing to expand our agent base internationally, as well. The rate of growth of our agent and broker base is difficult to predict and is subject to many factors outside of our control, including actions taken by our competitors and macroeconomic factors affecting the real estate industry in general.

Settled home purchases and sales transactions and volume resulted from closed real estate transactions and typically change directionally with changes in the market’s existing home sales transactions as reported by NAR, as disproportionate variances are representative of company-specific improvements or shortfalls. Our home sale transaction growth was directly related to the growth of our agent base over the prior comparative period.

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We utilize gross profit and gross margin, financial statement measures based on generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”), to assess eXp’s financial performance from period to period.

Gross profit is calculated from U.S. GAAP reported amounts and equals the difference between revenue and cost of sales. Gross margin is the calculation of gross profit as a percentage of total revenue. Commissions and other agent-related costs represent the cost of sales for the Company. The cost of sales does not include depreciation or amortization expenses as the Company’s assets are not directly used in the production of revenue. Gross profit is based on the information provided in our results of operations on our consolidated statements of comprehensive income and is an important measure of our potential profitability and brokerage performance. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, gross profit was $366.9 million, $296.0 million and $159.6 million, respectively. Gross profit increased year-over-year primarily due to growth in agent base, an increase of real estate transactions and increased home sales prices compared to 2021 For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, gross margin was 8.0%, 7.8% and 8.9%, respectively. Gross margin in 2022 increased narrowly from 2021 was primarily due to a slightly more favorable company commission of real estate transactions. Gross margin decreased from 2020 to 2021 primarily due to rising home prices and increased demand which resulted in agents reaching their transactions capping requirements sooner, entitling them to a higher percentage of the home sale commission.

Management also reviews Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-U.S. GAAP financial measure, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. For the year ended December 31, 2022, Adjusted EBITDA declined due to increased general and administrative costs resulting from the Company’s increase in employee count to continue to support our agent growth strategy and increased costs related to entering international markets.  Adjusted EBITDA has grown significantly for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 due to our revenue growth and higher leverage of our cost structure.

RECENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

North American Realty Initiatives

The Company continues to also focus on growth in the United States and in Canada. On July 1, 2022, the Company acquired Zoocasa. Zoocasa is a consumer real estate research portal that offers proprietary home search tools, market insights and a connection to local real estate experts. This acquisition enables eXp to further its presence in Canadian markets.  The United States and Canada operations are aggregated together to be reported as the North American Realty segment, due to similarities in markets and management strategies.

International Realty Initiatives

Throughout 2022, we commenced operations in the Dominican Republic, Greece, New Zealand, Chile and Poland. In addition, in 2022 we announced operations in Dubai, which is expected to be fully operational in 2023.  In previous years, the Company expanded internationally into France, India, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Colombia, Spain, Israel, Panama and Germany. The Company continues to pursue growth opportunities and increase market share in the countries where operations began in recent years.

Virbela

We continue developing the core Virbela enterprise metaverse technology through our subsidiary, eXp World Technologies, LLC (“World Tech”), to accommodate for the increasing use and scale required to support all eXp subsidiaries and a growing number of enterprise customers worldwide. Upon Facebook's announcement to shift its name to Meta, Virbela has seen increased interest from Fortune 2000 enterprises looking to become both customers and partners as they invest in metaverse technologies and build out their own strategies. In 2021, we enhanced scale, reliability, security and privacy of our core product to improve the Enterprise readiness. In 2021, Virbela also released a new product called Frame into beta. Frame is a metaverse collaboration technology that is accessible from any device with a browser such as mobile, personal computer, virtual reality device and tablet. We expect to continue to service existing and new business-to-business enterprise level contracts, solidify channel partnerships and bring the Frame product out of beta.

Other Affiliated Services

On December 4, 2020, the Company acquired the equity ownership interests in SUCCESS Enterprises LLC (“Success”) and its related media properties, including SUCCESS^® print magazine, SUCCESS.com, SUCCESS^® newsletters, podcasts, digital training courses and affiliated social media accounts across platforms, for cash consideration. With the addition of Success, the Company intends to blend its technology and content to enhance the personal development platform for entrepreneurs and sales professionals.  The Company continues to invest in Success to create a better experience for our agents and other entrepreneurs.

