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Bumble shares tumble after weak Q4 revenue forecast

Bumble's weak Q4 forecast sent the company's shares down 13% in extended trading on Wall Street last night
Bumble's weak Q4 forecast sent the company's shares down 13% in extended trading on Wall Street last night

Online dating firm Bumble has forecast fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations, as it struggles with product launch delays at a time when inflation has hit users hard.

The forecast sent the company's shares down 13% in extended trading.

"Some of our user segments are facing greater pressure on disposable income, and these segments are renewing their subscriptions at a modestly lower rate," chief executive Whitney Wolfe Herd said.

A strong dollar and the Ukraine war has also taken a toll on the company's business, with third-quarter revenue falling short of both its own and Wall Street's expectations.

Adjusted for both foreign exchange and the Ukraine crisis, revenue growth would have been 10% higher, Herd said.

In the current-quarter, Bumble expects a forex hit of $16m and a $5m impact, primarily at its Badoo App and other revenue due to the ongoing war.

A more than 15% surge in the dollar this year has hit sales of companies across sectors, while the highest price pressures in decades have led consumers to curb non-essential spending.

Bumble also faces competition from larger rival Match Group, which topped revenue estimates last week on the back of a jump in paying users for its flagship app Tinder.

While the company saw a rise in popularity, its sister app Badoo, which is mostly used in Western Europe remains under pressure.

Earlier in March, Bumble said it is discontinuing operations in Russia, including the removal of all of its apps from Apple App Store and Google Play Store in Russia and Belarus.

Bumble now expects current-quarter revenue between $232m and $237m, compared to Wall Street's estimates of $254.5m, according to Refinitiv data.

The company reported third-quarter profit of 14 cents per share compared with analysts' estimate of 1 cent per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Bumble, which made its market debut in February 2021, said its total paying users for the quarter increased to 3.3 million from 2.9 million last year.