Cover and table of contents
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Cover and table of contents
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
| ☒ | 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 0-24531

CoStar Group, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 52-2091509 | |||||||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| 1331 L Street, NW | ||||||||
| Washington, | DC | 20005 |
(Address of principal executive offices) (zip code)
(202) 346-6500
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
| Common Stock ($0.01 par value) | CSGP | Nasdaq Global Select Market |
Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes x No o
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 o No x
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 x No o
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 x No o
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.
| Large accelerated filer | x | Accelerated filer | o | ||||||||
| Non-accelerated filer | o | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | ||||||||
| Emerging growth company | ☐ |
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.
o
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.
x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).
Yes ☐ No x
As of June 30, 2022, the aggregate market value of the common stock (based upon the closing price of the stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market) of the registrant held by non-affiliates was approximately $23.7 billion. As of February 17, 2023, 406,772,431 shares of common stock were outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement, which is expected to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Glossary of Terms
The following abbreviations or acronyms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this "Report") are defined below:
| Abbreviation or Acronym | Definition | ||||
| 2020 Credit Agreement | The second amended and restated credit agreement, which amended and restated in its entirety the then-existing credit agreement originally entered into on April 1, 2014 and amended and restated on July 1, 2020 | ||||
| ACH | Automated Clearing House | ||||
| ADR | Average daily rate | ||||
| ARS | Auction rate securities | ||||
| ASC | Accounting Standards Codification | ||||
| ASU | Accounting Standards Update | ||||
| Brexit | The June 23, 2016 U.K. referendum in which British citizens approved an exit from the E.U. | ||||
| BureauxLocaux | The legal entity, Comreal Info, a French société par actions simplifiée, the owner and operator of BureauxLocaux, a commercial real estate digital marketplace, in France | ||||
| BureauxLocaux Acquisition | CoStar UK's acquisition of BureauxLocaux completed on October 1, 2021 pursuant to a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement dated October 1, 2021 between CoStar UK, M.A.J.E. Marketing & Strategie and an individual | ||||
| Business Immo | The legal entity BIH, a French société par actions simplifiée, the owner and operator of Business Immo, a leading commercial real estate news service provider in France | ||||
| Business Immo Acquisition | CoStar UK's acquisition of the issued share capital of Business Immo on April 5, 2022 | ||||
| CAN-SPAM Act | Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act | ||||
| CCPA | California Consumer Privacy Act | ||||
| CECL | Current expected credit losses | ||||
| CMBS | Commercial mortgage-based securities | ||||
| Confidential Information | Information about customers, employees, contractors, suppliers, vendors, and others such as landlords and tenants, including personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, credit card information, biometric data, sensitive or confidential transaction and account information, social security numbers, birthdates and financial information (for example, to facilitate the apartment rental application and payment process between a renter and property manager), as well as a broad range of proprietary and confidential business information, collectively | ||||
| CoStar Group | The legal entity, CoStar Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation, one or more if its consolidated subsidiaries or operating segments, or the entirety of CoStar Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries | ||||
| CoStar UK | The legal entity, CoStar UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary CoStar Group | ||||
| Covenant Suspension Period | A period of time defined in the 2020 Credit Agreement in which we maintain a corporate investment grade rating from any two of Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, Fitch Ratings, Inc. or Moody’s Investors Services, Inc. and no event of default is continuing | ||||
| CPA | Colorado Privacy Act | ||||
| CPRA | The California Privacy Rights Act | ||||
| CRI | CoStar Realty Information, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of CoStar Group, Inc. | ||||
| DSUs | Deferred Stock Units | ||||
| E.U. | European Union | ||||
| EBITDA | Net income before interest and other income (expense), income taxes, depreciation and amortization | ||||
| ESG | Environmental, Social and Governance |
| Abbreviation or Acronym | Definition | ||||
| ESPP | Employee Stock Purchase Plan | ||||
| EURIBOR | Euro Interbank Offered Rate | ||||
| FASB | Financial Accounting Standards Board | ||||
| FCRA | Fair Credit Reporting Act | ||||
| FTC | Federal Trade Commission | ||||
| GAAP | Generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. | ||||
| GDPR | General Data Protection Regulation | ||||
| GILTI | Global intangible low taxed income inclusion | ||||
| GPP Plan | A U.K. Group Personal Pension Plan | ||||
| Homes.com | A homes for sale listings site | ||||
| Homes Group | The legal entity Homes Group, LLC | ||||
| Homes.com Acquisition | CRI's acquisition of Homes.com completed on May 24, 2021 pursuant to a securities purchase agreement dated April 14, 2021 between Landmark, Homes Group, LLC and CRI | ||||
| Homesnap | Homesnap is an online and mobile software platform that provides residential real estate professionals access to applications that manage residential real estate agent workflow and marketing campaigns delivered on third-party platforms acquired in the Homesnap Acquisition | ||||
| Homesnap, Inc. | The legal entity Homesnap, Inc., a Delaware corporation | ||||
| Homesnap Acquisition | CRI's acquisition of Homesnap completed on December 22, 2020, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated November 20, 2020 between CRI, Snapped Halo Merger Sub Corp., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of CRI, and Homesnap, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Snapped Halo Merger Sub Corp. was merged with and into Homesnap, Inc., with Homesnap, Inc. surviving the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CRI | ||||
| ILS | Internet listings services | ||||
| IRA | The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 | ||||
| IT Systems | Information technology networks, systems and infrastructure to process, transmit and store electronic information and to communicate among our locations around the world and with our clients and vendors, collectively | ||||
| Land.com Network | Our network of sites featuring rural lands for sale including: LandsofAmerica, LandAndFarm and LandWatch | ||||
| Landmark | Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC | ||||
| LIBOR | London Interbank Offered Rate | ||||
| Matching RSUs | Awards of matching restricted stock units awarded under the Company's Management Stock Purchase Plan | ||||
| MSPP | Management Stock Purchase Plan | ||||
| RentPath | RentPath Holdings, Inc. | ||||
| RevPAR | Revenue per available room | ||||
| ROU | Right-of-use | ||||
| RRSP | A Canadian registered retirement savings plan | ||||
| SEC | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission | ||||
| Securities Act | Securities Act of 1933, as amended | ||||
| SEM | Search Engine Marketing | ||||
| Senior Notes | 2.800% notes issued by CoStar Group, Inc. due July 15, 2030 | ||||
| SEO | Search Engine Optimization | ||||
| SOFR | Secured Overnight Financing Rate | ||||
| TCPA | Telephone Consumer Protection Act (as implemented by the Telemarketing Sales Rule) | ||||
| Ten-X | The legal entity Ten-X Holding Company, Inc. and its directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries |
| Abbreviation or Acronym | Definition | ||||
