MTCH

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Match Group (MTCH). Shares have added about 11.2% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Match Group due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for Match Group Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. Match Group reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 92 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.15%.Revenues were $853 million, down 1% year over year, and lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $856 million by 0.34%. The quarter reflected improving engagement trends at Tinder and continued expansion at Hinge. The company’s key operating metrics showed mixed momentum, with total payers declining 6% year over year to 13.3 million, while revenue per payer (RPP) increased 6% to $21.13. Tinder’s user trends improved, while Hinge continued to deliver strong growth through product innovation and international expansion. Tinder direct revenues were $457.5 million in the second quarter, down 1% year over year and down 2% on a foreign exchange-neutral basis.Payers declined 5% to 8.5 million, while RPP increased 4% to $17.90. Adjusted EBITDA was $233 million, down 5% year over year, with a 50% margin.The company continued investing in Tinder’s product turnaround. Management highlighted improvements in recommendation algorithms, Trust and Safety initiatives, and new features designed to create lower-pressure ways for users to connect. Tinder’s daily active users declined 4% year over year in the quarter, representing the best performance in 10 quarters. Hinge remained a major growth contributor, with direct revenues rising 22% year over year to $203.5 million. Revenues increased 20% on a foreign exchange-neutral basis, supported by a 17% increase in payers to 2 million and a 4% rise in RPP to $33.11.Match Group noted that Hinge’s global monthly active users increased 13% year over year, driven by expansion markets. The company continued broadening Hinge’s international presence, entering six new European countries and four additional countries in Latin America during the quarter.The business is still expected to reach $1 billion in revenues in 2027, with growth expected to come from product innovation, international expansion and additional monetization opportunities. Everyone Everywhere (E&E) direct revenues were $178.9 million, down 17% year over year and down 17% on a foreign exchange-neutral basis. Payers declined 21% to 2.7 million, while RPP increased 4% to $22.24. Adjusted EBITDA was $54 million, up 69%, and at a 30% margin.The company continued restructuring the portfolio, with E&E now including Azar and Pairs. Management said the segment is benefiting from shared capabilities across Match Group, including Trust and Safety, recommendation algorithms, centralized marketing and consumer research.The company expects E&E revenue trends to remain pressured by the Azar app redesign while maintaining a focus on improving the long-term health of the portfolio. Total operating expenses declined 9% year over year to $608 million in the second quarter. Cost of revenues decreased 16% year over year, helped by alternative payment savings, while general and administrative expenses declined 22%, driven by lower headcount-related costs and legal expenses.Adjusted EBITDA was $331 million, up 14% year over year, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 39%, which expanded approximately 500 basis points from 33% in the year-ago quarter. As of June 30, 2026, Match Group had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $584 million compared with $1.02 billion as of March 31, 2026. The decline primarily reflected the use of $424 million in cash to repay the company’s 0.875% exchangeable senior notes due in June 2026.Long-term debt, including current maturities, stood at $3.6 billion as of June 30, 2026. Match Group ended the quarter with trailing twelve-month gross leverage of 2.7x and net leverage of 2.2x. The company’s $500 million revolving credit facility remained undrawn as of June 30, 2026.Match Group generated $370 million in operating cash flow and $353 million in free cash flow in the second quarter. It also repurchased 7.3 million shares for $245 million and paid $91 million in dividends during the period. For the third quarter of 2026, Match Group expects revenues of $885 million to $895 million, representing a year-over-year decline of 2% to 3%. Adjusted EBITDA is projected at $330 million to $335 million, implying a 10% year-over-year increase at the midpoint.For full-year 2026, management expects revenues to be near the midpoint of its previously issued guidance range on an as-reported basis and at or above the midpoint on a foreign exchange-neutral basis. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be at or above the high end of prior guidance, with margin expected to exceed the company’s 37.5% target.The company expects Tinder direct revenues to decline in the low-single-digit percentage range for the year, an improvement from its previous outlook. It also expects free cash flow to be at the high end of its prior guidance range. In the past month, investors have witnessed a upward trend in estimates revision. The consensus estimate has shifted 11.67% due to these changes. Currently, Match Group has a nice Growth Score of B, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with a D. However, the stock has a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the top 40% for value investors. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. It comes with little surprise Match Group has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months. Match Group belongs to the Zacks Internet - Software industry. Another stock from the same industry, Automatic Data Processing (ADP), has gained 4.1% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026. ADP reported revenues of $5.47 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +6.8%. EPS of $2.64 for the same period compares with $2.26 a year ago. ADP is expected to post earnings of $2.78 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +11.7%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged. The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for ADP. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of D. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Match Group Inc. (MTCH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Match’s second quarter drew a negative market response, as management pointed to ongoing challenges in user and payer trends despite notable product improvements. CEO Bernard Rascoff attributed the performance to continued declines in monthly active users, especially at Tinder, although engagement metrics such as daily active users and “Sparks” showed improvement. Is now the time to buy MTCH? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $853.1 million vs analyst estimates of $856.9 million (1.2% year-on-year decline, in line) Adjusted EPS: $0.91 vs analyst expectations of $0.96 (4.5% miss) Adjusted EBITDA: $331.3 million vs analyst estimates of $328.2 million (38.8% margin, 1% beat) Revenue Guidance for Q3 CY2026 is $890 million at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting EBITDA guidance for Q3 CY2026 is $332.5 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $320.6 million Operating Margin: 28.8%, up from 22.5% in the same quarter last year Payers: 13.3 million, down 800,000 year on year Market Capitalization: $8.43 billion While we enjoy listening to the management’s commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls is the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. James Heaney (Jefferies): asked about the drivers behind Tinder’s daily active user (DAU) improvements and why DAUs are improving faster than monthly active users (MAUs). CEO Bernard Rascoff explained that recent product enhancements, especially to recommendation algorithms, drove higher engagement from existing users, while new features like events are expected to attract new and lapsed users over time. Shweta Khajuria (Wolfe Research): questioned the gap between payer penetration and declining payer numbers, asking about the timing for payer growth to turn positive. CFO Gary Bailey clarified that payer penetration is up because payers are declining at a slower rate than MAUs, and he expects payer declines to lessen in the second half of the year. Benjamin Black (Deutsche Bank): inquired about the evolution of Tinder’s user experience and the impact of reimagined profiles. Rascoff described ongoing experiments to present more holistic user profiles, shifting from a photo-centric model to include more contextual and qualitative information, while balancing monetization. Nathaniel Feather (Morgan Stanley): asked how the events feature would scale across cities and what proportion of the user base it would reach. Rascoff responded that while direct event attendance may be limited, the broader impact comes from social media amplification, which changes user perceptions and encourages reconsideration of the app. Jason Helfstein (Oppenheimer): asked about Tinder’s pricing strategy and the cost implications of scaling the events initiative. Rascoff said there is no major incremental cost due to shared resources, and management is evaluating new monetization opportunities linked to recently launched features, with learnings expected from Hinge’s upcoming pricing tier. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will closely watch (1) whether Tinder’s events feature and rebrand drive a turnaround in monthly active users and payers, (2) Hinge’s success in new international markets and the impact of its new subscription tier, and (3) the pace of recovery in the E&E segment as product modernization and operational changes take hold. Progress on alternative payment savings and further AI-driven product developments will also be key markers. Match Group currently trades at $36.91, down from $41.24 just before the earnings. Is there an opportunity in the stock? The answer lies in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. The best stocks don’t just beat the market once. They do it again. And again. Robust revenue growth, rising free cash flow, returns on capital that leave their competition in the dust. The market has already rewarded these businesses. But our AI platform says the party isn’t over. Find out which 9 stocks made the cut this week — FREE. Get Our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+1,154% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET Senior Vice President of Investor Relations - Tanny Shelburne Chief Executive Officer - Bernard Kim Chief Financial Officer - Gary Swidler Operator: Welcome to the Match Group Second Quarter 26 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by 0. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Tanny Shelburne, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Tanny Shelburne: Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Today's call will be led by CEO, Bernard Kim, and CFO Gary Swidler. They will make a few brief remarks, and then we will open it up for questions. Before we start, I need to remind everyone that during this call, we may discuss our outlook and future performance. These forward looking statements may be preceded by words such as we expect, we believe, we anticipate, or similar statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. And our actual results could differ materially from the views expressed today. Some of these risks have been set forth in our earnings release and our periodic reports with the SEC. Also during this call, we will discuss certain non GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are provided in the published materials on our IR website. These non GAAP measures are not intended to be substitutes for our GAAP results. