Bumble Sees First Quarterly Sales Decline

(Reuters) – Bumble posted its first decline in quarterly sales since going public in 2021, indicating a longer timeline is needed to improve its sluggish growth.

Sticky inflation and high borrowing costs have impacted spending on the women-centric dating app and its premium subscriptions, hindering growth after a post-pandemic surge.

In response, Bumble has launched a refreshed app and introduced new features. However, a revenue forecast cut in August raised concerns about effectiveness of turnaround plans.

"These investments and our ecosystem initiatives, including product releases, will take time to translate to meaningful revenue growth," said CFO Anu Subramanian.

Bumble's main competitor, Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, also missed revenue estimates for the third quarter due to reduced user spending on dating apps.

Bumble reported that total paying users increased to 4.3 million in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, up from 3.8 million the previous year.

Revenue fell 0.7% to $273.6 million but surpassed analysts' expectations of $271.9 million. Shares rose nearly 9% initially but then flatlined in volatile trading.

Looking ahead, the company expects fourth-quarter revenue between $256 million and $262 million, slightly below analysts’ estimates of $260.2 million, and forecasts fiscal 2024 revenue between $1.06 billion and $1.07 billion, generally aligning with estimates.