Proactive Investors - Bumble Inc (NASDAQ:BMBL) shares shot up after it reported fourth quarter revenue that beat Wall Street estimates and rising paying users on its eponymous dating app buoyed the company’s outlook for the year.
Austin, Texas-based Bumble is the parent company of Bumble and Badoo, two of the world’s highest-grossing dating apps with millions of users worldwide.
For the period ended December 2022, Bumble revenue grew 16% on a year-over-year basis to $241.6 million, handily beating the consensus revenue estimate of $235.9 million. Significantly, Bumble App revenue grew 27.7% to $190.8 million, compared to $149.4 million in 4Q 2021.
More importantly, Bumble said it expects first quarter revenue of $238 million to $243 million. The current consensus revenue estimate is $241.66 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2023.
Bumble’s rosy projections contrast with earnings from rival Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) Inc, which forecast first-quarter revenue below expectations after poor product execution at Tinder drove the company's first-ever quarterly decline.
Investors reacted to the news, sending Bumble shares up over 6% to $24.74 on the tech-dominated Nasdaq in afternoon trading.
During the quarter, Bumble's total paying users increased to 3.4 million from 3 million a year earlier.
However, Bumble’s net loss widened to $159.2 million, or $0.85 per share, from $13.9 million, or $0.07 per share, a year earlier.
Bumble, which owns the dating app where women make the first move, reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $60.5 million, or 25% of revenue.
“We delivered total revenue growth of 19% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 25% in 2022,” Bumble CEO Anu Subramanian said in a statement.
“The resilience of our business is underscored by Bumble App’s half-a-million paying user net additions and healthy 31% revenue increase for the full year. By meaningfully expanding our offerings and extending our reach across the globe, we believe we are on a path to scale our business and deliver profitable growth again in 2023.”
Bumble’s full-year revenue for 2022 was $903.5 million, up 18.7% from $760.9 million in 2021. This includes an unfavorable impact of $41.1 million from foreign currency movements year-over-year, said the company.