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Bernard. Bernard Rascoff: Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us. This was a strong quarter for Match Group and an important 1 for Tinder. Over the past year, our priority at Tinder has been making the product work better for users. That includes improving our recommendations algorithms, introducing lower pressure ways to connect, like double date and modes, and up leveling trust and safety. Monthly active users, or MAUs, declines have narrowed significantly since we began this work. Supported by a better product experience that is improving user outcomes and increasing engagement. Daily active users, or DAU, trends have also improved meaningfully. And we expect them to turn positive year over year any day now. This is a huge milestone for us. It will be the first time that Tinder has had positive year over year usage in more than 3 years. To reach our ultimate goal of returning to MAU growth, we need to drive more reconsideration through product innovation and marketing. That means giving the millions of singles who have used Tinder before, and those who have never tried more reasons to download the app. Tinder's second half roadmap is geared to do exactly that. Meanwhile, Hinge continues to deliver strong growth with meaningful runway across product innovation, international expansion, and monetization. And at E&E, which now stands for Everyone Everywhere, we are sharpening the strategy and applying more of Match Group's shared capabilities. We delivered these improvements while maintaining strong financial performance, with total revenue down just 1% and adjusted EBITDA growing 14% year over year. And we have continued to return meaningful capital to shareholders at the same time. Before I joined, Tinder was not shipping features quickly enough to keep pace with evolving user expectations. That has changed. AI has accelerated execution across product development life cycles enabling us to move faster and execute against an ambitious second half roadmap designed around how Gen Z wants to connect. Our internal research shows that nearly half of singles aged 18 to 29 were want to share in person experiences with people who could become closer connections. Yet, for a generation that grew up online, making that transition into real life can still feel hard. That is why we are doubling down on more social, lower pressure ways for users to connect in real life. Our events feature is an important component of that strategy. It gives users a dedicated place inside Tinder to describe local activities, see who else is interested before attending, and continue connecting afterward. We began piloting events in Los Angeles in March, and since then, more than 60 events have brought Tinder users together in person. We see the value of events extending far beyond those who attend. Bringing more real world connection into the experience can help shift perception of Tinder. And the category more broadly, giving singles a reason to reconsider and try the app. Early signals support that potential. Roughly 3 in 5 people who do not use Tinder today say events would make them more likely to do so. And a similar share say it would make connecting feel easier. Over half also describe the experience as something uniquely Tinder. During the Los Angeles pilot, 71% of eligible users aged 18 to 24 engaged with the in app events tab. And more than half of users who visited the tab returned the following week. Based on that success, Events is now live in 9 additional cities across The US and Europe, with plans to reach 26 cities by the end of September. Today, we are scaling events through a low cost model built primarily around partnership with leading event providers. Missed connections brings the in app and real world experiences together by surfacing a weekly curated set of profiles in a dedicated tab based on who users crossed paths with in the prior week. it is now testing in Canada and Australia and creating a more serendipitous way to discover someone new while continuing to prioritize user safety and privacy. AI helped this team move from idea to final product in just a few weeks compressing what would typically be a multi month development process. We are also expanding how users discover people inside Tinder. In Canada, we are testing a new text based search feature to help users find people they are interested in more efficiently. Early adoption is promising, with approximately 10% of exposed users submitting a search, and tens of thousands of searches generated in the first few weeks. At the same time, we continue to improve our recommendations algorithms. Earlier this year, updates to our algorithm for straight women drove significant gains in Sparks and Spark Coverage. In mid July, we rolled out an updated version that is delivering further engagement improvements. And we are now extending these updates to straight men, and LGBTQ plus users, where we expect to see similar benefits over time. We are also testing more ambitious changes to our core discovery section and profile quality. Including a reimagined user experience with more contextual, individually engaging profile elements and AI powered profile building. Together, these changes are supported by Tinder's first full rebrand in nearly a decade. Now live globally, the more modern Tinder identity includes a new logo, color palette, word mark, typography, and visual identity. This gives Tinder a fresh new look, and early results have been positive with nearly all engagement metrics improving post rollout. Tinder's richer product roadmap, is creating a steady cadence of new marketing moments, giving users more reason to reconsider the app as it evolves. In The US, recent music mode and astrology mode campaigns have helped improve new registrations among women. We have also shifted our strategy more towards lower funnel channels, which now represent roughly half of our total spend, up from 30% last year. And we believe that shift is helping trends among women. In the second half, we plan to build on that momentum with targeted marketing around events, modes, and search. Employee engagement at Tinder is higher than it is been in years. Reinforcing a belief I have held throughout my career. Great people, properly motivated, built great products, and that is exactly what we are seeing at Tinder. In Q2, improvements to the Tinder experience continued to translate into stronger engagement, particularly in key markets and demos. And those trends strengthened further in July. Dow declined 4% year-over-year in Q2, its best result in the past 10 quarters. And a significant improvement from declines of roughly 10% less than a year ago. While global user retention increased 1% year over year. In July, Dow improved for the fifth consecutive month to down nearly 2.5% year over year. Together, these metrics show that as the experience improves, users are more likely to return whether the next day to continue a conversation or the next month to make a new connection. Sparks and Spark Coverage remain important indicators of whether Tinder is helping users form meaningful connections. In Q2, both metrics were broadly stable versus Q1. Globally and among women. Sparks declined 4% year-over-year in Q2, Spark coverage grew 2% year over year. As we began to comp over product improvements from last year. The stability in Q2 shows the product improvements we have made are having a lasting impact. Following the mid July rollout of the latest version of Tinder's recommendation algorithms, Sparks, and Spark Coverage, have moved substantially higher through month end. We also saw improvement in MAUs. MAUs declined 7% year over year in Q2, 1 point better than the 8% decline in Q1, with the biggest gains in our most important markets end user demos. Year over year MAU trends improved across each of Tinder's top 5 revenue countries. In The US, its largest market, declines slowed by 2.5 points in Q2 compared to Q1. We saw similar progress among women, where MAUs improved across all major geographic regions in age groups, with global MAUs among women down 8% year over year, 3 points better than the 11% year over year decline in Q1. As MAUs improve, we are seeing that directly translate into improved year over year direct revenue and payer trends over time. Payer penetration, the percentage of MAUs paying for a subscription or a la carte feature, was up year over year in Q2, both globally and across Tinder's top 5 revenue countries in aggregate, and direct revenue per MAU was up 6% year over year globally. While we do not expect these metrics to always move in lockstep every quarter, that we have some user experience tests and monetization initiatives can have short term impacts, to payers or revenue. The longer term trend is clear and gives us confidence that continued MAU improvement should support better payer and revenue results over time. Turning to Hinge. Hinge continues to be the best example in our portfolio of product led growth at scale. Hinge has strong product market fit with intention to daters, and it is designed to be deleted promise is clear. The team is disciplined about building against 1 objective, helping users get out on great dates. Global MAUs grew 13% year over year in Q2, driven by strong growth in its expansion markets. In core markets, where Hinge remains a top downloaded app, and has achieved a significant scale, MAUs remained relatively flat year over year while revenue continued to grow double digits in aggregate. The team is focused on further strengthening its position in core markets through product innovation and brand storytelling that supports the evolving needs of Gen Z daters. In The US, the cannot Believe We Met on Hinge brand marketing campaign speaks to the vulnerable emotion behind dating, where the process can feel frustrating, but the desire for a meaningful relationship remains strong. Early results are encouraging, driving a positive lift in overall registrations, and in particular among young women, as well as a measurable impact on brand sentiment. Hinge is still expected to reach a billion in revenue in 2027, and we see 3 primary drivers of that growth. Product innovation, international expansion, and monetization runway. First, product innovation. Hinge continues to improve its core user experience across the dating journey, from self expression and discovery to early engagement on the app to ultimately meeting in person. Friend's Take, which officially launched in mid July, brings the people who know you best into an individual's dating experience. Friends and family can contribute text, voice, video, and photo reflections to a user's profile that help create a richer, more authentic picture of who someone is. The team is improving its recommendation algorithms with a particular focus on the women's experience and testing features like your type lately. In select markets, which lets daters describe what they are looking for in their own words, from hobbies to personal values. Gen Z daters learn more about what they are looking for as they date. This approach clarifies who a user is drawn to right now, and adjusts recommendations for that user. For returning users, pre filled basics lets people who deleted their accounts pick up where they left off instead of starting from scratch. It is a simple change that reduces friction for intentioned daters to reenter the ecosystem and start having relevant experiences and success more quickly. AI is also becoming more important to building the Hinge experience. Team is building its first reinforcement learning model to better understand when a user may need help, and what kind of help would be most useful, whether it is a nudge, a tip, or other prompt at the right moment. Over time, we see a path for this to become a broader personalization layer across Hinge. And finally, signals makes effort and follow through more visible. Recognizing and rewarding daters who demonstrate thoughtful participation. Which is particularly important for women. The signals badge also creates a new surface area for value creation, allowing subscribers to filter on only those users with a badge. Signals is driving meaningful outcomes for users, including more conversations, while incentivizing better behavior, like sending likes with comments. Signals also led to a 15% increase in selfie verification, for existing users in tests. Second, international expansion. Hinge grew direct revenue 86% year over year, across its European expansion markets, and maintained the number 1 downloaded position in aggregate across those markets in Q2. Hinge also entered 6 new European countries during Q2. Beyond Europe, we continue to see meaningful runway in Latin America, where Hinge has entered 4 new countries, building on the momentum in Brazil and Mexico. India is also an important expansion market for Hinge, supported by already strong organic growth, and representing the brand's first meaningful push into Asia. Third, monetization. We see significant runway for future monetization through both further payer penetration and monetization optimizations over time at Hinge. We also plan to begin testing an additional subscription tier in Q3. The goal for Hinge is to create offerings that are new differentiated, and highly relevant to women, that are worth paying