MTCH Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Drop Y/Y, Shares Fall

Match Group MTCH shares fell 7% in after-hours trading as it reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of 82 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.38%. The bottom line declined 0.7% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.Revenues of $860 million decreased 0.7% year over year but exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.48%. On an FX-neutral basis, revenues increased 1% from the prior-year quarter to $866 million.Direct revenues were $845.4 million, down 0.6% year over year, whereas indirect revenues were $14.8 million, which decreased 4.5% from the year-ago quarter.Match Group Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise  Match Group Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Match Group Inc. QuoteTop-line growth was driven by strength in Hinge. Hinge Direct revenues increased 27.2% year over year and attained a record high in downloads in the reported quarter.MTCH’s Quarterly DetailsIn the fourth quarter, the number of total payers decreased 4% year over year to 14.61 million. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.80%.Total revenues per payer (RPP) increased 5% year over year to $19.29. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.98%.Direct revenues from Tinder were down 3.5% year over year (down 1% on a FX-neutral basis) to $476 million. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.17%.Tinder RPP rose 1% year over year to $16.72, driven by pricing adjustments aimed at enhancing revenues from existing users. Payers declined 5% year over year to 9.49 million.Hinge revenues grew 27.2% year over year to $147.7 million, with a 19% year-over-year increase in payers to 1.62 million and a 7% increase in RPP to $30.42. Match Group Asia (MG Asia) direct revenues declined 9.5% year over year (down 5% on a FX-neutral basis) to $66.6 million due to the impacts of forex exchange fluctuations. MG Asia consists of the worldwide activity of the brands Pairs and Azar.Evergreen and Emerging revenues declined 7.6% year over year to $155.1 million, with a 14% year-over-year increase in payers to 2.49 million and a 7% increase in RPP to $20.80.Match Group’s Operating DetailsTotal operating costs and expenses (74% of revenues) increased 5.1% year over year to $636.8 million in the fourth quarter.Adjusted operating income was $323.9 million, down 10.4% year over year, representing an adjusted operating margin of 37.7%, which contracted 410 basis points.MTCH’s Balance SheetAs of Dec. 31, 2024, Match Group had a cash and cash equivalent, and short-term investment of $970.7 million compared with $861 million as of Sept. 30, 2024.As of Dec. 31, 2024, MTCH had a long-term debt of $3.8 billion compared with $3.9 billion as of Sept. 30, 2024.In the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024, the company repurchased 3.1 million shares of common stock for $117 million.For 2024, MTCH repurchased 22.2 million shares of common stock for $753 million. As of Feb. 4, 2025, $1.75 billion in aggregate value of shares of Match Group was available under the current repurchase program.MTCH Initiates Q1 & 2025 GuidanceMatch Group expects first-quarter 2025 revenues of $820-$830 million, suggesting a 3-5% year-over-year decline, primarily driven by a decrease in Tinder’s direct revenues. This decline stems from stable but negative MAU trends, and the impacts of planned trust and safety initiatives.On a FXN basis and excluding Hakuna and other live stream services, Match Group’s revenues are expected to be flat to up 1% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2025 revenues is pegged at $853.39 million, indicating a decline of 0.73% on a year-over-year basis.Adjusted operating income (AOI) for the first quarter is anticipated to be $260-$265 million, suggesting a 5-7% year-over-year decline, with an AOI margin of 32% at the midpoint. This is anticipated to be driven by lower cost of revenues, flat sales and marketing expenses, and slight increases in product development and general administrative costs as a percentage of revenues.For 2025, the company expects revenues of $3,375-$3,500 million, implying a 3% year-over-year decline to 1% growth.Adjusted operating income (AOI) for 2025 is expected to be $1,232-$1,278 million. The AOI margin is likely to be at least 36.5%, suggesting a year-over-year rise of 50 bps. AOI is projected to be flat year over year at the mid-point of the above-mentioned range.Zacks Rank & Stocks to ConsiderCurrently, MTCH carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks in the broader retail-wholesale sector are Walmart WMT, Globale Online GLBE and Denny's DENN, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.WMT shares have soared 78% over the past year. The long-term earnings growth rate for WMT is projected at 8.82%.GLBE shares have gained 48.9% over the past year. The long-term earnings growth rate for GLBE is expected to be 40.82%.DENN shares have declined 38.6% over the past year. The long-term earnings growth rate for DENN is anticipated to be 11.28%.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Walmart Inc. (WMT): Free Stock Analysis Report Denny's Corporation (DENN): Free Stock Analysis Report Match Group Inc. (MTCH): Free Stock Analysis Report Global-e Online Ltd. (GLBE): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks