How Match Swiped Left on Earnings

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) reported its fourth-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Tuesday. The company had $0.24 in earnings per share (EPS) on $267.6 million in revenue, compared to consensus estimates of $0.19 in EPS on revenue of $272 million. In the same period of the previous year, the company posted EPS of $0.32 and $239.0 million in revenue.

For the fourth quarter, total revenue increased 12%, or 16% excluding the effects of foreign exchange, driven by a 14% increase in Dating revenue attributable to 30% higher average paid member count, which grew to over 4.6 million globally.

Dating revenue grew 14%, due primarily to 12% higher direct revenue, driven by increases in both North America and International, up 11% and 14%, respectively, in this past quarter

This quarter’s non-dating revenue declined 2% from last year, due primarily to a delay in demand for test prep as a result of the introduction of the new SAT test and a delay in an institutional tutoring contract.
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Greg Blatt, chairman and CEO of Match, commented on earnings:

Match Group had a seminal fourth quarter, completing our initial public offering, the acquisition of PlentyOfFish, and the realignment of our management structure to better reflect our increasing global scale,” “At the same time, we delivered solid revenue and profit growth and we head into 2016 with increasing momentum, which we expect will continue to build throughout the year.

On the books, cash, equivalents and marketable securities totaled 99.8 million for the fourth quarter, compared to 127.6 million in the same period from last year.

Shares of Match were down 18% at $10.00 early Wednesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $16.00 and a previous 52-week trading range of $11.45 to $16.17.