Acquisitions and partnerships have allowed us to begin offering to customers more products and services complementary to our real estate brokerage business. These affiliate and media services include mortgage origination, escrow and settlement services, which we can now provide as a more inclusive offering in addition to our brokerage services. We anticipate

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continued growth and investment in these service offerings through 2023; however, actual performance will depend directly on utilization by eXp Realty agents.

Company-Wide Initiatives

Agent and Employee Experience

The Company has embarked on an initiative to better understand both its agents and employee experience. In doing so, we have adopted many of the principles of the Net Promoter Score^® (NPS) across many aspects of our organization. NPS is a measure of customer satisfaction and is measured on a scale between -100 and 100. A NPS above 50 is considered excellent. The Company’s agent NPS was 73 in the fourth quarter of 2022. Whether it be the overall question "How likely are you to recommend eXp to your colleagues, friends, or family?" or more granular inquiries as to specific workflows or service offerings, we believe this will ensure we are delivering on the most important values to our agents and employees. In turn, this often leads to enthusiastic fans of eXp who will promote our Company and continue leading us through strong organic growth.

The NPS measure is an important vehicle for delivering on our core values of transparency. While we strive for high satisfaction, it is equally important to investigate a low or unfavorable trending of NPS. As NPS scores are often leading indicators to agents and employees’ future actions, we are able to learn quickly what may be a ‘pain point’ or product that is not meeting its desired objective. We then take that information and translate it into action with an effort to remediate the specific root cause(s) driving the lower score. This fast and iterative approach has already led to improvements in parts of our business such as agent onboarding, commission transaction processing and employee benefits.

Agent Ownership

The Company maintains an equity incentive program whereby agents and brokers of eXp Realty can become eligible for awards of the Company’s common stock through the achievement of production and agent attraction benchmarks. Under our equity incentive program, agents and brokers who qualify are issued shares of the Company’s common stock and it continues to be another element in creating a culture of agent-ownership.

Our agent compensation plans represent a key lever in our strategy to attract and retain independent agents and brokers. The costs attributable to these plans are also a significant component of our commission structure and results of operations. Agents and brokers can elect to receive 5% of their commission payable in the form of Company common stock. Effective January 1, 2020, we issued share-based compensation to our agents and brokers at a 10% discount to the market price of our common stock. Our operational strategy and the importance of the agent compensation plans to our strategy have not changed. Our stock repurchase program and agent growth incentive program are more fully disclosed in Note 10 – Stockholders’ Equity to the consolidated financial statements.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Year ended December 31, 2022 vs. Year ended December 31,2021

Revenue

Our total revenues were $4.6 billion in 2022 compared to $3.8 billion in 2021, an increase of $827.0 million, or 22%. Total revenues increased primarily as a result of higher volume of real estate brokerage commissions, which is attributable to growth in our agent base, an increase of real estate transactions and increased home sales prices compared to 2021.

Commission and Other Agent-Related Costs

Commission and other agent-related costs were $4.2 billion in 2022 compared to $3.5 billion in 2021, an increase of $756.1 million, or 22%. Commission and other agent-related costs include sales commissions paid and are reduced by agent-related fees. Commission and other agent-related costs increased primarily as a result of growth in agent base, increased real estate transactions and increased home sales prices compared to 2021.

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General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expenses were $346.1 million in 2022 compared to $249.7 million in 2021, an increase of $96.4 million, or 39%. General and administrative expenses include costs related to wages, including stock compensation and other general overhead expenses. General and administrative expenses increased primarily as a result of an increase of $66.3 million in compensation related expenses including salaries, contract labor, employee benefits and payroll taxes and processing. The Company had an increase in stock compensation expense of $7.7 million. These increases are a direct result of the Company’s increase in employee count to continue to support our agent growth strategy. Employees increased from 1,669 in 2021 to 2,016 in 2022, representing an increase in headcount of 21%. The Company’s agent base increased by 21%. Also, in support of the Company’s business operations, computer and software costs increased $9.4 million compared to prior year, mostly consisting of online subscriptions. Finally, $5.2 million of the increase in general and administrative expenses is related to increased agent-related seminars and conferences. These increased costs are a result of the Company’s growth in agent count and real estate transaction volumes, international expansion and the investment in employees and technology.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses were $15.4 million in 2022 compared to $12.2 million in 2021, an increase of $3.2 million, or 26%. Sales and marketing costs include lead capture costs and promotional materials. Sales and marketing expenses increased primarily as a result of an increase in lead costs of $1.7 million and advertising costs of $1.7 million.

