Match Group Declares $0.20-Per-Share Dividend as Revenue and Payers Decline
Key Facts
Match Group declared a cash dividend of $0.20 per share, payable on January 21, 2027, to shareholders of record on January 6, alongside results showing third-quarter revenue fell 3% year over year to $891 million. Payers declined 5% to 13.8 million, indicating that improvement in some usage metrics has yet to translate into growth in the paying base or overall revenue. The company said revenue fell 2% excluding the impact of foreign-exchange movements. By contrast, net income rose 8% to $174 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased 14% to $344 million. The announcement thus combined a cash return to shareholders with mixed operating performance across the group’s platforms.
At the app level, Tinder’s global daily active users returned to year-over-year growth in September for the first time in three and a half years, while the decline in monthly active users narrowed for a sixth consecutive quarter. Still, the app’s average daily active users in the third quarter were 1% below the year-earlier level, and monthly active users fell 5.5%. The decline in monthly active female users improved to 6% year over year in the third quarter, from 8% in the second quarter. Match Group said U.S. daily active user growth returned in October, attributing the improvement to algorithm enhancements and the use of artificial intelligence, while the chief financial officer did not disclose monthly figures. These indicators point to improving usage trends, with monthly user numbers still below the prior year.
Hinge delivered stronger performance than Tinder’s monthly metrics: its global monthly active users rose 12% year over year in the third quarter, while direct revenue grew 19% and payers increased 23%. But the app’s growth did not prevent a decline in group-wide revenue, and indirect revenue fell 17% to $15 million. The company attributed that decrease to lower spending by major advertisers compared with the same period a year earlier. On profitability, Match Group said adjusted earnings would have fallen 5% year over year after excluding a $61 million legal settlement expense recorded in the third quarter of the prior year. The company linked the decline to increased marketing spending at Tinder and Hinge.
The dividend is part of a broader capital-return policy, rather than the company’s first payout; Match Group declared a dividend of the same amount in August 2026. Management said the company generated $832 million in free cash flow during the first nine months of the year and is committed to directing all of that cash flow over time toward share repurchases, dividends and the settlement of employee equity awards. It ended the quarter with $729 million in cash and equivalents and short-term investments. Last-twelve-month gross leverage was 2.6 times and net leverage was 2.0 times, the company said. These figures provide context for the decision to continue dividends, while the new dividend announcement did not explicitly tie the payout to a specific cash-flow target.
For the fourth quarter, Match Group expects revenue of $865 million to $875 million, a year-over-year decline of 1% to flat, and expects 2026 revenue to be flat year over year. The company forecast fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $327.5 million to $332.5 million, equivalent to an 11% year-over-year decline at the midpoint and a margin of 38%. Match Group expects its adjusted EBITDA margin for 2026 to be 38.8% at the midpoint of its forecast range, compared with a prior forecast of 37.5% issued by the company in February. Match Group expects changes to the user experience and product to have a roughly $25 million negative impact on Tinder direct revenue during 2026, and said the impact is less than it initially expected. Shares closed at $38.50 on November 3, down 8.49% from the previous close after earnings were announced.