By Angela Palumbo

Match Group stock was tumbling Thursday after the dating app company reported a disappointing outlook and a continued decline in paying users.

Match reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 51 cents a share after the stock market closed Wednesday. That beat Wall Street estimates of 48 cents a share, according to FactSet. Revenue for the quarter of $895.5 million missed expectations of $901 million.

Payers -- or Match Group users that contributed direct revenue to the company -- declined 3% from the previous year to 15.2 million. Dating app Tinder saw payers drop 4% from the year-ago quarter.

Tinder's monthly active users fell 9% in the quarter from a year ago -- the same rate as the second quarter -- which the company said fell short "of our expectations for continued improvement in Y/Y [year-over-year] trends."

The decrease in paying users has been a concern for investors this year. Match stock, which was the worst performer in the S&P 500 on Thursday, has now dropped 12% this year, and is on pace for its worst year since 2022.

The company also said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $865 million to $875 million, putting the midpoint at $870 million. That's notably below analyst estimates of $905.3 million.

"While growth in the dating category and for some of our brands remains challenging, our profitability and free cash flow generation remain strong," Match management said on the earnings call.

Shares of Match dived 16% to $31.96 in recent Thursday trading, putting the stock on pace for its largest daily percentage decrease since Aug. 3, 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Meanwhile, shares of competitor Bumble were rising 1.5%. Bumble, which is the parent of the dating app where women reach out first, reported total paying users in the quarter of 4.3 million, which increased from 3.8 million in the previous year.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 07, 2024 11:58 ET (16:58 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.