Other (Income) Expense, Net

Other (income) expense in 2022 and 2021 includes interest income, equity in losses of unconsolidated subsidiaries, start-up costs and, amortization expense of the present value adjustment to our stock payable in 2021. There were no significant changes in other (income) expense in 2022 compared to 2021.

Income Tax Benefit (Expense)

The Company's provision for income taxes amounted to a benefit of ($10.8) million, a benefit decrease of $36.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in income tax benefit was primarily attributable to the release of the valuation allowance in prior year and lower deductible share-based compensation expenses.

Refer to Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates within the MD&A and Note 12 - Income Taxes to the consolidated financial statement for further information.

BUSINESS SEGMENT DISCLOSURES

See Note 14 – Segment Information to the consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding our business segments. The following table reflects the results of each of our reportable segments during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020:

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2022 Compared to 2021

North American Realty revenue increased 22% in 2022 compared to 2021 primarily due to increased real estate transactions driven by higher agent count. Adjusted EBITDA decreased (12)% due to increases in selling, general and administrative expenses related to the continued expansion of the business, partially offset by an increase in gross profit.

International Realty revenue increased 102% in 2022 vs 2021 primarily due to increased real estate transactions driven by a higher agent count and increased productivity in previously launched markets. Adjusted EBITDA (loss) increased 50% in 2022 vs 2021 due to continued expansion efforts in new markets and growing selling, general and administrative expenses to support the incremental production in existing operations.

Virbela revenue decreased (2)% due to the post-COVID 19 work environment of return to the office and hybrid work initiatives globally. Management shifted focus from small- to-medium sized business (“SMB”) market and one-time events to long-term enterprise monthly recurring revenue (“MRR”). MRR revenue increased 13% from 2021 to 2022. Adjusted EBITDA (loss) decreased (24)% primarily due to workforce reductions and decrease in marketing and advertising expenses, as we shift our focus to technology improvements and expanding our Software as a Service (“SaaS”) customers.

Other Affiliated Services revenue increased 76% due to expansion of SUCCESS^® Coaching and SUCCESS^® Media, primarily SUCCESS^® magazine. The increases in revenue directly contributed to Adjusted EBITDA (loss) decrease of (22)%.

Corporate expenses and other contain the costs incurred to operate the corporate parent of eXp Realty. The increase in these costs (increase in Adjusted EBITDA (loss) of 22% in 2022 compared to 2021) reflect increased insurance costs as we expand our business globally and software investments.

2021 Compared to 2020

North American Realty revenue increased 109% in 2021 compared to 2020 primarily due to increased real estate transactions driven by higher agent count. Adjusted EBITDA increased 59% due to increases in gross profit, partially offset by increases in selling, general and administrative expenses related to the continued expansion of the business.

International Realty revenue increased 788% in 2021 vs 2020 primarily due to the entrance into nine new markets as well as previously launched markets gaining traction. Adjusted EBITDA (loss) increased 466% in 2021 vs 2020 due to the continued expansion efforts in these new markets as well as growing selling, general and administrative expenses to support the incremental production in existing operations.

Virbela revenue increased 50% due to the COVID 19 pandemic remote work expansion changes around the world. Both one-time events and long-term enterprise monthly recurring revenue (“MRR”) grew as a result of the global pandemic. MRR revenue increased 50% from 2020 to 2021. Adjusted EBITDA (loss) increased 152% directly related to increased personnel as we support the expansion of our Software as a Service (“SaaS”) customers.

Other Affiliated Services revenue increased 786% due to the acquisition of SUCCESS Enterprises and expansion of the SUCCESS^® Coaching and SUCCESS^® Media, primarily SUCCESS^® magazine. Increased personnel costs to grow the business to scale directly contributed to Adjusted EBITDA (loss) increase of 774%.