for. Stepping back, Hinge is already a strong business, but the long term opportunity remains large. The team is executing, and they are doing it in a way that stays anchored in what makes Hinge distinct. Helping intention daters get off the app, and onto great dates. Turning to E&E, which now stands for Everyone, Everywhere. Over the past quarter, we completed a deep review of E&E. We have established a clear direction for the portfolio. E&E, which now includes our 2 Asia based businesses, Pairs and Azar, serves distinct audiences across community, geography, identity, lifestyle, and life stage. With the major platform migrations now complete, the portfolio has a stronger foundation to execute from. Moving forward, E&E has sharper brand by brand priorities. With a greater emphasis on user outcomes and ecosystem health. We are making more deliberate investment choices and aligning resources behind the brands and capabilities with the strongest long term potential. E&E brands are benefiting from shared match group capabilities. Including trust and safety, recommendation algorithms, cross sell, centralized marketing, consumer research, and more. Under this 1MG approach, we are building shared capabilities that can support multiple brands over time. For example, we expect Tinder events to power in app events on BLK in Q4 with the potential to extend the capability to other E&E brands in ways tailored to their audiences. We are also integrating analytics and performance marketing. While increasing collaboration and recommendations and trust and safety. There is still work ahead, but the early progress we see gives us confidence that E&E is moving in the right direction. We look forward to sharing more in the coming quarters. Turning to final thoughts, I will leave you with this. Our mission is rooted in a simple truth. Humans need humans. At a time when technology often pulls people further into their screens, we are building products that help people form meaningful connections in the real world. Our progress this quarter demonstrates our sustainable growth flywheel is working. Product innovation, increasingly powered by AI and 1 MG, is delivering better user outcomes. Those outcomes strengthen engagement, retention, and ecosystem health, which supports audience growth, and over time, stronger financial performance. Our job now is to keep every part of that flywheel turning faster. And better convert experiences into sustainable growth. that is how revitalization becomes resurgence. With that, I will turn it over to Gary. Gary Bailey: Thanks, Bernard. We are pleased with our Q2 results. Revenue was in line with our expectations, and adjusted EBITDA exceeded our expectations. As a reminder, we reorganized the business into 3 segments. Tinder, Hinge, and E&E. Which now includes our Azar and Pairs businesses. Historical periods have been recast in the supplemental materials available on our IR web website. Unless otherwise noted, all amounts are on an as reported basis, and comparisons will be discussed on a year over year basis. More details can be found in the financial table below. In Q2, Match Group's total revenue of $853 million, down 1%, down 2% on a foreign exchange neutral basis. FX was $2 million worse than we expected at the time of our last earnings call. Payers declined 6% to 13.3 million, while RPP increased 6% to $21.13. Indirect revenue was $13 million, down 28%. Reflecting lower spend from our top advertisers compared to a strong Q2 last year as well as some reallocation of spend during the World Cup. In Q2, Match Group's adjusted EBITDA was $331 million, up 14%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 39%. Tinder direct revenue in Q2 was $457 million, down 1% and down 2% FXN. Q2 direct revenue includes an approximately $8 million negative impact from user experience test and product changes in the quarter. Payers declined 5% to 8.5 million, consistent with our expectations. RPP increased 4% to $17.90. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $233 million, down 5%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 50%. Hinge direct revenue in Q2 was $204 million, up 22% and up 20% FXN. Payers increased 17% to 2 million, and RPP increased 4% to $33.11. Adjusted EBITDA was $79 million, up 48%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 39%. E&E direct revenue in Q2 was $179 million down 17% and down 17% FXN. Payers declined 21% to 2.7 million, while RPP increased 4% to $22.24. The revenue impact from Azar's app redesign was approximately $5 million better than we anticipated at the time of our last earnings call. Adjusted EBITDA was $54 million, up 69%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 30%. Including stock based compensation expense, total operating expenses in Q2 were down 9%. Cost of revenue decreased 16% and represented 24% of total revenue, down 4 points as a percentage of total revenue, primarily driven by alternative payment savings. Selling and marketing costs increased $10 million or 7%, up 1 point as a percentage of total revenue to 19% as a result of increased marketing spend at Tinder and Hinge partially offset by reduced marketing spend at E&E. General and administrative costs decreased 22% down 3 points as a percentage of total revenue to 12%. Driven by lower headcount related costs, including SBC, lower legal expenses. Product development costs were flat year over year, as a percent of total revenue at 13%. Depreciation and amortization decreased by $5 million to $24 million. Our trailing 12 month gross leverage was 2.7x, net leverage was 2.2x at the end of Q2. We ended the quarter with $584 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short term investments on hand and used $424 million of cash pay off the exchangeable notes that matured in June. Year to date through Q2, we generated operating cash flow of $564 million and free cash flow $527 million. We repurchased 7.3 million shares at an average price of $34 per share for a total of $245 million, paid $91 million in dividends, and deployed $92 million cash towards net settlement of employee equity awards. Equated to 81% of free cash flow. Between July 1 and July 31, 2026, we repurchased an additional 430 thousand shares at an average price of $38 per share for a total of $16 million. As of July 31, 2026, we reduced diluted shares out outstanding by 5% year over year. Our capital allocation strategy remains unchanged. Prioritizing investment in the business to drive growth, returning capital to shareholders through buybacks and the dividend, and selective M&A. Now for Q3 guidance. We expect Q3 total revenue for Group of $885 million to $895 million down 2% to 3% year over year. This range assumes a 1-point headwind from FX. FX-neutral, we expect total revenue to be down 1% to 2% year over year. Q3 total revenue guidance assumes a $10 million negative impact from Tinder's user experience test and product changes and a $15 million negative impact from lower Azar direct revenue as a result of the required app redesign. We expect indirect revenue to be approximately $15 million in the quarter. We expect Match Group adjusted EBITDA of $330 million to $335 million, representing a 10% increase in adjusted EBITDA margin of 37% at the midpoints of the ranges. The Moving to full-year 2026 guidance. We expect Match Group total revenue to be near the midpoint of the guidance range provided in February on an as reported basis and at or above the midpoint FXN. We now expect FX to be an approximately half point tailwind to full year total revenue a half-point worse than we expected when we provided our guidance in February. We continue to expect full year indirect revenue to decline, in the mid teens percent. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be at or above the high end of our guidance range provided in February and adjusted EBITDA margin to exceed our 37.5% target. Benefiting from better Tinder direct revenue trends, alternative payment optimizations, and cost discipline across the company. Partially offset by incremental marketing spend at Tinder and Hinge in Q3 and Q4. At Tinder, we expect direct revenue to decline in the low single digit percents. An improvement from our full year guidance provided in February. We expect Tinder user experience test and product changes to be a $30 million to $40 million negative impact to direct revenue less than the $60 million impact we included in our initial guidance. At Hinge, we expect direct revenue to be in line with our full year guidance provided in February. At E&E, our full year guidance in February, inclusive of Azar and Pairs, would have been direct revenue declines in the low double digits adjusted EBITDA margin in the mid to high 20s. We now expect E&E direct revenue to decline in the mid teens percent primarily due to the Azar app redesign and adjusted EBITDA margin to be in the high 20s. We expect free cash flow to be at the high end of our guidance range provided in February. We expect SBC expense to be $230 million to $240 million for the full year. A $20 million improvement at the midpoint of the range versus our initial guidance, which reflects continued discipline on headcount related costs. With that, let's turn it over to Q&A. Operator: We will now begin the question and answer session. Before pressing the keys. Our first question today is from James Heaney with Jefferies. Please go ahead. James Heaney: Great. Thank you. Curious what you think is driving DAUs for Tinder to turn positive sometime in the next few days? I know you have a lot of initiatives in place, but curious if there is anything in particular And also, interested in why the DAU improvement is more pronounced than what you are seeing in terms of MAUs? Thank you. Bernard Rascoff: Thank you, guys. Thanks for the question, James. So the big picture on turnaround Tinder is 3 steps. The first is improving the product. So that our existing users have a better experience. The second is relaunching the brand with a redesign, which we have just done. And the third is to use events and other features to drive new users who either are not using Tinder or perhaps have never used Tinder. So what we have done so far has really improved the product itself, and that is why Dow is improving so quickly because we are getting higher level of engagement from our existing users. To try to select what it is that is specifically driving product improvements is because we have done so much. We have done double date, astrology, music mode, events, video speed date, we are about to launch a groups feature, we have improved recommendations. We have got better notifications and SMS messaging. We have Face Checks. We did a rebrand. We now have search. We redesigned chat. We redesigned the likes you tab. We have built new profiles and photo upload. Basically changed every single thing about the Tinder app in the last 12 months, all to great effect. If I had to choose 1, which is difficult, the 1 I would choose would be a recommendation algorithm improvements where we are showing more people, the people that would be good matches for them and that is driving better user retention. To give you some data, some of which I shared in the prepared remarks, some of which is kind of breaking news. I will give you some info here. So matches are up 14% year over year. And last quarter, matches were up 7% year over year. Unique people with Sparks in Q2 were down 4% year over year In July, they were down only 1% year over year. And today, in August, it is trending better than the July numbers. Spark coverage was up 2% year over year in Q2. In July, it was up 5% year over year. And today, in August, it is trending better than the July numbers. And Dow, as you mentioned, was down 4% year over year in Q2, In July, was down 2.5%. Year over year. And today, in August, it is it is almost positive. So we continue to gain momentum, you know, even day by day. To your question about why is DAU ahead of MAU, that comes to the point around driving reconsideration for people who either are not Tinder users today or maybe have never been Tinder users. And the big initiative there is events. So we fired the starting gun on events in January. In March, we were in 1 city In July, we were in 5 cities. Today, we are in 10 cities, including in Europe. In September, we will be in 26 cities. By the end of the year, we will be in 75 cities. So the product and engineering team and the event operations team are moving very, very quickly. Launching event partnerships in new parts of the world and also building products and features to support it. Like