| Ten-X Acquisition | CRI's acquisition of Ten-X completed on June 24, 2020, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated May 13, 2020 between CRI, Crescendo Sub, Inc, and Ten-X | ||||
| TSR | Total shareholder return | ||||
| U.K. | The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | ||||
| U.S. | The United States of America | ||||
| UCPA | Utah Consumer Privacy Act | ||||
| VCDPA | Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act | ||||
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
We have made forward-looking statements in this Report and make forward-looking statements in our other reports filed with the SEC, press releases and conference calls that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include
information that is not purely historic fact and include, without limitation, statements concerning our financial outlook for 2023 and beyond, our possible or assumed future results of operations generally and other statements and information regarding assumptions or expectations about our revenues, revenue growth rates, gross margin percentage, net income, net income per share, fully diluted net income per share, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per diluted share, weighted-average outstanding shares, cash flow from operating activities, operating costs, capital and other expenditures, key priorities for 2023, trends in customer behavior, the current and future impacts of COVID-19 on global economic conditions, the real estate industry, or our customers, legal proceedings and claims, legal costs, effective tax rate, product development and release, the anticipated benefits of completed or proposed acquisitions, the anticipated timing of acquisition closings and integrations, the anticipated benefits of cross-selling efforts, geographic and product expansion, planned service enhancements, expansion and development of our sales forces, planned sales and marketing activities and investments, investments in residential marketplace services and our residential marketplace strategy, the impact or results of sales and marketing initiatives, product integrations, elimination and de-emphasizing of services, net new sales, contract renewal rates, use of proceeds from equity and debt offerings, the use of proceeds of any draws under our $750 million credit facility provided in the 2020 Credit Agreement, expectations regarding our compliance with financial and restrictive covenants in the 2020 Credit Agreement, employee relations, management’s plans, goals and objectives for future operations, sources and adequacy of liquidity and growth and markets for our stock. Sections of this Report that contain forward-looking statements include “Business,” “Risk Factors,” “Properties,” “Legal Proceedings,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk,” “Controls and Procedures” and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes.
Our forward-looking statements are also identified by words such as “hope,” “anticipate,” “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “will,” “should,” “plan,” “estimate,” “predict,” “continue” and “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. You should understand that these forward-looking statements are estimates reflecting our judgment, beliefs and expectations, not guarantees of future performance. They are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. The following important factors, in addition to those discussed or referred to under the heading “Risk Factors,” and other unforeseen events or circumstances, could affect our future results and could cause those results or other outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements:
-
our inability to attract and retain new clients;
-
our inability to successfully develop and introduce new or updated information, analytics and online marketplace services;
-
our inability to compete successfully against existing or future competitors in attracting advertisers and in general;
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competition;
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the effects of fluctuations and market cyclicality;
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the effects of global economic uncertainties and downturns or a downturn or consolidation in the real estate industry;
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our inability to hire qualified persons for, or retain and continue to develop, our sales force, or unproductivity of our sales force;
-
our inability to retain and attract highly capable management and operating personnel;
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the downward pressure that our internal and external investments may place on our operating margins;
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our inability in increasing brand awareness;
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our inability to maintain or increase internet traffic to our marketplaces;
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our inability to attract new advertisers;
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our inability to successfully identify, finance, integrate and/or manage costs related to acquisitions;
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the effects of cyberattacks and security vulnerabilities, and technical problems or disruptions;
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the risks related to a large infrastructure project to build out our campus in Richmond, Virginia;
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our inability to generate increased revenues from our current or future geographic expansion plans;
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the effects of and uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the global economy and the real estate industry;
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the risks related to acceptance of credit cards and debit cards and facilitation of other customer payments;
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the effects of climate change and other events beyond our control;
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the effects related to increased attention to ESG matters;
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our inability to obtain and maintain accurate, comprehensive or reliable data;
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our ability to enforce or defend our ownership and use of intellectual property;
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our inability to successfully halt the operation of websites that aggregate our data, data from other companies or “copycat” websites that may misappropriate our data;
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our inability to defend against potential legal liability for collecting, displaying or distributing information;
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our inability to obtain or retain listings from real estate brokers, agents, property owners and apartment property managers;
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the risks related to international operations;
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the effects of foreign currency fluctuations;
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the effects of Brexit;
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our indebtedness;
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the effects of a lowering or withdrawal of the ratings assigned to our debt securities by rating agencies;
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the effects of any actual or perceived failure to comply with privacy or data protection laws, regulations or standards;
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the effects of changes in tax laws, regulations or fiscal and tax policies;
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the effects of third-party claims, litigation, regulatory proceedings or government investigations; and
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risks related to return on investment.
Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of, and are based on information available to us on, the date of this Report. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to update any such statements or release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events or circumstances after the date of this Report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
PART I