Corporate expenses and other contain the costs incurred to operate the corporate parent of eXp Realty. The increase in these costs (increase in Adjusted EBITDA (loss) of 56% in 2021 compared to 2020) reflect additional executive compensation & travel related to the expansion of the business along with legal expenses.

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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Our primary sources of liquidity are our cash and cash equivalents on hand and cash flows generated from our business operations. Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or to access certain capital markets, including banks, is necessary to fund our operations and capital expenditures, repurchase our common stock and meet obligations as they become due. At present, our cash and cash equivalents balances and cash flows from operations have strengthened primarily due to transaction volume growth and improved cost leverage over the prior five years, especially during 2020 and 2021, attributable to the expansion of our independent agent and broker network and, to a lesser extent, increased average prices of home sales. 

Currently, our primary use of cash on hand is to sustain and grow our business operations, including, but not limited to, commission and revenue share payments to agents and brokers and cash outflows for operating expenses. Our current capital deployment strategy for 2022 is to utilize excess cash on hand to support our growth initiatives into select markets and enhance our technology platforms and for repurchases of our common stock.

For information regarding the Company’s expected cash requirement related to settlement costs, see Note 13 – Commitments and Contingencies.

We believe that our existing balances of cash and cash equivalents and cash flows expected to be generated from our operations will be sufficient to satisfy our operating requirements for at least the next 12 months. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our level of investment in technology, our rate of growth into new markets and cash used to repurchase shares of the Company’s common stock. Our capital requirements may be affected by factors which we cannot control such as the changes in the residential real estate market, interest rates and other monetary and fiscal policy changes to the manner in which we currently operate. In order to support and achieve our future growth plans, we may need or seek advantageously to obtain additional funding through equity or debt financing. We believe that our current operating structure will facilitate sufficient cash flows from operations to satisfy our expected long-term liquidity requirements beyond the next 12 months.

We currently do not hold any bank debt, nor have we issued any debt instruments through public offerings or private placements. If we are unable to raise additional capital when desired, our business, results of operations and financial condition would likely suffer. As of December 31, 2022, our cash and cash equivalents totaled $121.6 million. Cash equivalents are comprised of financial instruments with an original maturity of 90 days or less from the date of purchase, primarily money market funds. We currently do not possess any marketable securities.

During 2022, our unconsolidated joint venture, SUCCESS Lending, obtained $25 million in revolving warehouse credit lines from each of Flagstar Bank FSB and Texas Capital Bank, which represent off-balance sheet arrangements for the Company. The Company’s capital liability under the warehouse credit lines is limited to $3.25 million in the aggregate. We do not believe these off-balance sheet arrangements have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, or capital resources. For information regarding the warehouse credit agreements, see Note 13 – Commitments and Contingencies.

Net Working Capital

Net working capital is calculated as the Company’s total current assets less its total current liabilities. The following table presents our net working capital for the periods presented:

As of December 31, 2022, net working capital decreased ($4.7) million, or (4)%, compared to the prior year, primarily due to a decrease in accounts receivable of ($46.2) million, partially offset by an decrease in accrued liabilities of ($32.7) million and an increase in cash and cash equivalents of $13.4 million. The decrease of accounts receivable and accrued liabilities was due to lower real estate transactions in the fourth quarter 2022 compared to the fourth quarter 2021.

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Cash Flows

The following table presents our cash flows for the periods presented:

For the year ended December 31, 2022, cash provided by operating activities decreased ($36.4) million compared to the same period in 2021. The change resulted primarily from increased general and administrative expenses and investment in international markets, partially offset by increased gross profit and favorable working capital.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, cash used in our investing activities decreased primarily due a decrease of ($1.4) million in capital expenditures and a decrease of $2.5 million invested in unconsolidated subsidiaries in the current year offset by an increase in payment for business acquisitions (Zoocasa in 2022) by $7.4 million from prior year.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, cash used in financing activities primarily related to higher repurchases of our common stock of $7.5 million compared to the prior year period and increased dividends paid of $13.7 million compared to 2021.

