Match Slumps After Revenue Forecast Misses Analyst Estimates

(Bloomberg) -- Match Group Inc. shares dropped more than 10 percent after the company said revenue growth would flat-line through the rest of the year.

Sales in the fourth quarter will be $440 million to $450 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $454.5 million. Revenue in the third quarter, which Match reported Tuesday, rose 29 percent to $444 million.

Match is working to become a one-stop shop for dating apps by buying smaller competitors and building up its main money-making app, Tinder. The company had about 8.1 million users in the third quarter, compared to 6.6 million in the same quarter last year.

Key Insights

• Third-quarter earnings came in at 44 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for 33 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
• Match said it will pay a special dividend of $2 a share on Dec. 19.
• The shares fell 11 percent in extended trading, after closing at $51.47 in New York.

Know More

• Tinder saw revenue double in the third quarter from a year earlier, the company said.
• Tinder is on track to pull in about $800 million in sales this year.
• Match said average revenue per subscriber was 57 cents in the third quarter, up 6 percent from a year earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Molly Schuetz

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