Match Group, Inc. Q1 FY2026 earnings call

Match Group entered 2026 in the revitalize phase of its three - phase transformation. Tinder is showing momentum with leading indicators improving, and product - led turnaround is underway. Hinge continues to scale with strong revenue growth, rapid product innovation, and international expansion. The company is streamlining portfolio and organizational structure, including consolidating MG Asia into E&E, shifting AI and product engineering teams, and unifying performance marketing. There's also an investment of $100 million in Sniffies and winding down Archer.

In Q1 2026, Tinder's direct revenue was $455 million, up 2% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA of $237 million, up 4%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 51%. Hinge's direct revenue was $194 million, up 28% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA of $71 million, up 66%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 36%. E&E's direct revenue was $139 million, down 7% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA of $39 million, up 37%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 28%. Match Group Asia's direct revenue was $60 million, down 6% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA of $21 million, up 11%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 35%.

Match Group expects Q2 total revenue to be $850 million to $860 million, down 2% to flat year - over - year (assuming a one - point tailwind from FX). Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $325 million to $330 million, representing a 13% year - over - year increase and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 38% at the midpoints of the ranges.

Azar faced pressure as registrations and MAU recovered but monetization was lower than previous version, with continued pressure on direct revenue. The consolidation of MG Asia into E&E had implications, and there were uncertainties around AI investments and their impact on costs and monetization.

Q: One on the Tinder sort of turnaround and leading indicators you're seeing, the March metrics you called out are very promising. Could you please talk to if you saw continuation of these trends into April and I guess now early May? And then the second question I have, is around your AI cost savings. So how should we be thinking about all these cost savings that you may have, either from integrating business units and also driving productivity with AI tools? And it seems that you have greater and greater potential for margin if you wanted to, either this year or next year. So how should we be thinking about that?

A: Yeah, thank you for the questions. So firstly, yes, Tinder's momentum has continued into April... The last piece, I guess, is the marketing support of these products. But let me give it to Steve now to talk about the AI and cost savings. And then if there's interest, we can talk about Tinder marketing and how it supports those product changes. Steve. Yeah, sure. Here's the way I would think about it... Next question, please.

Q: Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. I have two. Steve, they might both be for you. Just on the 2Q guide, it implies flat revenue that you're expecting, and that's despite a $20 million headwind from a czar. So my question is kind of where are you seeing offsets and which brands to make up for that and any comments you can give on your expectations for Tinder and 2Q specifically? And then Steve, looking beyond 2Q, any update you can provide us on how you're thinking about the full year outlook?

A: Yeah, sure. I can take that. Thanks, Corey. On Q2, the way to think about it is... Next question, please, operator.

Q: hey everyone um thanks for the question and really encouraging to see the progress you've been making here on tinder i just helped me kind of chart the path over there in with your year understanding there'll be some kind of puts and tapes here but what's the hope for kind of that glide path for mouse as we kind of continue to queue into the back half and then you know, given a lot of these improvements that you talked about that are driving this amount of growth, weren't necessarily just launched in 1Q, but have kind of been the cumulative impact over 2025 up until 1Q. How should we think about the kind of product release cadence and how that interplays with now? And have you kind of uncovered any maybe delayed impact as, you know, the tools get released and then users start to use them and that can eventually drive one of those?

A: Yeah, thanks, Nathan. So a couple of things... Next question, please, operator.

Q: hey guys. hey, Spencer. The 1% growth in 30 - day retention, that's pretty bullish. I know it's an early signal, but, like, could you guys just say, like, how long has it been since you've had growing 30 - day user retention growth And it sounds like some of the safety and product changes you mentioned on a previous question are driving this trend. But just any other details, any color you can provide on what's turning that kind of key metric up would be helpful. Thank you.

A: Yeah, thanks, Ross. It had been years since we had retention improvements up year over year... Next question, please, operator.

