LendingTree, Inc. (TREE) Business

ITEM 1.  Business

Our Company

LendingTree, Inc. (“LendingTree”, the “Company”, “we” or “us”) operates what we believe to be the leading online consumer platform that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. Through multiple branded marketplaces, LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of approximately 770 partners (which we refer to as “Network Partners”) in one simple search, and choose the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, deposit accounts, personal loans, small business loans, insurance quotes and other related offerings. In addition, we offer tools and resources, including free credit scores, that facilitate comparison shopping for loans, deposit products, insurance and other offerings. We seek to match consumers with multiple providers who can offer them competing quotes for the product(s) they are seeking. We believe our platform, consisting of a deep network of Network Partners across a broad array of financial products, differentiates us from other loan or insurance comparison-shopping marketplaces which may focus on fewer product offerings or partner with fewer service providers.

Our strategically designed and executed advertising and marketing campaigns (which we refer to as “performance marketing”) span a wide array of digital and traditional media acquisition channels and promote our LendingTree and other brands and product offerings. Our marketing efforts are designed to attract consumers to our websites, mobile applications and toll-free telephone numbers. Interested consumers complete inquiry forms, providing detailed information about themselves and the loans or other offerings they are seeking. We refer to such consumer inquiries as “consumer requests”. We then match these consumer requests with Network Partners in our marketplace that are seeking to serve these consumers' needs. We generate revenue from our Network Partners, generally at the time of transmitting a consumer request to them, in the form of a match fee. In certain instances outside our mortgage business we charge other kinds of fees, such as closed loan fees. In addition to our primary consumer request data referral business, we also match consumers with Network Partners by offering consumers the ability to click from our website to a Network Partner’s website or by calls for which Network Partners pay fees.

We are continually working to improve the consumer experience. We have made investments in technologically-adept personnel and we use in-market real-time testing to improve our digital platforms. Additionally, we work with our Network Partners, including providing training and other resources, to improve the consumer experience throughout the process.

Evolution and Future Growth of Our Business

At its inception, our original business was to serve consumers seeking home mortgage loans by matching them with various lenders. We launched the LendingTree brand nationally in 1998 and, over the last twenty-plus years, we have invested significantly in this brand to gain widespread consumer recognition.

Since 2012, we have actively sought to expand the suite of financial services offerings we provide to consumers, in order to both leverage the applicability of the LendingTree brand as well as more fully serve the needs of consumers and Network Partners. We believe that consumers with existing LendingTree-branded associations will be more likely to utilize our other service offerings than those of other providers whose brands consumers may not recognize.

By expanding our portfolio of financial services offerings, we have grown and diversified our business and sources of revenue. We intend to capitalize on our expertise in performance marketing, product development and technology by leveraging the widespread recognition of the LendingTree brand and our expanded portfolio of product offerings.

3

Table of Contents

We believe the consumer and insurance industries are in the middle stages of a fundamental shift to online product offerings, similar to the shift that started in retail and travel many years ago and is now well established. We believe that, like retail and travel, financial services consumers will continue to move towards online shopping and transactions in response to which suppliers will increasingly shift their product offerings and advertising budgets toward the online channel. We believe the strength of our brands and of our Network Partners places us in a strong position to continue to benefit from this market shift.

Economic Conditions

We continue to monitor the current global economic environment, specifically inflationary pressures and interest rates, and any resulting impacts on our financial position and results of operations.

During 2023, the challenging interest rate environment and inflationary pressures presented challenges for many of our mortgage, consumer and insurance partners. In our Home segment, mortgage rates hit multi-decade highs of nearly 8% in October, then proceeded to drop below 7% by December, ending the year at 6.6%. The continued high mortgage rates in 2023 and home affordability issues continued to cause declines in refinance volumes and purchase activity. Our Consumer segment was also negatively impacted by economic conditions, with successive Federal Reserve rate increases having their intended effect of tightening financial conditions. The availability of credit contracted and lenders were less inclined to make loans in an environment with high inflation and significantly increased cost of capital. In our Insurance segment, demand from our carrier partners remained volatile for much of the year as they continued to deal with persistent industry headwinds. In the last months of 2023, we began to see advertising budgets from our carrier partners increase.

During 2024, the challenging interest rate environment and inflationary pressures continued to present challenges for many of our mortgage lending partners. In our Home segment, mortgage rates remained relatively consistent in 2024, with the annual average mortgage rate in 2024 of 6.7% compared to 6.8% in 2023. However, these rates are more than doubled compared to the low annual average mortgage rates seen in 2021. The increased mortgage rates continued to cause reduced refinance volumes and continued to put pressure on purchase activity. Additionally, the restrictive lending conditions continued to pressure our Consumer segment. In our Insurance segment, demand from our carrier partners increased significantly in 2024.

