War, inflation, and general civilizational malaise cannot keep the horn and the lonesome from sweeping the truth. Bumble posted Q4 revenue of $224.2 million on Wednesday, versus estimates of $221.3 million, sending shares down about 20% after hours as investors decided the turnaround story was still a story worth buying.
The change in question belongs to Whitney Wolfe Hurd, who founded Bumble after a lawsuit against her former employer, Tinder, stepped down from the CEO role, and then walked back through the door about a year ago to make the product smell and young users stand out. This week, while she was busy beating the odds, Tinder’s aqcuirerer Match Group, quietly slipped out of the S&P 500. If the Wolf Herd keeps a scrapbook of “The Count of Monte Cristo”-esque revenge, it gets a whole page.
Its answer to Bumble’s debacle is Bumble 2.0, a redesigned app that swaps out the flat-swipe carousel for a chapter-based profile structure meant to give users something to actually read before matching. He also ignores the no-swipe option in the best markets, which is either a true rethinking of the medium or the boldest pivot since Netflix sent you a DVD and called it streaming. An AI dating assistant that learns your preferences through private conversations is also in testing, dystopian undertones included at no extra cost.
Our analysts have identified just one stock that is likely to be Nvidia of the future. Tell us how you invest and we’ll show you why it’s our #1 favorite. Click here.
The numbers underneath it all are interesting. Revenue per paying subscriber rose 7.9% to $22.20 even as the paying user base fell 20.5% to 3.3 million. Fewer people spend more because Singapore has an apparently stronger single economy. The cost of performance marketing has been reduced by more than 80% per year, the condition of organic growth compared to paid acquisition that makes Wolf Herd a feature-first axis. First-quarter guidance of $209 million to $213 million clears Street expectations of $210.9 million, narrowly but cleanly.
There is money in apps.
A storage. Nvidia level potential. 30M+ investors trust Mobi to find them first. Get the choice. Click here.