Q: thanks so much for taking the questions. Spencer, I wanted to ask about capital allocation priorities because you've now made an outside investment in Sniffies. I believe you backed Justin's venture in parallel with Match when he left Hinge to go down that road. How are you thinking about the competition for capital between outside investments that can be made versus application of capital internally to build and scale some of the platform product initiatives you're trying to accomplish? I want to understand if there's been any evolution in the thought there. Thanks so much.

A: Why don't I take that first and Spencer, feel free to jump in. The way, you know, our approach has not changed... Next question.

Q: Great. Thank you for taking my questions. Spencer, you clearly have a lot of product initiatives on the way right now at Tinder. If you sort of step back and look ahead to the next 12 to 18 months, I'd be curious to hear, you know, which one is the most needle - moving in your perspective or Is this maybe sort of a situation where smaller product initiatives sort of build on top of each other and create compounding benefits? And then quickly, Steve, I'd be curious to hear what you're embedding in your guidance for the year - on - year trends for tender payers and maybe for RPP as well. Thank you.

A: That's a hard one to choose amongst all these different product initiatives... Next question, please.

Q: Great. Thanks. Two questions. I thought another good signal was the new user registrations returning to growth. Don't know if you could add a little bit more color there and how things are trending with that metric thus far in the second quarter. And the second question is around face check rollout. How's it going? And should we still expect it to be about a one point headwind to revenue growth this year?

A: Yeah, let me start with face check... John, I don't have new regs yet... Next question, please, operator.

Q: Thanks. One on Hinge and then a quick one on Tinder. So Hinge RPP is accelerating. Is that reflecting a mix within plans and user choice? Are there some headline price increases? And then is that – obviously, Hinge pairs did decelerate. Is there any connection between price and volume there? And then just a second quick one. Spencer, how do you know that, like, the new product innovations have staying power, like astrology mode, music mode, double date? They're definitely cool. But, like, how do we know this is not like when a new AI image generator or casual game launches, gets virality, and then kind of fades after a few months?

A: Yeah, why don't I take the first part of that? Yeah, so... I mean, what we've done at Hinge is optimize pricing geographically over the last few quarters... Next question, operator.

Q: Awesome. Thank you so much. Um, so Spencer, maybe a couple of questions for you. Can you maybe talk a little bit about the health of the overall online dating market? Um, both from a competitive standpoint with some of the new modalities that we're seeing offline, like run clubs and book clubs and all kinds of other clubs, but just how, how is that impacting the online, um, environment, the online dating environment, if, if it is, um, And then on Sniffies, what makes that model so successful and so superior to Archer's that you decided to invest $100 million to fold Archer into it?

A: Yeah, so on the overall macro market... In terms of the Sniffies investment... Next question, one more or two more questions. Okay, operator, go ahead, please.

Q: Yeah, great. Thanks for the question. I just had one. You talked in the letter about your objective to get Tinder back to growth in 2027. When you say a growth business, do you mean revenue, payers, MAUs, just some other engagement metrics? Just trying to understand kind of how you're thinking about growth in 27.

A: Yeah, I think, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, Steve, but I think what we've kind of the sort of line in the sand that we've committed to is by end of 2027, year - over - year malgrowth, and for full year 2027, revenue growth, or by end of 2027? By the end. By the end of 2027. revenue growth. So I guess that's Q4 of 27, revenue year over year over Q3. So those are the stated goals, and you know where we're at on our path to achieve them. Next question, please.

Q: Hey, guys. I guess just a lot's been asked here. When you think about, you talked about kind of collaborating across brands, Spencer earlier in the call, which I guess Hinge has had so much success, I feel like, with lots of new product innovation in the last few years. I wonder if there's anything you could add or bring over to Tinder that could be impactful there, anything you've done to date where you're seeing similar results or kind of how you think about the collaborative opportunity there. Thanks.

A: Yeah, it's a great one to end on. This is a huge focus of mine... I think we'll wrap with that. Thanks, everyone, for joining...