During 2025, we continue to see high interest rates, inflationary pressures and low existing home sales negatively impacting our mortgage lending partners. In our Home segment, mortgage rates remained relatively consistent in 2025, with the annual average mortgage rate in 2025 of 6.6% compared to 6.7% in 2024, but remain significantly increased compared to the low rates seen in 2021. A shortage of in-the-money refinance borrowers persists given the current higher level of mortgage rates, and historically low existing home sales are suppressing consumer demand for purchase loans. Our Consumer segment has benefited from the recent Federal Reserve rate decreases, and our lenders are generally broadening in credit appetite. In our Insurance segment, carriers are broadly experiencing strong automotive underwriting results following multiple quarters of premium increases and stable loss cost trends. We are optimistic about maintaining the strong performance in the Insurance segment as we head into 2026.

Segment Reporting

We have three reportable segments: Home, Consumer, and Insurance.

Products

Our Home segment includes the following products: purchase mortgage, refinance mortgage, and home equity loans and lines of credit. Our Consumer segment includes the following products: credit cards, personal loans, small business loans, auto loans, deposit accounts, and other credit products such as debt settlement. We ceased offering credit repair products at the end of the second quarter of 2023 when we shut-down our Ovation business. Our Insurance segment consists of insurance quote products and insurance policies in our agency businesses. We exited the insurance agency business in the second quarter of 2025.

4

Table of Contents

Segment revenue is as follows (in thousands):

LendingTree does not charge consumers for the use of our services. Revenues from our Home products are mostly derived from upfront match fees paid by Network Partners that receive a consumer request. Because a given consumer request form can be matched with more than one Network Partner, up to five match fees may be generated from a single consumer request form. Revenues from our Consumer products are generally derived from upfront match fees paid on delivery of a consumer request, click or call and closed loan fees. For our credit card product, we send click traffic to issuers and are generally paid per card approval. Revenues from our Insurance products are primarily derived from upfront match fees, and upfront fees for website clicks or fees for calls, earned through the delivery of consumer requests.

For the year ended December 31, 2025, one Network Partner, Progressive Casualty Insurance, accounted for 27% of total consolidated revenue, all of which was recorded within our Insurance segment. For the year ended December 31, 2024, two Network Partners, Progressive Casualty Insurance and Allstate Insurance Company, accounted for 22% and 11%, respectively, of total consolidated revenue, all of which was recorded within our Insurance segment. For the year ended December 31, 2023, no Network Partners accounted for more than 10% of total consolidated revenue.

Home Segment

We partner with lenders throughout the United States to provide full geographic lending coverage and to offer a complete suite of loan offerings on our marketplace. To participate on our marketplace, lenders are required to enter into contracts with us that state the terms and conditions for such participation, although these contracts generally may be terminated for convenience by either party. We perform certain due diligence procedures on prospective new lenders, including screening against a national anti-fraud database maintained by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, which helps manage our risk exposure. The data is utilized to determine whether a lender and its principals are eligible to participate on our marketplace and have not been convicted of and/or penalized for fraudulent activity.

We offer the following Home lending products on our online marketplace:

•Home equity loans and lines of credit, which enable homeowners to borrow against the equity in their home, as measured by the difference between the market value of the home and any existing loans secured by the home. Home equity loans are one-time lump sum loans, whereas a home equity line of credit reflects a line of revolving credit where the borrower has flexibility to draw down and repay the line over time.

•Purchase mortgage loans product, which matches consumers in the market looking to buy a new home with our network lenders.

•Refinance mortgage loans product, which matches consumers in the market looking to refinance their existing mortgages with our network lenders.

Consumers seeking home loans through our loan marketplace can receive multiple conditional loan offers from participating lenders in response to a single consumer request form. We refer to the process by which we match consumers and Network Partners as the “matching process”. This matching process consists of the following steps:

(1)Consumer Request.  Consumers complete a single request form with information regarding the type of mortgage loan product they are seeking, loan preferences and other data. Consumers also consent to a soft inquiry regarding their credit and to have lenders contact them.

(2)Consumer Request Form Matching and Transmission.  Our proprietary systems and technology match a given consumer’s request form data, credit profile and geographic location against certain pre-established criteria of Network Partners, which may be modified from time to time. Once a given request passes through the matching process, the request is automatically transmitted to up to five participating Network Partners.

(3)Lender Evaluation and Response.  Network Partners that receive a consumer request form evaluate the information contained in it to determine whether to make a conditional loan offer.

5

Table of Contents

(4)Communication of a Conditional Offer.  All matched Network Partners and any conditional offers are presented to the consumer upon completion of the consumer request form. Consumers can return to the site and view their offer(s) at any time by logging in to their on-line profile. Additionally, matched lenders and offers are also sent to the email address associated with the consumer request.

