Match Group Q1 Results & Earnings Call Highlights

OPW – May 9 – Match Group has released its Q1 2018 earning results. "We are delivering all time best," said CEO Mandy Ginsberg at todays earnings call. Total revenue grew 36% YOY to $407M, the highest quarter over quarter revenue growth since the IPO. Tinder average subscribers were 3.5M in Q1 2018, increasing 368K sequentially and 1.6M YOY. Operating income was $112M, an increase of 91% YOY, while Adjusted EBITDA increased 60% YOY to $138M.

Highlights from the earnings call:

• Tinder is testing first video feature, called Loops which are 2s-looped user-generated videos that allows users to show their personality.
• Tinder is also testing a new location based feature called Tinder Places. It allows users to see others going to the same places they do (bars or museums). Tinder has been testing this product in 3 international markets with a small group of users. In the first three weeks Match saw users going to 200 social places. Half of them engage daily with Places and 96% of them have continued using this feature. It is an opt-in feature, and it will be available to all users in Q2.
• This week, Tinder started the "message first" setting to allow users (especially women) to have more control.
• Match Group has settled with Chinese "Tinder clone" TanTan. TanTan will re-design its U.S. app and pay Match annual royalty payments.

Mandy talked about Facebook entering the online dating space. "It is really unclear but Facebook dating won't probably have a negative impact on Tinder", said Mandy Ginsberg. Tinder introduced SMS signed up last year. Within two months of this offering, new users went from 100% Facebook sign up to only 25%. (Data from North America). "Users quickly separated Facebook from their dating experience", said Mandy.

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Comments

[Mark Brooks]

Amazing performance from the dating industry powerhouse.

If that doesn't reset investor confidence in the wake of news Facebook is getting into dating, I don't know what will.

It seems a preponderance of executives are still bullish about existing dating apps, and don't think Facebook will put the kabosh on the existing dating industry. See my white paper review of 39 dating industry executive opinions here...

http://www.onlinepersonalswatch.com/news/2018/05/white-paper-39-dating-industry-ceos-weigh-in-on-facebooks-entry-into-dating.html