Tinder sends Match earnings blazing past estimates

Match Group, Inc., the parent company of some of the most popular online dating platforms, posted quarterly earnings and an outlook that beat analysts’ estimates, boosted by new subscribers to Tinder in the face of increasing competition.

The shares rose about 9 per cent in extended trading.

Revenue jumped 36 per cent to $421.2 million in the second quarter, exceeding the average forecast of $413.3 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Dallas, Texas-based company reported operating income of $150.2 million, up 81 per cent from a year earlier, the company said Tuesday in a statement. Earnings were 45 cents a share, surpassing projections for 32 cents.

Tinder, the app that made “swipe right” and “swipe left” to like or delete a potential partner part of the millennial vernacular, is the “growth engine” behind Match, Chief Executive Officer Mandy Ginsberg said in a phone interview. Though the base app for Tinder is free, extra features cost money, helping boost direct revenue by 136 per cent year-over-year in the quarter. The app boasts more than 3.7 million subscribers, an 81 per cent increase since the second quarter of 2017. Total subscribers across Match Group’s about 45 brands totalled 7.7 million for the three months ending June 30.

Based on such momentum, Match said it’s expecting as much as $440 million in revenue in the current quarter. That’s ahead of the average analyst forecast for $426.4 million. For the full year, Match raised the top end of its revenue range by $20 million to as much as $1.72 billion.