Consumer Segment

Consumer lending products on our online marketplace that include information, tools and access to multiple conditional loan offers for the following:

•Auto, which includes our auto refinance and purchase loan products. Auto loans enable consumers to purchase new or used vehicles or refinance an existing loan secured by an automobile.

•Credit cards, which include offerings from many major card issuers.

•Personal loans, which are typically unsecured obligations generally carrying shorter terms and smaller loan amounts than home mortgages.

•Small business loans, which are typically short term loans used for the purpose of working capital, expansion and other forms of business financing provided to small and medium-sized businesses.

•Student loans, which includes both new loans to finance education and related expenses, as well as refinancing of existing loans.

Non-lending Consumer products also includes information, tools and access to the following:

•Deposit accounts, through which consumers can access depository deals and analysis covering all major deposit product categories.

•Credit repair, through which consumers can obtain assistance improving their credit profiles, in order to expand and improve loan and other financial product opportunities available to them. We ceased offering credit repair products at the end of the second quarter of 2023 when we shut-down our Ovation business.

•Debt relief services, through which consumers can obtain assistance negotiating existing loans.

We refer to the various purchasers of leads from our other marketplaces as lead purchasers. We generate revenue from the deposit account product when a consumer clicks from our website through to a financial institution's website. We generate revenue from debt relief services through a fee for a customer referral to a service provider partner.

Insurance Segment

Our Insurance segment includes information, tools and access to insurance quote products, including automobile, home, life, health and Medicare, through which consumers are matched with insurance lead aggregators to obtain insurance offers. Our QuoteWizard business is one of the largest insurance comparison marketplaces in the growing online insurance advertising market. ValuePenguin, a personal finance website that offers consumers objective analysis on a variety of financial topics related to insurance, is also part of our Insurance segment. We exited the insurance agency business in the second quarter of 2025.

We intend to continue adding new offerings for consumers, small businesses and Network Partners on our online marketplace, in order to grow and diversify our sources of revenue. We may develop such new offerings through internal product development efforts, strategic business relationships with third parties and/or acquisitions.

Seasonality

Revenue in our Home segment is subject to cyclical and seasonal trends. Home sales (and purchase mortgages) typically rise during the spring and summer months and decline during the fall and winter months, while refinancing and home equity activity is principally driven by mortgage interest rates as well as real estate values. However, in certain historical periods additional factors affecting the mortgage and real estate markets, such as the current high interest rate economic period, the 2008-2009 financial crisis and related recession as well as the economic conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, have impacted customary seasonal trends.

Our insurance segment typically experiences a decline in December around the holidays and an increase in the spring around tax season. Our personal loan product experiences less consumer demand during the fourth and first quarters of each year. Our small business loan demand typically peaks early in the first quarter, then softens for a period of time before increasing from late third quarter through the fourth quarter in anticipation of holiday-related funding needs. We also anticipate less consumer demand for credit cards in the fourth quarter of each year, and we anticipate higher consumer demand for deposit

6

Table of Contents

accounts in the first quarter of each year. Other factors affecting our businesses include macro factors such as credit availability in the market, interest rates, inflation, the strength of the economy and employment.

Competition

Our businesses compete with other online marketing companies, including online intermediaries that operate network-type arrangements. We also face competition from lenders and insurance agents that source consumers directly. These companies typically operate consumer-branded websites and attract consumers via online banner ads, keyword placement on search engines, direct mail, television ads, retail branches, realtors, brokers, radio and other sources, partnerships with affiliates and business development arrangements with others, including major online portals.

Corporate History

LendingTree, Inc. is the parent of LT Intermediate Company, LLC, which holds all of the outstanding ownership interests of LendingTree, LLC. LendingTree, LLC also owns several companies. LendingTree, Inc. was incorporated in the state of Delaware in June 1996 and commenced nationwide operations in July 1998.

In May 2003, IAC/InterActiveCorp (“IAC”) acquired LendingTree, LLC, which at the time of the acquisition was known as LendingTree, Inc. Following the acquisition, in December 2004, IAC converted LendingTree, Inc. to a Delaware limited liability company, LendingTree, LLC.

In April 2008, IAC formed Tree.com, Inc. (now known as LendingTree, Inc.), a Delaware corporation, which held all of the ownership interests of LendingTree, LLC. In August 2008, Tree.com Inc., including its wholly-owned subsidiary, LendingTree, LLC, was spun off from IAC and became the separately publicly-traded company that we are today.

Effective January 1, 2015, we changed our name from Tree.com, Inc. to LendingTree, Inc.