letting users see mini profiles of who will be attending events, letting people message 1 another after the events. In terms of our optimism for why we think this will drive engagement among new users, Well, our research says that 60% of non Tinder users say they are more likely to use Tinder. Because of events. And as I already shared in the prepared remarks, 71% of 18 to 24 year olds engaged with the events tab, more than half of those that engaged with the event tab come back the following week to engage further with it. So We have a lot of qualitative research and also quantitative research to give us confidence that this will be a an a powerful way to drive reconsideration and change perception of Tinder for new users and lapsed users. Next question, please. Operator: The next question is from Shweta Khajuria with Wolfe Research. Please go ahead. Shweta Khajuria: Okay. Thank you for taking my question. I have 1 little bit of a follow-up. So payer penetration improved year over year and payer growth is down year over year. So I guess could you please talk to that gap and how you see that gap narrowing to turn that around into positive growth? And then on DAU, turning almost positive, how are you thinking about the lag between DAU to MAU to payer? Anything on that in terms of timing of that, that would be great. Thank you. Gary Bailey: Thanks for the question. Let me take the payer penetration 1. Yes, look, there is a couple of things we said. 1, payer penetration was up year over year in Q2 globally. that is true. And also direct revenue per MAU which takes into consideration payer penetration and RPP was up 6% year over year in Q2 at Tinder as well. You know, yes, payers are still down, but they are declining at less than the rate of MAU. that is why payer penetration's up. And that is a trend we have seen for some time now. Those 2 metrics tend to follow together, which is great. You know, the payers declines are less than MAU. it is been that way for quite some time now. They will not move in lockstep every quarter. I do not think we should expect that. And really why that is, is because we are doing we have talked a lot about user experience tests and product initiatives that can have impact to payers and also sometimes monetization initiatives can have impact to payers, but are clearly the right thing to do for long term revenue. So there can be some disconnect in any particular quarter, but the long term trend is very consistent As MAU improves, payers have improved the trend and fact, for the last couple of years, payer declines have been less than MAU declines. And that points to the fact that payer penetration is up. So that is how I think about it. In terms of the you know, the expectation going forward, I do expect payer declines to lessen a little bit in the back half of the year in Q3 and Q4 from where they are today at -5%. So, you know, that is what we that, you know, that is what we are counting on. that is what is included in the in the guidance. Okay. Operator: Thanks, Gary. The next question is from Benjamin Black with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead. Benjamin Black: Great. Thank you for taking my questions. Bernard, I think you spoke about testing a reimagined user experience with more contextual and individually engaging profile elements. Could you dig in that a little bit more? And perhaps more broadly, how do you think about the Tinder user experience evolving over the next 12 to 18 months? And then, Gary, I guess for you, you lowered expectations for the give back for the year. Could you just talk about the genesis of that decision and how should we think about the reallocation of those savings potentially? Thank you. Bernard Rascoff: Yeah. Thanks for the question. It was a bit of a mouthful. The way I described changes to the user experiences because we are testing so many different things. So I will describe it this way. The Tinder historical product experience for how you browse and assess potential compatibility with people has historically been quite simplistic, which is a feature and a bug. Meaning that it is historically been a quick assessment of photo centric presentation of somebody. Looking at a photo and you are saying quickly, is this person a fit for me? Yes, no. If yes, swipe right. If no, swipe left. We have been slowly changing that product orientation to present more of the whole self into the evaluation of whether there is compatibility. Why? Because we think that is where consumer tastes are. We think that consumers want to assess the overall person's compatibility, including the way they answer prompts with pros. They wanna consider things other than just the appearance of the photo. But to make that change requires a very a lot of complexity. You have to first of all change the profile creation so that people are encouraged to enter qualitative information and answer questions with text. You have to help them with photo selection. So that it is easier for them to add more photos so the profiles are more complete. You have to test the different displays of the profiles and make sure that you are balancing user improvements with monetization. So this is work in progress. We have made a lot of progress already, but we are continuing to experiment with different ways to give people a better sense of potential compatibility that slow things down and are more attuned to changing consumer taste, but we have to balance that with monetization at the same time. Gary Bailey: Gary, the second Yeah. Let me let me take the user get back. Let me just start at the beginning so we are all on the same page. We originally said $60 million for the full year and user experience tests that is a negative impact to full year revenue. What we sort of included in our guide. Then last quarter, we said we would expected a $45 million in the second half of the year. And now we are saying that is only gonna be 30 million to $40 million for the full year. So the 60 million for the full year has come down to 30 million to 40 million for the full year. The way that breaks out and you guys can do this math, but let me just help you. It was $5 million in Q1 of user experience related revenue declines. Q2 was $8 million. Q3, we are guiding to $10 million. Which means Q4 will come in, we think we expect between $7 million and $17 million that is how it breaks out by quarter. Why is it less than what we originally expected? As you know, we were coming in less than expected for the first couple quarters of the year. So that is part of it, but we had kept that $45 million in the second half when we talked 3 months ago. The biggest reason for that was we were a little bit unsure of how the rebrand in particular would play out and what impact that might have on revenue and engagement metrics. Often, rebrands can have revenue impacts. Just because you are changing so much about the UI and sometimes UX. That, thankfully, did not happen. We saw no revenue impacts. We saw a positive largely positive impacts to user engagement. So that is what is given us the confidence to take down the full year expectation at this point. Why we have a range of possible outcomes for Q4? that is obviously related to the testing we are planning to do between now and the end of the year. You know, if you-- I think the biggest swim swing factor there is what Bernard just talked about. it is the reimagined profile and browse experience. You know, we wanna give the teams room to test and be creative and really think about different ways to improve the product. So I think that coupled with, obviously, with some continued REX testing, those are the things that will depending on how they roll out or tested and what impact they might have. That will determine where we come in at for Q4. So hopefully that brings some clarity to user experience test budget. Thank you very much. Operator: Next question, please. Budget. The next question is from Nathaniel Feather with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Nathaniel Feather: Hey, everyone. Thanks for the question. First on the Events feature, really interesting addition. Given the local nature there, how do you scale that up so you can reach a meaningful portion of the base? And just any way to frame of the 75 cities you are entering, what portion of your user base in the cities or in those metro areas And then also, sorry if I missed in the letter, but what was the July MAU growth? Thank you. Bernard Rascoff: I-- if we shared July. Okay. Yeah. So thanks, Nathaniel. On events, most of the events are coming into the platform through partnerships some with national, some with regional partners. Some with local partners. So we have an event sourcing team that is building out those partnerships that allows us to scalably expand to many cities. What we have seen so far in the first couple cities is that even more important than the number of the people the number of people that actually attend the events or the percent of our DAU or MAU in a given city that attend the events is the amplification of these events on social media. that is actually what gives people the permission in their own minds to start changing brand perception about Tinder. They see people using the Tinder app or talking about Tinder on social and attending an event and say to themselves, wow, I did not know that Tinder had events. I did not, you know, this is a new way to meet people fun and safely with friends. And it changes perception even if they are not actually attending the event themselves. So we feel like this can start to bend the curve on perception and reconsideration. Even if it only touches a relatively small percentage of total users in a given city. Gary Bailey: We did not give a July I mean, we-- you start-- we talked about DAU. 1 of the reasons we do that is just because there is a you know, we have to go through a defrauding process and it is really not the best idea to give MAU just a couple days outside of a month. So of the reasons we did not give it, but we did give DAU. So hopefully that and some of the other engagement metrics. So hopefully that helps give a sense of how we are you know, how Q3 is off to a good start. Operator: Great. Thank you. The next question is from Jason Helfstein with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead. Jason Helfstein: Thanks. So, Bernard, really appreciate the detailed Tinder metrics clearly showing you improved the product. Maybe any comments about pricing? Do you need to reevaluate how you price the service? Anything you can share? And then to the extent you scale events, in a big way, how do you think about that impacting margins Gary, over time? Bernard Rascoff: Yeah. I will let me take the event cost first. So, Jason, there are really 3 components to execute on this events initiative. The first is the cost associated with the product and engineering team, which is couple of pods are building the feature set for events. That is not an incremental cost. Because those are products and engineering folks that would otherwise be working on other initiatives, whether it is music mode, astrology mode, Face Check, you know, all the other work that we do day to day. So that is not incremental. The second cost is the marketing and advertising associated with telling the world that we have events. That also is not incremental because if we were not promoting Tinder events, we would be promoting astrology or music or Face Check or some other initiative. And then there is number 3 is the event sourcing. Team, which is still quite small fewer than 10 people, and scaled. This team is also very AI native across both marketing, product engineering, and also event sourcing. So we are doing it extremely efficiently. So we do not see this as materially changing the profitability profile of Tinder. In addition, we are building all of this in a multi tenant way, meaning that Tinder Events is going to power initially BLK, and then over time other match group apps. With different events, of course, but the event sourcing team will globally source events overall at the match group level and then our different apps will select the events that are appropriate for their audiences. So the cost of the product engineering and the cost of the event source team are amortized across multiple match group apps. Brought a broader question around Tinder pricing and whether yeah. On Tinder pricing. So we have some new surface areas, Jason, that we can potentially consider monetizing now, including events, including search. And some other new areas that our product innovation have brought us