EVERQUOTE, INC.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
To supplement the Company’s financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP and to provide investors with additional information regarding EverQuote’s financial results, the Company has presented its variable marketing margin and adjusted EBITDA as non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP and are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies.
The Company defines variable marketing margin, or VMM, as revenue as reported in the Company statements of operations and comprehensive loss, less online advertising costs related to attracting consumers to EverQuote’s marketplace (which are a component of total advertising expense, which is a component of sales and marketing expense). The most directly comparable GAAP measure for VMM is revenue less advertising expense. The Company utilizes VMM to measure the financial return on EverQuote’s online advertising, specifically to measure the degree by which the revenue generated from consumer quote requests exceeds the cost to attract those consumers to EverQuote’s marketplace through online advertising. The Company also uses VMM to measure the efficiency of individual online advertising and consumer acquisition sources and to make trade-off decisions to manage the Company’s return on advertising. The Company does not utilize VMM as a measure of overall profitability. The Company presents VMM because it is used extensively by EverQuote’s management and board of directors to manage the Company’s operating performance, including evaluating operational performance against budgeted VMM and understanding the efficiency of EverQuote’s online advertising spend.
The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as net loss, excluding the impact of stock-based compensation expense; depreciation and amortization expense; interest expense; and the provision for (benefit from) income taxes. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is net income (loss). The Company monitors adjusted EBITDA because it is a key measure used by management and the board of directors to understand and evaluate operating performance, to establish budgets and to develop operational goals for managing EverQuote’s business. In particular, the Company believes that excluding the impact of these expenses in calculating adjusted EBITDA can provide a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of EverQuote’s core operating performance.
The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate EverQuote’s operating performance and trends and make planning decisions. The Company believes that each of these non-GAAP financial measures helps identify underlying trends in EverQuote’s business that could otherwise be masked by the effect of the expenses that the Company excludes in the calculations of each non-GAAP financial measure. Accordingly, the Company believes that these financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating EverQuote’s operating results, enhancing the overall understanding of the Company’s past performance and future prospects.
The Company’s non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered in isolation of, or as an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. There are a number of limitations related to the use of these non-GAAP financial measures rather than revenue less advertising expense and net income (loss), which are the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. In addition, other companies may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of the Company’s non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison.
The following tables reconcile VMM and adjusted EBITDA to revenue less advertising expense and net loss, respectively, the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.