• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 1, 2024

A new campaign for Match’s BLK dating app

While doubters still await evidence of Tinder’s rebound, Match Group delivered quarterly results slightly better than expected. Fourth-quarter revenues rose 10%, which the dating giant attributes to higher prices for Tinder and the ongoing expansion of Hinge. And advertisers are slowly coming back to the apps, increasing ad sales by 3%.

Revenue grew to $866.2 million for the quarter, compared to $786.2 million in the comparable period of 2022. Net income rose to $229.7 million, up from $83.4 million.

Tinder is the company’s biggest revenue source, gaining 11% to $493 million, thanks to pricing changes. But the number of U.S. and global daily new users declined by 8%.

In his note to shareholders, Bernard Kim, chief executive officer, outlined plans to help Tinder get its groove back.

That includes a refreshed product aimed especially at women and younger users and a new CEO, promoting Faye Iosotaluno, who had been chief strategy officer.

Hinge delivered strong growth with expansion in more English-speaking and European markets. Revenues jumped 50% to $116 million. Match believes Hinge can rise to $1 billion over the next few years

Revenues of evergreen brands, including Match.com, fell 12%. And among emerging brands, including BLK, for Black daters, and Archer, dedicated to gay and queer daters, revenue shot up 48%.

Ad revenues rose 3% to $15 million.

Next quarter, the Texas-based company forecasts revenue of between $850 and $860 million and between $3.56 billion and $3.67 billion for the whole year.

But market saturation continues to concern observers, including Jason Helfstein, an analyst who covers Match for Oppenheimer. He writes that he is still waiting for evidence of a Tinder rebound. “Fourth-quarter Tinder payers are down 444,000 sequentially,” he notes, the worst quarter since the company went public in 2015. And with “weaker top-of-funnel conversion and lack of new products,” he sees some risk to the company’s projections, even given stepped-up spending on marketing.

“Combined Tinder/Hinge net adds declined sequentially in four out of five past quarters,” he says. “We think investors should assume no meaningful Tinder growth until proven otherwise.”

Separately, the company announced "New Year, Real You: #RealNotPerfect," a new campaign for BLK. The effort’s focal point is a brand video featuring four Black women outlining their struggles to stay authentic, as well as their dating goals.

"As a community that has played a pivotal role in shaping culture throughout history, authenticity is our most powerful asset,” Jonathan Kirkland, BLK’s head of brand and marketing, said in the announcement. “Our message is clear: Be bold and unapologetically BLACK! Shed the filters, forget the stereotypes and let the world experience the true you.”