Outlook

As we continue to scale our Company by investing in people, systems and processes, we expect to increase market share, agent base and real estate transactions volume in the U.S. and Canada and selectively grow in the international markets.

These operating ambitions are not forecasts and do not reflect our expectations, but rather are aspirational targets for future performance that may never be realized. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in them. Factors include, among others, (i) changes in demand for the Company’s services and changes in consumer behavior; (ii) macroeconomic conditions beyond our control; (iii) the Company’s ability to effectively maintain its infrastructure to support its operations and initiatives; (iv) the impact of governmental regulations related to the Company’s operations; and (v) other factors, as described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”

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CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires us to make certain judgments and assumptions, based on information available at the time of our preparation of the financial statements, in determining accounting estimates used in the preparation of the statements. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to the consolidated financial statements.

Accounting estimates are considered critical if the estimate requires us to use judgments and/or make assumptions about matters that were uncertain at the time the accounting estimate was made and if different accounting estimates could have been used in the reporting period or changes in the accounting estimates are likely to occur that would have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Stock-based compensation

Our stock-based compensation is comprised of agent growth incentive programs, agent equity program and stock option awards. The Company accounts for stock-based compensation granted to employees and non-employees using a fair value method. Stock-based compensation awards are measured at the grant date fair value and the stock-based compensation cost is recognized over the requisite service period of the awards, usually the vesting period, on a straight-line basis, net of forfeitures. The Company reduces recorded stock-based compensation for forfeitures when they occur.

Recognition of compensation cost for an award with a performance condition is based on the probable outcome of that performance condition being met. The Company estimates the share-based liability based on estimated performance probabilities based on our most recent estimates on probable achievement of the performance measures established under our agent growth incentive program. These estimates are calculated based on the agent’s historical performance for each award type. Also, the requisite service period at the grant date of performance awards is estimated based on the probability of the period of time it will take an agent to meet the performance metric. The value of the stock award is amortized over this period and recognized as stock compensation expense starting on the grant date.

If factors change causing different assumptions to be made in future periods, estimated compensation expense may differ significantly from that recorded in the current period. See Note 10 – Stockholders’ Equity to the consolidated financial statements for more information regarding the assumptions used in estimating the fair value of our awards.

Revenue recognition

The Company generates substantially all of its revenue from North American Realty and International Realty and generates a de minimis portion of its revenues from software subscription and professional services.

North American Realty and International Realty

The Company serves as a licensed broker in the areas in which it operates for the purpose of processing real estate transactions. The Company is contractually obligated to provide services for the fulfillment of transfers of real estate between buyers and sellers. The Company provides these services itself and controls the services necessary to legally represent the transfer of real estate. Correspondingly, the Company is defined as the principal. The Company, as principal, satisfies its obligation upon the closing of a real estate transaction. As principal and upon satisfaction of our obligation, the Company recognizes revenue in the gross amount of consideration to which we expect to be entitled to.

Revenue is derived from assisting home-buyers and sellers in listing, marketing, selling and finding real estate. Commissions earned on real estate transactions are recognized at the completion of a real estate transaction once we have satisfied our performance obligation. Agent-related fees are currently recorded as a reduction to commissions and other agent-related costs.

At each reporting period, we estimate revenue for closed transactions for which we have not yet received the closing documents due to timing of when a transaction settles. Additionally, provisions for anticipated differences between consideration due and amounts expected to be received are estimated and recorded to revenue. The accrual for estimated revenue was immaterial for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Business combinations

The Company accounts for business combinations using the acquisition method of accounting, under which the consideration for the acquisition is allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed. The Company recognizes identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the fair values as of the acquisition date. Acquisition-related costs, such as due diligence, legal and accounting fees, are expensed as incurred and not considered in determining the fair value of the acquired assets.

Fair value determinations require considerable judgment and are sensitive to changes in underlying assumptions, estimates and market factors. These assumptions and estimates include projected revenues and income growth rates, terminal growth rates, competitive and consumer trends, market-based discount rates and other market factors. Significant assumptions used

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in determining the allocation of fair value include the following valuation techniques: the cost approach, the income approach and the market approach, which are determined based on cash flow projections and related discount rates, industry indices, market prices regarding replacement cost and comparable market transactions.

