Match Group results: Hinge surges 22% as Tinder’s slide begins to slow

The world’s largest dating company is shrinking slowly and earning more while it does so. When Match Group reported its second-quarter 2026 results on 4 August, total revenue came in at $853m, down 1% year on year. Net income, however, rose 36% to $170.5m, and operating income climbed to $245.5m from $193.9m a year earlier.

With the third-quarter numbers due after the US market closes on 2 November, the August report remains the clearest picture of where the owner of Tinder and Hinge stands.

Fewer payers, paying more

Match counted 13.25 million paying users in the quarter, 6% fewer than a year before. Revenue per payer rose 6% to $21.13, which is how the group keeps the top line roughly level while its paying audience contracts. It is a familiar pattern across the sector: fewer subscribers, squeezed for more.

Hinge growth: the bright spot in Match’s portfolio

Hinge was once again the standout. Revenue grew 22% year on year and global monthly active users rose 13%. The most striking figure came from Hinge’s European expansion markets, where revenue jumped 86%. While the group’s overall paying audience shrinks, Hinge is the brand still adding people. Our Hinge review looks at what those subscribers get for their money.

Tinder’s user decline narrows

Tinder remains Match’s largest and most troubled brand, and the release does not break out its revenue or payer numbers separately. What it does disclose is directional. Tinder’s daily active users were down 4% year on year, which the company called its best result in ten quarters. Year-on-year declines in monthly active users improved in each of Tinder’s five largest revenue markets and among women, and management said the trend strengthened further in July.

TechCrunch reported that Tinder’s monthly users fell 7% in the second quarter, after an 8% drop in the first. Slower decline is still decline, but it is the first sustained improvement in some time.

Chief executive Spencer Rascoff was bullish. “Tinder finally looks and feels like the app young daters want to use,” he said in the results release.

That confidence rests largely on Tinder’s shift towards real-world socialising. In July, the app expanded its Events tab beyond its Los Angeles pilot to cities including New York, Dallas, Berlin, Munich, Zurich and Geneva, aiming for 26 cities by the end of September. Tinder said 66% of eligible active users in Los Angeles engaged with Events, though it cautioned that the figure may not apply elsewhere. In September it followed up with Group Hangouts, a feature for matching friendship groups rather than individuals.

The outlook, buybacks and dividend

For the third quarter, Match guided to revenue of $885m to $895m, a decline of 2% to 3%, and adjusted EBITDA of $330m to $335m, up about 10% at the midpoint. In other words, the company expects to make more money from a slightly smaller business.

Shareholders continue to be rewarded. Match had repurchased 7.3 million shares for $245m in the year to date at the time of the release, with $697m left under its authorisation as of 31 July. A dividend of $0.20 a share is payable on 20 October to holders of record on 5 October.

What to watch on 2 November

The key questions for the third quarter are whether Tinder’s improving user trend has held through the summer, whether Hinge’s European push keeps its pace, and whether the decline in payers finally levels out. The context has shifted since August, too: rival Bumble has agreed to be taken private by Ithaca Holdings, so investors will have one fewer listed dating company to compare Match against. For the bigger picture on how people actually meet partners, see our research on online dating statistics.

Sources

• Match Group Announces Second Quarter Results (Match Group investor relations, 4 August 2026)
• Match Group to Announce Third Quarter 2026 Results (Match Group investor relations, 12 October 2026)
• Tinder adapts to a social, IRL dating future with ‘Group Hangouts’ feature (TechCrunch, 30 September 2026)
• Tinder Expands Events Globally (Tinder Newsroom, 23 July 2026)