LendingTree leans into AI as the Charlotte fintech tops $1B in annual revenue
LendingTree crossed the $1 billion annual revenue mark again last year with double-digit growth as the Charlotte-based fintech embraces artificial intelligence to reach more customers.
The continued growth comes as it’s been nearly five months since Scott Peyree began leading the company, following the death of founder Doug Lebda.
LendingTree’s annual revenue for 2025 rose 24% to over $1.1 billion, up from $900 million in 2024 as the company posted a record fourth quarter revenue of $319.7 million. The company’s profit surged by 28% last year, nearly doubling the 14% growth in its overall business.
“We’re in front of a lot more consumers today than we were a year ago,” Peyree said during Monday’s fourth-quarter and 2025 full-year earnings call.
LendTree last surpassed $1 billion in annual revenue in 2021.
It’s the second earnings call since Lebda, 55, died Oct. 12 in an ATV accident on the family farm in Polk County. Company leaders have committed to carry out his vision for the company. Peyree, who was previously chief operating officer for the company, was appointed CEO and president following Lebda’s death. Lebda also was known for his philanthropy and other projects, including as co-chairman of the 2020 Republican National Convention held in Charlotte.
In January, Ian Smith was appointed chief operating officer to fill Peyree’s vacated job. Laura Nelson was named head of insurance.
LendingTree is using AI to drive efficiency and revenue
Calling it a “fantastic opportunity,” Peyree said LendingTree is using and developing AI technology to drive revenue.
“These new tools are a key component of our strategy to increase the number of high-intent visitors to our sites for comparing and shopping for financial products,” he said.
The company has already seen solid returns from its AI adoption, including:
- Call centers: Over $10 million in additional revenue per quarter in customer call centers over the last 18 months, with minimal increase in operational costs.
- Marketing: AI-powered marketing technology also helped boost overall customer conversions by 17% in the fourth quarter.
The company’s AI strategy is two-pronged, focusing on expanding consumer traffic and technology development.
LendingTree is working on search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure it is referenced by major large language AI models such as ChatGPT, which is a growing source of driving online customer traffic, Peyree said.
The company also is creating “logistic AI bots” to help users gather documents to complete application processes and building an advanced comparison tools, such as the new personal loans rate table, to help consumers accurately compare offers.
LendingTree’s four focus areas for growth
LendingTree’s goal is to become the leading destination for consumers shopping for any financial product, Peyree said.
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The company’s strategy focuses on four key areas:
- Boost existing business: Expanding operations by growing the support teams for small business loans and creating a new support team for auto lending.
- Improve consumer experience: Use technology, especially AI, to simplify shopping for financial products, including website improvements for logged-in users and creating a proprietary tool that shows estimated personal loan rates.
- Offer more products: Over the next 18 months, the company plans to partner with providers to add new types of products, such as commercial, pet, and boat and RV insurance, as well as wealth management and student loans.
- Strengthen brand recognition: Investing less than $10 million initially in a new advertising campaign in major markets later this year and a website redesign to shift the public perception of primarily mortgage shopping to a “destination to shop for all financial products.”
LendingTree segment performance and outlook
Peyree credited the company’s strong results to its relationships with the lender and insurance carrier partners. “The insurance segment has remained a standout performer, and we see no signs of a slowdow in demand,” he said.
Here’s how LendingTree’s three segments performed compared to the fourth quarter in 2024:
- Insurance: Revenue spiked 25% to $214.6 million. Segment profit was $48.1 million, a slight increase over the same period.
- Consumer: Revenue increased 23% to $68.6 million. Personal loans revenue grew 10% to $29.1 million and small business revenue grew 78%.
- Home: Revenue was $36.2 million, a 6% increase. However, the segment profit for the same period was $10.4 million, an 11% decrease.
Executives remain cautiously optimistic that the recent drop in the 30-year mortgage rate to below 6%— the first time since 2022 — may spur a market recovery. By the end of the year, the company expects to have a total revenue between $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion.
“Our revenue is much more dependent now on our ability to continue driving more and more consumers to our network than it is on clients opening up a lot more budget, and so that that does go to, like, creating more predictability in the revenue,” Peyree said.
More about LendingTree in Charlotte
Lebda founded LendingTree in 1996 after facing a complicated process getting his first mortgage. LendingTree offers online tools to connect borrowers with lenders on financial services, like credit cards, mortgages or personal loans.
In 2021, LendingTree moved from its 64,000-square-foot Ballantyne offices into its 175,000-square-foot headquarters at Vantage South End, one of two 11-story towers on South Tryon Street at Carson Boulevard.
The company faced scrutiny last year for failing to meet local job creation commitments. LendingTree lost eligibility for $4.9 million in state tax incentives after failing to create 314 promised jobs in Charlotte under a 2016 agreement.
In July, the company lost its performance-based incentive grants from the state for 2022 and 2023 because of that failure. In 2024, LendingTree asked to end a 2018 agreement with the Mecklenburg County to create 36 high-paying jobs over five years.
LendingTree has about 800 employees, with 380 in Charlotte, LendingTree officials confirmed Monday.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "LendingTree leans into AI as the Charlotte fintech tops $1B in annual revenue."