At the acquisition date, the Company recognizes the identifiable acquired assets, liabilities assumed and contingent liabilities (identifiable net assets) of the acquired company on the basis of fair value. Recognized assets and liabilities assumed may be adjusted during a maximum of one year from the acquisition date (the “measurement period”), depending on new information obtained about the facts and circumstances in existence at the acquisition date.

If current expectations of future growth rates are not met or market factors outside of our control change significantly, then our goodwill or intangible assets may become impaired. Additionally, as goodwill and intangible assets associated with recently acquired businesses are recorded on the balance sheet at their estimated acquisition date fair values, those amounts are more susceptible to impairment risk if business operating results or macroeconomic conditions deteriorate.

Goodwill impairment

Goodwill is not amortized but is subject to impairment testing. We review goodwill for impairment on an annual basis in the fiscal fourth quarter or on an interim basis if an event occurs or circumstances change that indicate goodwill may be impaired. We assess goodwill for possible impairment by performing a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. No additional impairment steps are necessary if we qualitatively determine that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. An impairment loss for goodwill would be recognized based on the difference between the carrying value and its estimated fair value, which would be determined based on either discounted future cash flows or another appropriate fair value method.

The evaluation of goodwill for impairment requires management to use significant judgments and estimates in accordance with U.S. GAAP, including, but not limited to, economic, industry and company-specific qualitative factors, projected future net sales, operating results and cash flows. Although we currently believe the estimates used in the evaluation of goodwill are reasonable, differences between actual and expected net sales, operating results and cash flows and/or changes in the discount rates used could cause these assets to be deemed impaired. If this were to occur, we would be required to record a non-cash charge to earnings for the write-down in the value of the goodwill, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position but not on our cash flows from operations.

During the fourth quarter of 2022, we performed an assessment of goodwill. Management did not identify any new events or changes in circumstances that would more likely than not indicate that the fair value of the goodwill is below its carrying value. To perform these assessments, we identified and analyzed macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions and company-specific factors. As a result of the analysis performed, management believes the estimated fair value of the reporting units continue to exceed their carrying values and does not represent a more likely than not possibility of potential impairment. The goodwill analysis did not result in an impairment charge.

Income taxes

We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the differences between the financial statement carrying amounts and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance against deferred tax assets would be established if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not (a likelihood of more than 50%) that some or all of the deferred tax assets are not expected to be realized. Our assumptions, judgments and estimates relative to the value of our deferred tax assets take into account predictions of the amount and category of future taxable income. As of December 31, 2022, based on our assessment of the realizability of the net deferred tax assets, we reached the conclusion that our net deferred tax assets will most likely be fully realized and therefore no valuation allowance was recorded.

Although management believes that the judgment and estimates involved are reasonable and that the necessary provisions related to income taxes have been recorded, changes in circumstances or unexpected events could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

See Note 12 – Income Taxes to the consolidated financial statements for further information related to our income tax positions.

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Litigation

We recognize expenses for legal claims when payments associated with the claims become probable and can be reasonably estimated. Due to the difficulty in estimating costs of resolving legal claims, actual costs could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and cash flow, if we were to become a party to a material legal action.

See Note 13 – Commitments and Contingencies to the consolidated financial statements for further information related to our litigation.

NON-U.S. GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we use Adjusted EBITDA, a non-U.S. GAAP financial measure, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. This non-GAAP financial measure, which may be different than similarly titled measures used by other companies, is presented to enhance investors’ overall understanding of our financial performance and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We define the non-U.S. GAAP financial measure of Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA to mean net income, excluding other income (expense), income tax benefit (expense), depreciation, amortization, impairment charges, stock-based compensation expense and stock option expense. Adjusted Segment EBITDA is defined as operating profit plus depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation expenses. We believe that Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Segment EBITDA provides useful information about our financial performance, enhances the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allows for greater transparency with respect to a key metric used by our management for financial and operational decision-making. We believe that Adjusted Segment EBITDA helps identify underlying trends in our business that otherwise could be masked by the effect of the expenses that we exclude in Adjusted Segment EBITDA. In particular, we believe the exclusion of stock and stock option expenses, provides a useful supplemental measure in evaluating the performance of our underlying operations and provides better transparency into our results of operations.

