Match Group adds more Tinder subscribers, shares surge
Match Group beat quarterly profit and revenue estimates on Tuesday, as more people joined its popular dating app, Tinder, sending shares up as much as 8 percent in extended trading.
Tinder, which according to recent reports accounts for about two-thirds of Match’s overall valuation, reported 4.7 million average subscribers in the quarter, 1.3 million higher than last year.
Recent new campaigns at Tinder, which has made “swipe left” and “swipe right” a point of pop culture conversations, have helped the appraise engagement, Match said.
Average subscribers for the company increased to 8.6 million in the quarter, up 16 per cent.
Revenue for the three months ended March 31 rose about 14 per cent to USD 464.6 million, slightly better than the average analyst expectation of USD 463.7 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net earnings attributable to shareholders rose to USD 123 million, or 42 cents per share, from USD 99.7 million, or 33 cents a year ago.
Analysts on average had estimated earnings of 32 cents, according to data from Refinitiv IBES.
Income for the quarter included an income tax benefit of USD 28 million, the company said.
Match’s average revenue per user, excluding effects of foreign exchange, was also up 4 percent at USD 0.60.
For the second quarter, the company expects revenue to be between USD 480 million and USD 490 million, almost in-line with the midpoint with Wall Street’s expectation of USD 485.5 million.
Match expects trends at Tinder to remain consistent in the second quarter. On the back of its performance in the first half, the app is expected to add over a million average subscribers in 2019.
The company also forecast second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to be between USD 190 million and USD 195 million, above analysts’ average estimate of USD 185.7 million.
