Bumble users are spending more on the app of the same name as singles return to their pre-pandemic habits.
The dating company, which owns Bumble, Badoo and Fruitz, reports this 2Q revenue of $220.5 million, up 18% year over year and just above Wall Street expectations. The Bumble app specifically brought in $169.6 million in revenue, up 33% from the same quarter a year ago.
But shares fell double-digit in extended trading on Wednesday after the company lowered its 2022 revenue forecast to between $920 million and $930 million, citing the strong US dollar and the ongoing war in Ukraine. (Bumble closed its operations in Russia and removed its apps from app stores in Russia and Belarus after the invasion.) Previously, it expected between $934 million and $944 million.
Companies this earnings season have pointed out that the strong dollar impacted their guidance, as U.S. products that get more expensive can eat into foreign sales. While Bumble may take off in the US, Badoo, which is very popular with middle-class users in Western Europe, is under pressure from the broader macro environment. Badoo and other sources’ revenue declined about 14% to $50.8 million in the quarter. Paying users of the Badoo app also declined sequentially by 136,000 in the second quarter, mainly due to the war.
“It was a challenging first half for Badoo,” Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said during a conversation with investors. “Because Badoo serves a more economically sensitive user base, it has also felt the effects of COVID and now the macro environment, much more so than the Bumble app.”
Bumble’s report follows that of Match Group, which disappointed Wall Street with its second-quarter results last week. Match also pointed to foreign exchange headwinds, along with product missteps.
Still, Bumble executives remained optimistic about the app’s ability to withstand the current economic uncertainties.
“We are not seeing any impact on the business as far as these macro movement trends are concerned,” Herd added in the call. “We generally have a richer clientele on the Bumble app and the behavior we’ve seen . . . suggests they’re continuing as they always have.”