We are presenting the non-U.S. GAAP measure of Adjusted EBITDA to assist investors in seeing our financial performance through the eyes of management and because we believe this measure provides an additional tool for investors to use in comparing our core financial performance over multiple periods with other companies in our industry.

Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. There are a number of limitations related to the use of Adjusted EBITDA compared to net income, the closest comparable U.S. GAAP measure. Some of these limitations are that:

The following tables present a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, for each of the periods presented:

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The primary driver for the changes in Adjusted EBITDA was lower net income attributable to the increased general and administrative costs resulting from the Company’s increase in employee count to continue to support our agent growth strategy and increased costs related to entering international markets and investments in Virbela.

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Market risk relates to the risk of the loss of fair value resulting from adverse changes in market rates and prices, such as interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. Market risk is directly influenced by the volatility and liquidity in the markets in which the related underlying financial instruments are traded. Sensitivity analysis measures the impact of hypothetical changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and other market rates or prices on the profitability of market-sensitive financial instruments and our results of operations. While we are exposed to market risk from foreign currency and exchange rate fluctuation, we do not have significant exposures to interest rate changes or commodity prices nor do we expect to have significant exposure to interest rate changes or commodity prices in the foreseeable future.

Foreign Currency Risk

The majority of our net sales, expenses and capital purchases were transacted in U.S. dollars. However, exposure with respect to foreign exchange rate fluctuation existed due to our operations in Canada, the United Kingdom (U.K.), Australia, South Africa, India, Mexico, Portugal, France, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Colombia, Spain, Israel, Panama and Germany. Throughout 2022, we commenced operations in the Dominican Republic, Greece, New Zealand, Chile and Poland, albeit each individually and in the aggregate to a small extent. As of December 31, 2022, our largest international operations were in Canada. Based on fiscal 2022 performance, a hypothetical appreciation or decline in the value of the Canadian dollar in relation to the U.S. dollar of 10% would have an immaterial impact on operating income. The individual impacts to the operating income of hypothetical currency fluctuations in the Canadian dollar have been calculated in isolation from any potential responses to address such exchange rate changes in our other foreign markets. Our exposures to foreign currency risk related to our other operations in our other international locations were immaterial and have been excluded from this analysis.

Our investments in the net assets of our international operations were also subject to currency risk. As of December 31, 2022, the impacts of translations of foreign-denominated net assets of our international operations were immaterial to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The translation impacts related to the net assets of our international operations are recorded within accumulated other comprehensive income. Historically, we have not hedged this exposure, although we may elect to do so in future periods.

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INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of eXp World Holdings, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of eXp World Holdings, Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 28, 2023, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Commissions and Other Agent-Related Costs – Revenue share expenses – Refer to Note 2 to the financial statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company has a revenue sharing plan where agents and brokers may receive a commission from real estate transactions consummated by agents and brokers they have attracted to the Company. Agents and brokers are eligible for revenue share based on the number of Front-Line Qualifying Active (FLQA) agents they have attracted to the Company. An FLQA agent is an agent or broker that an agent or broker has personally attracted to the Company who has met specific sales transaction volume requirements. These additional commissions are earned on a multitiered basis by FLQA agents and brokers for real estate transactions within their downstream brokerage network. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company incurred $4.2 billion of commissions and other agent-related costs, which includes commissions paid to agents and brokers under the revenue sharing plan.

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We identified the revenue sharing plan as a critical audit matter because the plan has a complex multi-tiered compensation structure involving highly automated system calculations to determine the commissions paid to agents and brokers. This required an increased extent of audit effort to audit and evaluate the accuracy of commissions paid under the revenue share plan.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures performed related to the testing of the accuracy of expenses under the revenue sharing plan included the following, among others:

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/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

San Francisco, California

February 28, 2023

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2019.

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EXP WORLD HOLDINGS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except share amounts)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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EXP WORLD HOLDINGS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(In thousands, except share amounts and per share data)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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EXP WORLD HOLDINGS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EQUITY

(In thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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EXP WORLD HOLDINGS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)