Match Group Revenue Beats Expectations as Tinder Attracts More Paying Users The company -- which owns multiple dating websites, including OKCupid, Tinder and Match.com -- said its average paid-member count increased 36 percent in the first quarter.
By Reuters
This story originally appeared on Reuters
Dating website operator Match Group Inc. reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue on Tuesday, as its popular dating app Tinder attracted more paying users.
The company's shares rose 7.3 percent to $11.98 in after-hours trading.
Match Group, which also owns Match.com and OkCupid, gets bulk of its revenue from membership fees and paid features.
The company said its average paid-member count jumped 36 percent to 5.1 million in the first quarter ended March 31, also helped by the acquisition of PlentyOfFish.
Match Group, majority owned by media mogul Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, agreed to buy Vancouver-based PlentyOfFish for $575 million in July last year.
Tinder surpassed 1 million paid members during the quarter.
The Dallas-based company's dating business, its biggest, which includes apps such as Tinder, recorded a 24 percent rise in revenue to $260.4 million.
Total revenue rose 21.4 percent to $285.3 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $281.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Operating income rose 8 percent to $29.2 million.
The company's operating expenses jumped 23 percent, largely due to an additional $11.2 million of stock-based compensation.
Net income attributable to Match Group shareholders fell to $7.2 million, or 3 cents per share, from $26.2 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 11 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected 8 cents.
Revenue from the company's non-dating business, which includes educational websites Princeton Review and Tutor.com, was flat at $24.9 million.
Up to Tuesday's close of $11.16, Match Group's shares had fallen 7 percent since the company went public in November.
(Reporting by Sai Sachin R and Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
