Whitney Wolfe Herd speaks onstage in Dana Point, California.
Joe Scarnici | Getty Images Entertainment
Bumble recorded $ 165.6 million in revenue on Wednesday, surpassing Wall Street’s predictions and nearly breaking even in its first quarterly report since it went public in February. Stock increased by more than 6% in extensive trade.
The company behind popular dating apps Bumble and Badoo posted strong growth in revenue and subscribers, fueled by a global pandemic that drove daters online.
Here’s what the company reported for the fourth quarter, compared to what Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected:
- Loss per share: 1 cent
- Revenue: $ 165.6 million vs. expected sales of $ 163.3 million.
Wall Street was looking for a quarterly loss of 13 cents a share. CNBC does not compare reported earnings per share to expectations for a company’s initial report as a publicly traded company, as uncertain stock forecasts can skew forecasts.
Revenue grew 31% year over year, with the company’s Bumble app bringing in $ 105.8 million and the Badoo app at $ 59.8 million during that period.
Still, the company reported a net loss of $ 26.1 million, compared to a net profit of $ 17.2 million in the same period a year earlier.
Bumble reported 2.7 million paid users for the fourth quarter for both apps, an increase of 32.5% from the fourth quarter of 2019. The company did not release recent figures for the total number of app users, but reported earlier 42.1 million active monthly users as of September 2020.
Bumble went public in February with a $ 2.2 billion IPO, claiming a claim in the online dating market alongside the industry leader Match Group, which operates popular dating apps Tinder and Hinge.
Bumble operates its namesake app mainly in the US, UK, Australia and Canada and a similar offering, Badoo, mainly in Europe and Latin America.
Bumble’s unique pitch for its flagship app is simple: In heterosexual matches, only women can message first after showing mutual interest, and men must reply within 24 hours. In gay matches, each party can send a message first.
Dating apps have seen an increase in use as Covid-19 lockdowns kept singles at home and online.
Bumble president Tariq Shaukat said the company has seen evidence of pent-up demand amid coronavirus blockages, but app usage varies by market.
“We see the engagement gains we’ve seen this year remain pretty strong,” Shaukat said during the firm’s investor talk.
The total average revenue per user in the fourth quarter was $ 20.02, compared to $ 19.99 in the fourth quarter of 2019.
For the first quarter of 2021, Bumble expects sales of $ 163 million to $ 165 million. For the full year 2021, Bumble forecasts revenue of $ 716 million to $ 726 million.
In addition to its dating service, the company also offers adjoining services, Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz for platonic and professional connections.
CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said the company does not expect the Bumble BFF to make money until 2022, although the company sees its future in platonic relationships as a significant opportunity for its women-first users.
—CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos and Sara Salinas contributed to this report.
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