Harvard University Stock Portfolio: Zillow (Z)

We just covered Harvard University Stock Portfolio 2026: Top 10 Picks. Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) ranks #9 (see Harvard University Stock Portfolio 2026: Top 5 Picks).

Harvard’s Stake: $23,257,422

Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) has been one of the biggest losers in the market, down about 50% over the past year. But bulls believe the stock can rebound from here.

A key growth driver is rentals. In Q1, rental revenue jumped 42% year-over-year. The company had 2.7 million average monthly active rental listings on its platform. It is becoming the default destination for renters across the U.S.

Bulls also believe Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) is evolving into a full housing transaction platform. Purchase loan originations nearly doubled in Q1 to $1.55 billion. Zillow is no longer just a place to browse homes. It is now involved in the mortgage, the tour, and the closing.

AI is also weighing on the stock. The fear is straightforward — if AI agents like Gemini or ChatGPT can scrape listings, answer housing questions, and connect buyers directly to agents, why would anyone need Zillow? The worry is that Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) becomes irrelevant as the search layer of real estate gets commoditized.

But Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) bulls say these fears are overdone. The company’s moat is not in search listings — it is in deeply embedded workflow software that powers the entire transaction. ShowingTime supports roughly 90% of U.S. home tours. Follow-Up Boss is the CRM for about 80% of the top 50 highest-volume agent teams. These tools are deeply integrated into how agents and buyers operate daily. An AI chatbot cannot easily replicate that.

The losses have made the valuation attractive. The stock trades at roughly 10 times forward EBITDA and about 2.6 times forward revenue — modest multiples for a company growing revenue at nearly 20% in a housing market that is barely moving.

While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Z as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Z and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and Cathie Wood 2026 Portfolio: 10 Best Stocks to Buy. 

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