Regulation and Legal Compliance

We market and provide services in heavily regulated industries through a number of different online and offline channels across the United States. As a result, we are subject to a variety of federal and state laws and regulations, including:

•The Truth-in-Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (“FACTA”), the Fair Housing Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), and similar state laws, all of which place certain restrictions on the manner in which consumer loans are marketed and originated, and some of which impose restrictions on the amount and nature of fees that may be charged to lenders and real estate professionals for providing or obtaining consumer loan requests.

•The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which imposes, among other things, limitations on fees charged by mortgage lenders, and requirements related to mortgage disclosures.

•Federal and state consumer lending and insurance licensing laws.

•Federal and state laws, which impose restrictions on activities conducted through telephone, mail, email, mobile device or the Internet, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (“CAN-SPAM”) and the Federal Trade Commission Act.

•Federal and state laws and regulations relating to data privacy and security, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”), which may impact how we collect, use, store, share and otherwise process personal information of consumers and other individuals.

See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Legal, Compliance and Regulations” for additional information and a discussion of our regulatory risks.

Intellectual Property

We believe that our intellectual property and proprietary rights are vital to our success. To protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights in our brand, technology, products, services, data, improvements and inventions, we rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and other laws, as well as contractual restrictions on disclosure, such as confidentiality agreements with strategic partners, employees, consultants and other third parties. However, we cannot guarantee that such laws or contractual restrictions will provide us with sufficient protection or that we have entered into confidentiality agreements with each party that has or may have had access to our confidential or proprietary information, know-how or trade secrets.

7

Table of Contents

As we develop or identify new or improved proprietary technologies, we seek patent protection in the United States and abroad, as appropriate. As of December 31, 2025, we owned one issued U.S. patent related to the system and method for collecting financial information over a global communications network, that expires in 2032.

Many of our services are offered under proprietary trademarks and service marks. We believe that our LendingTree trademark, which is applied to all of our services, including our acquired businesses, creates positive responses in network partners and consumers. We generally apply to register or secure by contract our principal trademarks and service marks as they are developed and used. As of December 31, 2025, we owned 53 trademarks and service marks; 11 of those marks are registered outside of the United States, and 42 are registered or in the midst of the application process with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Of the 42 marks registered or pending with the USPTO, nine have applications pending but have not yet been registered. These registrations can typically be renewed at 10-year intervals.

In addition, we reserve and register domain names when and where we deem appropriate. As of December 31, 2025, we owned approximately 1,591 registered domain names. We also have agreements with third parties that provide for the licensing of patented, copyrighted and other proprietary technology used in our business.

Our success significantly depends on our ability to obtain, maintain, enforce and protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights and operate our business without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating any intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties. However, there can be no assurance that our efforts will be successful. Even if our efforts are successful, we may incur significant costs in defending our intellectual property and proprietary rights or combatting allegations by third parties. From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings or claims, or threatened legal proceedings or claims, including allegations of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of third-party patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets or other intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties. In addition, the use of litigation and other dispute resolution processes, such as Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution, may be necessary for us to enforce our intellectual property rights, including our trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of intellectual property or proprietary rights claimed by others. See “Risk Factors” for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.

Human Capital Resources

We are committed to investing in our employees, and nurturing an entrepreneurial and dynamic work environment. We achieve this through dedication to our core principles which include: building truly outstanding products, being open and candid, acting with urgency and creativity, taking charge, setting goals and being accountable, and committing to excellence. Employees are stockholders of the Company, allowing them to take charge and have a direct impact on Company choices. We provide individual, career and leadership development opportunities to strengthen skills. We have implemented strong policies and practices to foster a safe and inclusive workplace allowing employees to develop and reach their full potential, and although our employees hold many values in common, our leadership team actively works to attract, develop, and retain talent from a range of backgrounds and experiences in order to benefit from diverse perspectives. The Company and our employees are committed to helping our communities thrive through a variety of Company-sponsored annual and ongoing community outreach efforts.

As of December 31, 2025, we had 926 employees, of which approximately 919 are full-time and 7 are temporary or part-time. None of our employees are represented under collective bargaining agreements and we consider our relations with employees and independent contractors to be good.

Additional Information

Website and Public Filings

We maintain a corporate website at www.lendingtree.com and an investor relations website at investors.lendingtree.com. None of the information on or accessible through our websites is incorporated by reference in this report, or in any other filings with, or in any information furnished or submitted to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

We make available, free of charge through our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K, our proxy statement for our annual shareholders' meeting and beneficial ownership reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5 as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such material with, or furnish such material to, the SEC. Our filings with the SEC are available to the public at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

Our code of business conduct and ethics, which applies to all employees, including all executive officers and senior financial officers and directors, is posted on the investor relations section of our website. Any amendments to or waivers of the

8

Table of Contents

code of business conduct and ethics that are of the type described in Item 406(b) and (d) of Regulation S-K will be disclosed on our website or in public filings to the extent required by the applicable rules.