towards. We have not yet we are we are just starting to have those conversations. We have not yet developed a point of view on how we should be thinking about monetization with some of these new surface areas. Hinge building a new pricing tier in late 2026. At a lower price point is going to give us a lot of insight, which we will learn from. As we decide how best to approach monetization for Tinder in 2027. Next question, please. Operator: The next question is from Robert Coolbrith with Evercore ISI. Please go ahead. Analyst: Great. Thank you very much. Gary, just wanted to ask on the mobile direct billing opportunity. I know there is some changes there a few weeks back with respect to Google Play, both on policy and pricing. I guess there is a sense out there that there may be a platform level fee to pay to Apple as well. So just wondering if you may provide any update on how you are thinking about those cost savings? And then second, Bernard, wanted to ask about the issue of reconsideration. Maybe a couple of questions related to that. Have you continued to monitor contact exchange in markets where you have access to that data? Youssef know, to make sure that sparks, sort of properly correlate to contact exchange, people going out on dates. Just wondering if that is continuing to trend in the right direction. If you are monitoring it, And then secondarily, related to reconsideration or consideration, what do you think is potentially the biggest lever you can pull or we could see the think pieces out there, from, say, The Atlantic. I think there was 1 this week about people's hesitance to get out there and they are wondering about what you think you can do to drive reconsideration of the category and Tinder in particular? Thank you. Gary Bailey: Yeah. Let me take the IAP piece. And give you an update on everything going on there. So let me start with Apple. Apple, there is not any real new news to update you on, but it is still moving through the courts. The Epic versus Apple case, of course, it is both in the district court and the supreme court now. We expect to know more later this year, early next year on those cases. And until then, still 0% commissions on alternative payments. We still continue to optimize and do a really good job there. We now think it will contribute about $130 million of savings for 2026. that is about $20 million better than we expected at the beginning of the year. So that is been a big win for us. And then on Google, you are right. There is a little bit of new news there. They had put out a new global fee structure back in March, but it was blocked by the courts in the-- from going into effect in The US. that is no longer the case, and they are gonna move forward with that fee structure, and it will go into effect it is already in effect in certain parts of Europe. It will go into effect in the U.S. on March 1. And then it goes into effect across other geographies in the world. Sort of through the rest of 2026 and then into 2027. That fee structure does reduce commission rates a little bit on in app purchases for a la carte type purchases, but only for new installs. It reduces the fees from, like, 30% to 25% there. That helps us a little bit, but not a lot. The bigger consideration is there is really no economic benefit in this fee structure for alternative payments. Once you consider the payment processing fees, you have to pay the credit card companies, you know, it really does not make a lot of sense to do it. And so, unfortunately, you know, the net of all this is a very small benefit to us 2027. We estimated to be maybe $5 million. it is an odd outcome, to be honest, for us, and I think many other developers. It could change from, you know, other legal or regulatory reasons. But for now, that is where things stand and what we are planning against. Hope that provides some clarity. Bernard Rascoff: Great. On the question of reconsideration and category, headwinds and Gen Z adoption, I would say the following. The product road map that we have been following at Tinder and at Hinge is all about regaining and improving product market fit with young users. So for example, double date on Tinder, are 70% more likely to use double date than users over the age of 30. So that just speaks to the level of interest in social features and bringing your friends into dating. that is you know, Tinder has like, that user insight exists at the match group level, and then Tinder has acted on it by building double date. And Hinge has acted on it by building Friend's Take. Which is very consistent with the different brand positioning of these 2 apps but they are both taking this consumer insight that young daters wanna bring their friends into dating and make it a more social experience. Know, events also speaks to the increase in cost and stress and safety concerns around dating, which is 1 of the things that holds the category back. So if you go on a 1-on-1 date, it is $20 to $100 to spend 1, 2, or 3 hours to assess compatibility with 1 person. Events on Tinder however, are a much more scaled way to have fun with your friends, meet a larger group of new people to assess potential compatibility, have a fun night out, and 30% of our events on Tinder are free. Of the paid events, our average cost is $30, and even that is kind of overstated because many of our events have Tinder benefits for Tinder attendees. So it is a much better value as a way to meet new people and also just have a good time very consistent with how Gen Z approaches social and dating and the intersection of the 2. Question, please. Operator: And the final question today comes from Youssef Squali with Truist. Please go ahead. Youssef Squali: Youssef, thanks for taking the questions. Maybe a couple. So you guys talk about Hinge's organic growth on the like for like basis? I know that you have expanded them into a bunch of markets. There are more markets coming. Are there any other material markets or regions where you would like to still take it and extend that growth? And I have a quick follow-up after that. Bernard Rascoff: Let me let me just-- I now recall the prior questioner asked about contact exchange, and I just wanna cover off on that. The answer is yes. We are still monitoring contact exchange in addition to Sparks and Spark coverage. We just think that Sparks and Spark coverage are a better metric because for a variety of reasons that notably, it is difficult to know whether contacts have been exchanged, and there are certain geographies where we cannot infer that because of different privacy issues. So we prefer looking at Sparks. But, yes, we are also tracking contact exchange, and it continues to correlate. Gary Bailey: Question on Hinge-- yeah. I can talk a little bit about Hinge growth. So and feel free to jump in, Bernard, if you want. But, Globally, I mean, growth has been great, up 13% in Q2. Revenue growth continues to be very strong, 22% in Q2. The European expansion markets are driving, you know, a lot of that revenue grew there by 86%. We entered 6 new countries in Europe and 4 in LatAm. This is what you are speaking to. Core market growth is remained relatively flat, which we also discussed about in the prepared remarks. But revenue growth there continues to be very strong. So that is the way I would think about it is relatively flat user growth in core markets, but still double digit revenue. And then still very strong growth in the international expansion markets. And look, what Hinge has been able to prove is that every market it enters it is resonating with singles. And you know, so there is lots of parts of the world we have not entered Asia would be the next big 1 from a TAM perspective. They are moving into India. Where they have had really strong organic growth. They are gonna put some marketing spend behind that now. And then there is other parts of Asia that would be a natural next step. But that is how we think about user and revenue growth across the various geographies. Thanks, Gary. Youssef Squali: that is helpful. And lastly, how do you guys see the trend for payers decline in E&E? I know it is a catchall but as we look at the second half of the year, maybe you can just highlight areas or brands that are kind of that you believe are ultimately going to maybe outperform relative to some of the ones that are underperforming? Gary Bailey: Yeah. Let me just start with obviously, we just resegmented the company. So now E&E, so we are clear, also includes, Azar and Pairs. And 1 of the biggest areas of pressure we are faced with E&E is Azar. If you recall, we got removed from the App Store back in late March, had to redesign the whole app. The team did a fantastic job there. We are now back in the App Store, but at a much lower revenue base. So we have we have called out that is about a $15 million negative impact to match group revenue each quarter, and that we expect again in Q3. So that is also affecting pairs as well. Bernard, do you wanna talk about some of the brands within E&E? Bernard Rascoff: Or Sure. That? Yeah. Absolutely. So we have just done a kinda brand review. You probably saw we shut down Archer when we made the investment in Sniffies. We are focused now on a smaller number of brands within E&E, and we are surging our product and engineering resources on a couple of those brands. Including Match and OurTime and BLK and Upward. Just a couple of the examples of the brands that we are particularly focused on. Some of those expand us to new TAM, like our time and Upward and BLK. Some of them are very large, like, Match or also Pairs and Azar are in that focused brand category. So we are redoing the product road maps. We are reorienting our marketing spend across those brands that we think are really important. We are bringing a 1MG mindset to it We are now through the replatforming. So new initiatives like a new profile experience or a new photo upload or re-modernizing recommendations. These are all things that now we are building once and deploying everywhere across all of our E&E brands. At the same time, soon we will be deploying Face Check which will improve trust and safety across all of E&E. We have integrated performance marketing or, I guess, we are in the midst of integrating performance marketing across all the E&E brands. We are about to rebuild our CRM notifications and email across all of the e and e brands So it is very early in the E&E-focused turnaround or following the Tinder playbook and but we are just getting started. And I will update you all more in the coming quarters. Thanks. that is helpful. Thank you both. Thank you. I think that is the last question. So I will just wrap up. You know, I would say we feel great about how 2026 is shaping up. Tinder is ahead of expectations. Hinge is tracking in line, and E&E has headwinds from Azar. But as we just said, we are battling through those. We are also confident in Tinder's path through the end of next year. And we expect MAU to be flat by the end of Q4 of next year. I guess I would conclude by just saying, I guess, also on Tinder, that payers should return to growth by Q4 of next year. And full-year revenue of 2027 for Tinder should be up over 2026. We are doing all of this, this product led turnaround, while also delivering profitability and capital returns. Adjusted EBITDA is going to be at or above the high end of guidance and we are going to continue returning 100% of free cash flow to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. So that results in attractive cash free cash flow per share of the share count reduction and the free cash flow growth. And we are doing all this while turning around a couple of really important products around the world. Thanks, everyone, for your interest this quarter. I look forward to talking to you all soon. Bye. Operator: The conference has now concluded. You may now disconnect. 