Bumble slashes annual revenue forecast, stokes growth worries

By Jaspreet Singh

(Reuters) -Bumble cut its annual revenue growth forecast on Wednesday, sparking worries about its growth plans and sending its shares plunging more than 27% in aftermarket trading.

It also missed Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue unlike bigger rival Match Group, which reported upbeat second-quarter revenue last week, driven by stabilizing trends at Tinder and robust growth at Hinge.

The results stoked concerns about the company's growth initiatives, including the launch of a refreshed Bumble app and new features such as "opening moves", where women can set questions all their matches can reply to.

"The company's underperformance and lower guidance speaks to a few things: macroeconomic conditions and the online dating market have become generally less favorable as younger consumers' tastes and willingness to pay continue to change," said M Science research analyst Chandler Willison.

"It appears as though the company's Bumble app relaunch has not adequately adjusted to these broader changes as management expected."

It trimmed its annual revenue growth forecast to between 1% and 2%, from prior expectations of an 8% to 11% range.

Bumble, which operates its eponymous app, expects third-quarter revenue between $269 million and $275 million, compared with analysts' average estimate of $296.1 million, according to LSEG data.

Revenue for the second quarter was $268.6 million, missing analysts' average estimate of $273 million.

The company's total paying users increased to 4.1 million in the quarter, compared with 3.6 million a year earlier.

It reported profit per share of 22 cents, versus an estimate of 13 cents.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)