Shares of Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) rose slightly in premarket trading Wednesday after the company’s Q4 earnings and revenue came ahead of Wall Street’s expectations.
Notably, the owner of Tinder posted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.81 for the quarter, well above the estimated $0.50. Revenue came in at $866.2 million, while analysts were expecting $861.33 million.
Match Group reported a 5% decrease in its number of paying users in the fourth quarter, dropping to 15.2 million from the previous year.
For the first quarter, the company anticipates revenues to be between $850 million and $860 million, slightly below the average analyst projection of $867 million, as per LSEG data. Looking ahead to 2024, Match forecasts its revenue to range from $3.57 billion to $3.67 billion, indicating a growth of 6% to 8%, compared to the market estimate of 7.8%.
The online dating service company also approved a $1 billion stock buyback plan.
“Q4 results were mixed with a 1% rev beat, but Q1 rev guidance of 8-9% y/y growth was below the prior 10%+ and assumes ongoing Tinder payer declines. While mgmt expects Tinder payers to grow q/q in Q3, we expect bears to remain skeptical on the turnaround,” said Jefferies analysts.