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This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool recommends Match Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Match Group (MTCH) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Match Group MTCH reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 92 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.15%.Revenues were $853 million, down 1% year over year, and lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $856 million by 0.34%. The quarter reflected improving engagement trends at Tinder and continued expansion at Hinge. The company’s key operating metrics showed mixed momentum, with total payers declining 6% year over year to 13.3 million, while revenue per payer (RPP) increased 6% to $21.13. Tinder’s user trends improved, while Hinge continued to deliver strong growth through product innovation and international expansion. Match Group Inc. price-eps-surprise | Match Group Inc. Quote Tinder direct revenues were $457.5 million in the second quarter, down 1% year over year and down 2% on a foreign exchange-neutral basis.Payers declined 5% to 8.5 million, while RPP increased 4% to $17.90. Adjusted EBITDA was $233 million, down 5% year over year, with a 50% margin.The company continued investing in Tinder’s product turnaround. Management highlighted improvements in recommendation algorithms, Trust and Safety initiatives, and new features designed to create lower-pressure ways for users to connect. Tinder’s daily active users declined 4% year over year in the quarter, representing the best performance in 10 quarters. Hinge remained a major growth contributor, with direct revenues rising 22% year over year to $203.5 million. Revenues increased 20% on a foreign exchange-neutral basis, supported by a 17% increase in payers to 2 million and a 4% rise in RPP to $33.11.Match Group noted that Hinge’s global monthly active users increased 13% year over year, driven by expansion markets. The company continued broadening Hinge’s international presence, entering six new European countries and four additional countries in Latin America during the quarter.The business is still expected to reach $1 billion in revenues in 2027, with growth expected to come from product innovation, international expansion and additional monetization opportunities. Everyone Everywhere (E&E) direct revenues were $178.9 million, down 17% year over year and down 17% on a foreign exchange-neutral basis. Payers declined 21% to 2.7 million, while RPP increased 4% to $22.24. Adjusted EBITDA was $54 million, up 69%, and at a 30% margin.The company continued restructuring the portfolio, with E&E now including Azar and Pairs. Management said the segment is benefiting from shared capabilities across Match Group, including Trust and Safety, recommendation algorithms, centralized marketing and consumer research.The company expects E&E revenue trends to remain pressured by the Azar app redesign while maintaining a focus on improving the long-term health of the portfolio. Total operating expenses declined 9% year over year to $608 million in the second quarter. Cost of revenues decreased 16% year over year, helped by alternative payment savings, while general and administrative expenses declined 22%, driven by lower headcount-related costs and legal expenses.Adjusted EBITDA was $331 million, up 14% year over year, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 39%, which expanded approximately 500 basis points from 33% in the year-ago quarter. As of June 30, 2026, Match Group had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $584 million compared with $1.02 billion as of March 31, 2026. The decline primarily reflected the use of $424 million in cash to repay the company’s 0.875% exchangeable senior notes due in June 2026.Long-term debt, including current maturities, stood at $3.6 billion as of June 30, 2026. Match Group ended the quarter with trailing twelve-month gross leverage of 2.7x and net leverage of 2.2x. The company’s $500 million revolving credit facility remained undrawn as of June 30, 2026.Match Group generated $370 million in operating cash flow and $353 million in free cash flow in the second quarter. It also repurchased 7.3 million shares for $245 million and paid $91 million in dividends during the period. For the third quarter of 2026, Match Group expects revenues of $885 million to $895 million, representing a year-over-year decline of 2% to 3%. Adjusted EBITDA is projected at $330 million to $335 million, implying a 10% year-over-year increase at the midpoint.For full-year 2026, management expects revenues to be near the midpoint of its previously issued guidance range on an as-reported basis and at or above the midpoint on a foreign exchange-neutral basis. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be at or above the high end of prior guidance, with margin expected to exceed the company’s 37.5% target.The company expects Tinder direct revenues to decline in the low-single-digit percentage range for the year, an improvement from its previous outlook. It also expects free cash flow to be at the high end of its prior guidance range. Currently, Match Group carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Onto Innovation ONTO, Quantum QMCO and Lumentum LITE are among the better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector. Currently, Onto Innovation sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Quantum and Lumentum carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Onto Innovation shares have rallied 51.3% in the past six months. ONTO is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 6.Quantum's shares have surged 129.8% in the past six months. QMCO is scheduled to report its fiscal first-quarter 2027 results on Aug. 10, 2026.Lumentum shares have gained 67.2% in the past six months. LITE is slated to report its fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 11. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Match Group Inc. (MTCH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Quantum Corporation (QMCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Onto Innovation Inc. (ONTO) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Match Group (MTCH) reported $853.11 million in revenue for the quarter ended June 2026, representing a year-over-year decline of 1.2%. EPS of $0.92 for the same period compares to $0.72 a year ago. The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $856.05 million, representing a surprise of -0.34%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of -5.16%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.97. While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health. Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance. Here is how Match Group performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts: Payers - Total: 13.25 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of 13.43 million. Payers - Tinder: 8.52 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of 8.5 million. Revenue Per Payer (RPP) - Total: $21.13 versus $20.89 estimated by three analysts on average. Revenue Per Payer (RPP) - Hinge: $17.90 compared to the $34.26 average estimate based on two analysts. Revenue Per Payer (RPP) - Tinder: $33.11 compared to the $17.61 average estimate based on two analysts. Payers - Evergreen and Emerging: 2.68 million versus 2.03 million estimated by two analysts on average. Revenue Per Payer (RPP) - Evergreen and Emerging: $22.24 versus the two-analyst average estimate of $21.77. Revenue- Direct Revenue- Tinder: $457.5 million compared to the $447.1 million average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of -0.8% year over year. Revenue- Indirect Revenue: $13 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of $16.94 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -28.9%. Revenue- Direct Revenue- Evergreen and Emerging: $178.9 million versus $132.84 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +20.9% change. Revenue- Direct Revenue- Hinge: $203.5 million versus $207.04 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +21.1% change. Revenue- Direct Revenue: $840 million compared to the $841.66 million average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of -0.6% year over year. View all Key Company Metrics for Match Group here>>> Shares of Match Group have returned +7.6% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.7% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Match Group Inc. (MTCH) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Tinder's turnaround is progressing through a three-step framework: product improvement, brand redesign, and driving reconsideration via new social features like Events. Management attributes the narrowing of DAU declines to a comprehensive product overhaul, including improved recommendation algorithms that increased matches by 14% year-over-year. The shift in Tinder's marketing strategy toward lower-funnel channels, now representing 50% of spend, is successfully improving registration trends among women. Hinge continues to serve as the portfolio's growth engine, utilizing a 'designed to be deleted' value proposition to achieve 86% revenue growth in European expansion markets. The newly reorganized 'Everyone Everywhere' (E&E) segment is transitioning to a '1MG' shared services model to deploy technical capabilities like Face Check and CRM across multiple niche brands. AI integration has significantly compressed development cycles, allowing the team to move from concept to final product for features like 'Missed Connections' in just a few weeks. Management expects Tinder DAU to turn positive year-over-year 'any day now,' marking the first period of growth in over three years. Tinder MAU is projected to reach a flat year-over-year growth rate by Q4 2027, with payers expected to return to growth in the same period. The 'Events' feature is scaling rapidly from 10 cities currently to 75 cities by year-end, serving as a primary lever to shift brand perception among non-users. Hinge remains on a trajectory to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2027, supported by plans to begin testing an additional subscription tier in Q3 2026. Full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA is expected to be at or above the high end of previous guidance, driven by Tinder's revenue recovery and alternative payment optimizations. The Azar app redesign, necessitated by a temporary removal from the App Store, is creating a $15 million quarterly revenue headwind for the E&E segment. Management lowered the expected revenue impact from Tinder's user experience testing to $30-$40 million for the full year, down from an initial $60 million estimate. Alternative payment savings are now projected at $130 million for 2026, though management noted Google's new fee structure offers minimal economic benefit for developers. The company continues its commitment to returning 100% of free cash flow to shareholders through a combination of buybacks and dividends. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. DAU is improving faster because existing users are finding better matches through algorithm updates, while MAU requires more time to influence through brand reconsideration. Early data shows 71% of users aged 18-24 engaged with the new Events tab, suggesting high resonance with the target demographic. Tinder is moving away from a purely photo-centric assessment toward a 'whole self' evaluation to meet changing consumer tastes for compatibility. Management is balancing this shift toward qualitative data with monetization needs, as slower discovery processes can impact short-term revenue metrics. Events are being scaled through a low-cost model using national and regional partnerships rather than high internal overhead. The initiative is not expected to materially change Tinder's profitability profile as it utilizes existing engineering pods and marketing budgets. Following a deep review, the company shut down Archer and is concentrating resources on high-potential brands like Match, OurTime, BLK, and Upward. The segment is moving past its replatforming phase to focus on deploying shared Match Group capabilities like unified performance marketing and trust and safety tools.

Make better investment decisions with Simply Wall St's easy, visual tools that give you a competitive edge. Match Group stock is coming off a five year stretch where the share price has fallen sharply, yet the latest valuation work suggests the market may still be pricing it below its intrinsic value. With fresh news on user trends across Tinder and Hinge and new shareholder returns through buybacks and a dividend, investors are weighing whether the current price reflects that potential. Over the last five years, Match Group has delivered a share price decline of 69.1%, which means current investors are effectively assessing a business that the market has already marked down heavily. Momentum around product changes and user engagement, particularly at Hinge, can support expectations for future cash flows, while ongoing revenue pressure at Tinder and softer trends in some international brands may limit how much value the market is willing to assign. On Simply Wall St's checks, Match Group screens as undervalued in 5 of 6 areas. This indicates the broader valuation work leans toward the stock looking cheap relative to its fundamentals and cash flow outlook. The issue now is whether Match Group's recent progress and cash returns to shareholders are enough to close the gap between the current share price and the intrinsic value indicated by the Discounted Cash Flow model. Find out why Match Group's 25.1% return over the last year is lagging behind its peers. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model estimates what Match Group could be worth based on the cash it is expected to generate for shareholders. On the latest numbers, the company produced trailing twelve month free cash flow of about $1.02 billion, and the model assumes those cash flows continue growing rather than shrinking over time. Using a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity framework, this cash flow profile leads to an estimated intrinsic value of about $82 per share, which sits above the current share price implied by the 49.8% discount. The recent earnings update showing mixed Tinder trends, pressure in some international brands, and a softer revenue outlook helps explain why the market still prices Match Group below what its long term cash flows might justify. Overall, the DCF work suggests Match Group stock currently appears undervalued relative to its projected cash generation. Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Match Group is undervalued by 49.8%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 52 more high quality undervalued stocks. Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for Match Group. P/E is a useful anchor for Match Group because the stock now trades on established earnings rather than on pure growth hopes. Match Group currently trades on a P/E of about 14.5x, which sits slightly below the Interactive Media and Services industry average of roughly 15.1x and well below the peer group average near 28.8x. On Simply Wall St's fair multiple estimate, a P/E of about 18.8x would be more in line with Match Group's profile. That compares with the current 14.5x, which points to a sizeable gap between what investors are paying for each dollar of earnings today and what the tailored fair ratio suggests could be reasonable. This sits alongside the earlier DCF work that also indicated value not fully reflected in the current share price. Overall, Match Group stock appears undervalued on its P/E multiple compared with both tailored and market benchmarks. See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown. Simply Wall St Narratives take Match Group's valuation puzzle and spell out what would need to happen with revenue growth, margins and earnings for the stock to be worth materially more or less than today's price, and they sit on the company's Community page. Each narrative presents Match Group's fair value as a thesis that can be revisited over time so you can see how the underlying assumptions hold up as new information arrives. Community views on Match Group sit far apart, with some investors leaning into the cash flow upside and others focused on structural headwinds. Bull case: 16% undervalued Read the full Bull Case to see why Match Group could be undervalued Bear case: 20% overvalued Read the full Bear Case to see why Match Group could be overvalued Do you think there's more to the story for Match Group? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying! Match Group screens as undervalued on both Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and its current P/E multiple, so the valuation work is pointing in the same direction rather than sending mixed messages. That discount only closes if recent product changes, user trends and capital returns translate into cash flows that the market is willing to pay more for. The key issue for investors now is whether Tinder can stabilise, Hinge can continue to contribute strongly and management can offset weaker spots in the portfolio. How effectively the company executes on these points will influence whether the current discount represents an opportunity or a potential value trap. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include MTCH. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Interested in Match Group Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Match Group reported mixed Q2 results: Revenue fell 1% year over year to $853 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose 14% to $331 million. Tinder’s declines moderated, with daily active users down 4% in Q2 and about 2.5% in July, nearing year-over-year growth. Hinge remained the key growth driver, with direct revenue up 22% to $204 million, payers up 17% and adjusted EBITDA up 48%. The company expanded Hinge into additional European and Latin American markets and maintained its target of reaching $1 billion in revenue in 2027. Match expects continued revenue pressure but stronger profitability and shareholder returns: Q3 revenue is projected to decline 2%–3%, partly due to the Azar redesign, while adjusted EBITDA is expected to grow about 10%. The company plans to return 100% of free cash flow through share repurchases and dividends. 3 Big Earnings Misses: Is It Time to Buy the Dip? Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) reported second-quarter revenue of $853 million, down 1% from a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA rose 14% to $331 million. The company said progress at Tinder, including improved engagement trends and a broader product roadmap, supported its confidence in the business despite continued declines in monthly active users and payers. CEO Spencer Rascoff said Tinder’s daily active users were nearing year-over-year growth after declining 4% in the second quarter, its best result in 10 quarters. In July, daily active users were down about 2.5% year-over-year, and Rascoff said the metric was “almost positive” in early August. He said a return to positive year-over-year usage would be Tinder’s first in more than three years. → SpaceX’s First Earnings Report Could Decide Whether Shorts or Bulls Have Control 3 Stocks Ringing in The New Year With Large Buyback Announcements Rascoff attributed improved engagement primarily to product improvements, including recommendation-algorithm updates, lower-pressure social features and trust-and-safety tools. Tinder has introduced Double Date, Music Mode, Astrology Mode, Events, video speed dating, search, redesigned chat and Likes You features, updated profiles and photo uploads, and Face Check. The company also completed Tinder’s first full rebrand in nearly a decade, rolling out a new logo, color palette, word mark, typography and visual identity globally. Rascoff said nearly all engagement metrics improved after the rollout, while CFO Steven Bailey said the rebrand did not produce the revenue or engagement disruption management had anticipated. → Financials Hit Record Highs as the AI Trade Unravels—Can They Keep Leading? Bumble's Valuation Hits an All-Time Low, Can Its Fortunes Change? Tinder’s monthly active users declined 7% year-over-year in the second quarter, improving from an 8% decline in the first quarter. The company said trends improved across each of Tinder’s five largest revenue countries. In the U.S., the MAU decline improved by approximately 2.5 percentage points sequentially. Global MAU among women was down 8%, compared with an 11% decline in the first quarter. Matches rose 14% year-over-year, according to Rascoff, while “sparks,” a measure of meaningful user connections, declined 4% in the second quarter but improved to a 1% decline in July. Spark coverage increased 2% in the quarter and 5% in July. → Why Rare Earth Processing Could Be the Real 2027 Opportunity Tinder direct revenue was $457 million, down 1% year-over-year, including an approximately $8 million negative impact from user-experience tests and product changes. Payers declined 5% to 8.5 million, while revenue per payer increased 4% to $17.90. Bailey said payer declines have been narrower than MAU declines for several quarters, resulting in improved payer penetration. The company is placing particular emphasis on Tinder Events, which enables users to find local activities, view other interested attendees and connect afterward. Following a March pilot in Los Angeles, Events is available in nine additional cities across the U.S. and Europe and is expected to reach 26 cities by the end of September and 75 cities by year-end. Rascoff said the feature is being scaled primarily through event-provider partnerships and is not expected to materially change Tinder’s profitability profile. He added that 71% of eligible Tinder users ages 18 to 24 engaged with the Events tab during the Los Angeles pilot, and more than half returned the following week. Hinge remained the company’s primary growth engine. Direct revenue increased 22% year-over-year to $204 million, with payers rising 17% to 2 million and revenue per payer climbing 4% to $33.11. Adjusted EBITDA increased 48% to $79 million. Global Hinge MAU grew 13%, driven largely by expansion markets. Hinge’s European expansion markets generated direct-revenue growth of 86%, and the brand maintained the No. 1 downloaded position in aggregate across those markets during the quarter, management said. Hinge entered six new European countries during the quarter and four additional Latin American markets. In core markets, MAU was relatively flat year-over-year, although revenue continued to grow at a double-digit rate in aggregate. Management identified Asia as a significant future expansion opportunity and said Hinge is increasing marketing investment in India, where it has already seen strong organic growth. Hinge recently launched Friend’s Take, which lets friends and family contribute text, voice, video and photo reflections to a user’s dating profile. The company also highlighted Signals, a feature that recognizes thoughtful participation. In testing, Signals increased selfie verification among existing users by 15%. Hinge plans to test an additional subscription tier in the third quarter, aimed at creating differentiated offerings relevant to women. Management reiterated its expectation that Hinge will reach $1 billion in revenue in 2027. The company’s Everyone Everywhere, or E&E, segment, which includes Azar and Pairs along with other brands, reported direct revenue of $179 million, down 17% year-over-year. Payers fell 21% to 2.7 million, while revenue per payer increased 4% to $22.24. Adjusted EBITDA rose 69% to $54 million. Bailey said the required redesign of Azar’s app has reduced the segment’s revenue base. The company expects the redesign to create a roughly $15 million negative impact on Match Group revenue in the third quarter. Rascoff said Match Group is concentrating product and engineering resources on selected E&E brands, including Match, OurTime, BLK, Upward, Pairs and Azar, while applying shared capabilities such as recommendation systems, trust and safety, marketing and analytics. For the third quarter, Match Group expects total revenue of $885 million to $895 million, down 2% to 3% year-over-year, including a one-percentage-point foreign-exchange headwind. It expects adjusted EBITDA of $330 million to $335 million, representing about 10% growth at the midpoint. For full-year 2026, the company expects revenue near the midpoint of its prior guidance range and adjusted EBITDA at or above the high end of its February guidance. It also expects EBITDA margin to exceed its 37.5% target. Management now expects Tinder user-experience tests and product changes to reduce full-year direct revenue by $30 million to $40 million, below its prior $60 million estimate. Rascoff said Tinder is expected to reach flat MAU by the end of the fourth quarter of 2027, return to payer growth by that period and deliver full-year 2027 revenue growth over 2026. Match Group generated $527 million in free cash flow through the first half of 2026. It repurchased $245 million of shares during that period, paid $91 million in dividends and said it plans to continue returning 100% of free cash flow to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. Match Group, Inc (NASDAQ: MTCH) is a leading provider of online dating products and services. The company owns and operates a diverse portfolio of consumer brands that connect singles through digital platforms. Its flagship offerings include Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid and PlentyOfFish, which together serve users looking for long-term relationships, casual encounters and social networking opportunities. Originating with the launch of Match.com in 1995, Match Group has grown through a combination of organic development and strategic acquisitions. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Match Group Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) shares dropped 10.2% in pre-market trading to $37.03 after the online dating company reported second-quarter 2026 results that exceeded earnings expectations but disappointed investors with weaker revenue, declining paying users and cautious forward guidance. The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.70 per share, ahead of Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $0.65. Adjusted EBITDA rose 14% year over year to $331 million, producing an EBITDA margin of 39%. However, quarterly revenue came in at $853 million, down around 1% from a year earlier and below analyst expectations of approximately $857 million. Investor attention focused on the continued decline in Match Group’s paying customer base. Total paying users fell 6% year over year to 13.3 million, although average revenue per payer improved modestly during the quarter. Management also issued guidance that fell short of market expectations, forecasting third-quarter revenue of between $885 million and $895 million. The midpoint of that range came in slightly below the analyst consensus of around $891.5 million. The company also warned that revenue from its Everyone Everywhere segment is now expected to decline by a mid-teens percentage rate, a weaker outlook than the previously anticipated low double-digit decline. Management attributed much of the deterioration to disruption affecting the Azar app after its removal from app stores and the subsequent redesign of the platform. While the overall results disappointed investors, some areas of the business continued to show improvement. Tinder recorded its strongest operating trend in ten quarters, with the decline in daily active users narrowing to 4% year over year. Meanwhile, Hinge continued to expand rapidly, reporting 22% revenue growth while strengthening its presence in international markets. Even so, those gains were insufficient to offset broader concerns over falling subscriber numbers and slower revenue growth across the group. The broader US equity market offered little explanation for the decline, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting only modest gains. Instead, investors reacted to Match Group’s company-specific challenges, including weaker revenue, declining paying users and guidance that failed to meet market expectations. After trading close to its 52-week high of $41.40 during the previous session, the stock gave back a significant portion of its recent gains as investors reassessed the company’s near-term growth outlook. Match Group stock price

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Total Revenue: $853 million, down 1% year-over-year (down 2% on a foreign exchange neutral basis). Adjusted EBITDA: $331 million, up 14% year-over-year, representing a 39% margin. Payers: Declined 6% to 13.3 million; RPP increased 6% to $21.13. Tinder Direct Revenue: $457 million, down 1% (down 2% FX-neutral), including an approximately $8 million negative impact from user experience tests and product changes. Tinder Payers: Declined 5% to 8.5 million; RPP increased 4% to $17.90. Tinder Adjusted EBITDA: $233 million, down 5%, representing a 50% margin. Hinge Direct Revenue: $204 million, up 22% (up 20% FX-neutral). Hinge Payers: Increased 17% to 2 million; RPP increased 4% to $33.11. Hinge Adjusted EBITDA: $79 million, up 48%, representing a 39% margin. M&A Direct Revenue: $179 million, down 17% (down 17% FX-neutral), with an approximately $5 million impact from Azar's app redesign. M&A Payers: Declined 21% to 2.7 million; RPP increased 4% to $22.24. M&A Adjusted EBITDA: $54 million, up 69%, representing a 30% margin. Operating Cash Flow: $564 million year-to-date through Q2; free cash flow of $527 million. Capital Returns: Repurchased 7.3 million shares for $245 million, paid $91 million in dividends, and deployed $92 million towards net settlement of employee equity awards. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with MTCH. Is MTCH fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 04, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Tinder's daily active users (DAU) are expected to turn positive year-over-year imminently, marking the first time in over three years, driven by improved product experience and engagement. Tinder's user engagement metrics are improving, with matches up 14% year-over-year in Q2, and Sparks coverage up 2% year-over-year, indicating better user outcomes. The new events feature is scaling rapidly, expanding from 1 to 10 cities and planned for 75 by year-end, with strong early adoption (71% of 18-24 users engaged) and potential to drive reconsideration among non-users. Hinge continues to deliver strong growth, with global MAU up 13% year-over-year and direct revenue up 22%, driven by successful international expansion and product innovation. Match Group's adjusted EBITDA grew 14% year-over-year in Q2, with full-year EBITDA expected to exceed guidance, supported by cost discipline and alternative payment savings. The company is returning significant capital to shareholders, with 81% of free cash flow deployed to buybacks and dividends, and diluted shares reduced by 5% year-over-year. Total revenue declined 1% year-over-year in Q2, with Tinder direct revenue down 1% and M&A direct revenue down 17%, reflecting ongoing challenges. Tinder's MAU declined 7% year-over-year in Q2, and while improving, it remains negative, with payers down 5% and expected to only return to growth by Q4 2027. M&A segment faces significant headwinds, particularly from Azar's app redesign, which is expected to cause a $15 million negative impact on revenue in Q3. The company lowered its full-year user experience test impact estimate to $30-40 million, but still expects a negative impact on Tinder direct revenue, with Q4 uncertainty. Indirect revenue declined 28% in Q2 due to lower advertiser spend, and full-year indirect revenue is expected to decline in the mid-teens percent. The Google Play fee structure change provides only a minimal benefit of approximately $5 million in 2027, which is disappointing and limits alternative payment savings. Q: What is driving Tinder's DAU to turn positive year-over-year, and why is the DAU improvement more pronounced than the MAU improvement? A: Spencer Rascoff (CEO) explained that the DAU improvement is driven by a better product experience for existing users, with improvements across recommendations, features like Double Date, Astrology, Music Mode, Events, and a full rebrand. He highlighted that matches are up 14% year-over-year, and DAU trends have improved from down 4% in Q2 to nearly positive in August. The MAU improvement lags because driving reconsideration for new or lapsed users, primarily through the events feature, takes longer. Events are scaling from 10 cities today to 75 by year-end, and research shows 60% of non-Tinder users are more likely to use the app because of events. Q: Can you explain the gap between improving payer penetration and declining payer growth at Tinder, and how will that gap narrow? A: Steven Bailey (CFO) noted that payer penetration is up year-over-year because payer declines are less than MAU declines, a trend that has persisted for some time. Direct revenue per MAU is also up 6% year-over-year. While these metrics won't move in lockstep every quarter due to user experience tests and monetization initiatives, the long-term trend is consistent. He expects payer declines to lessen in Q3 and Q4 from the current minus 5%, which is already factored into guidance. Q: Can you elaborate on the reimagined Tinder user experience and how the user experience test budget has changed for the year? A: Spencer Rascoff (CEO) described a shift from a photo-centric, quick-swipe interface to a more holistic profile presentation that includes prompts, text, and qualitative information, aligning with changing consumer tastes. Steven Bailey (CFO) clarified that the full-year negative impact from user experience tests has been reduced from $60 million to $30-$40 million. This is because the rebrand did not negatively impact revenue as initially feared, and the team has more confidence in the testing roadmap. The Q4 range of $7-$17 million depends on the rollout of the reimagined profile and browse experience. Q: How will the events feature scale to reach a meaningful portion of the user base, and what is the cost structure? A: Spencer Rascoff (CEO) explained that events are sourced through partnerships with national, regional, and local providers, allowing scalable expansion. The amplification on social media is more important than attendance rates, as it changes brand perception even for non-attendees. On costs, he noted there are three components: product/engineering (not incremental, as teams would work on other initiatives), marketing (also not incremental), and a small event sourcing team of fewer than 10 people. The multi-tenant approach means costs are amortized across Match Group apps, so events won't materially change Tinder's profitability profile. Q: How is Match Group thinking about Tinder pricing and monetization of new surface areas like events and search? A: Spencer Rascoff (CEO) stated that Tinder has new surface areas, including events and search, that could be monetized, but the company hasn't yet developed a point of view on how to approach this. He noted that Hinge's new lower-priced subscription tier, testing in Q3, will provide insights that will inform Tinder's monetization strategy for 2027. Q: What is the latest on the mobile direct billing opportunity, including the Google Play fee changes and Apple's situation? A: Steven Bailey (CFO) provided an update: Apple's case is still moving through the courts, with decisions expected later this year or early next year, and alternative payments still carry 0% commissions. The company now expects $130 million in savings from alternative payments in 2026, $20 million better than initially expected. On Google, the new global fee structure will go into effect in the U.S. on March 1, 2027, reducing commissions on in-app purchases for new installs from 30% to 25%, but there's no economic benefit for alternative payments. The net benefit is estimated at only $5 million in 2027, which is a disappointing outcome. Q: How is Hinge performing on a like-for-like basis, and what are the next major expansion markets? A: Steven Bailey (CFO) reported that Hinge's global MAU grew 13% year-over-year in Q2, with revenue up 22%. European expansion markets saw direct revenue grow 86%, and the company entered six new European countries and four in Latin America. Core markets have relatively flat user growth but still strong double-digit revenue growth. Asia is the next big TAM opportunity, with India showing strong organic growth and marketing spend being added. Other parts of Asia would be a natural next step. Q: What are the trends for payer declines in the M&A segment, and which brands are expected to outperform? A: Steven Bailey (CFO) noted that Azar is the biggest pressure point, with a $15 million negative quarterly impact due to the app redesign and removal from the App Store. Spencer Rascoff (CEO) added that the company has completed a brand review, shutting down Archer and focusing resources on a smaller number of brands, including Match, Our Time, BLK, Upward, Pairs, and Azar. The 1MG approach is being applied, building capabilities once and deploying across all brands, with initiatives like Facecheck and integrated performance marketing. It's early in the M&A turnaround, following the Tinder playbook. Q: How is Match Group monitoring contact exchange to ensure Sparks correlate with actual dates, and what is the biggest lever for driving reconsideration of the category? A: Spencer Rascoff (CEO) confirmed that contact exchange is still monitored and correlates with Sparks, though Sparks is preferred due to privacy issues in certain geographies. On reconsideration, he highlighted that product innovations like Double Date and Friends Take address Gen Z's desire for social, lower-pressure dating experiences. Events also address cost and safety concerns, with 30% of events being free and the average paid event costing $30, offering a better value proposition than traditional one-on-one dates. Q: What are the expectations for Tinder's MAU, payers, and revenue growth through 2027? A: Spencer Rascoff (CEO) concluded that Tinder is ahead of expectations For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.