Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $4.34 EPS

Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($4.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($4.34), Briefing.com reports. Bumble had a positive return on equity of 10.85% and a negative net margin of 19.82%.Bumble’s revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Bumble’s conference call:

• Quality reset complete: Management says the heavy lift of its trust-and-safety overhaul is behind them, with U.S. week-one retention and monthly retention trending higher and paid-subscription mix rising (payer subscription share moved from ~80% to ~89%).
• Tech Stack 2.0 and AI roadmap: Bumble plans a Q2 launch of a cloud-native, AI-first platform (plus a Beta “Bee” personal dating assistant), and a chapter-based profile and group features intended to speed product iteration and deepen personalization.
• Mixed financials — revenue down, margins and cash strong: Full-year revenue fell to $966M from $1.07B, but adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 32% and the company generated $250M in operating cash ($239M free cash flow), paid $186M to eliminate TRA liabilities and is discussing refinancing $588M of debt.
• Alternative billing is lifting margins: Adoption of Apple Pay and other direct-payment methods drove ~1 percentage point of gross margin expansion in Q4, with >50% of U.S. iOS payments now using Apple Pay and management expecting continued benefit in 2026.
• Top-of-funnel pressure remains: Bumble intentionally cut performance marketing by over 80% YoY to favor higher-intent acquisition, which caused near-term revenue headwinds and the company warns there will be a lag between product launches and reported financial recovery.

Bumble Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BMBL traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.84. 8,624,334 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,056,176. The company has a market cap of $320.18 million, a PE ratio of 2.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.42. Bumble has a 12-month low of $2.61 and a 12-month high of $8.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bumble

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Saba Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Bumble by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,337,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,923 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Bumble by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,882,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,735,000 after buying an additional 466,646 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Bumble by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,835,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,122,000 after buying an additional 251,114 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Bumble by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,528,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,396,000 after buying an additional 671,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bumble by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,857,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after buying an additional 39,625 shares in the last quarter. 94.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bumble News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Bumble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat and upbeat quarter — Bumble reported Q4 revenue above estimates and said its turnaround efforts are beginning to work, driving investor optimism. Bumble posts quarterly revenue above estimates (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction — Multiple outlets report the stock rallied in extended trading/after-hours following the top-line beat, reflecting immediate positive sentiment. Bumble surges 17% on topline beat in Q4 (Investing.com)
• Positive Sentiment: Management narrative and investor materials — The company emphasized restoring its women-first approach and improving trust/authenticity as key drivers of user engagement and monetization in comments accompanying results. Bumble Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Results (Business Wire)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings detail and analyst context — Transcripts and metric breakdowns provide more nuance (mix of beats and misses by metric); investors will be parsing margins, ARPU and subscriber trends from the call. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha) Key metrics vs. estimates (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 guidance largely in line — Bumble issued Q1 revenue guidance roughly consistent with consensus ($209–$213M vs. ~$210.3M), which tempers the beat’s forward-readthrough. (Guidance referenced in filings/notes accompanying the release.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data noisy — Recent short-interest entries appear unreliable in public feeds (reports showing zero shares / NaN changes); treat that dataset with caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Large historical market-cap loss and lingering skepticism — Analysts and commentators have highlighted Bumble’s multibillion-dollar market-cap decline since peak, and some caution that sustained revenue growth and margin recovery must follow to justify higher valuations. Bumble stock has had a $14.7B wipeout (Invezz)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Bumble in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut Bumble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Bumble from $5.50 to $3.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Bumble in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Bumble from $6.00 to $3.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.60.

About Bumble

Bumble Inc operates a technology platform designed to facilitate social and professional connections through its suite of apps, most notably the flagship Bumble dating app. The company’s core premise is to empower users—particularly women—to make the first move, helping to reshape traditional dating dynamics. In addition to its dating function, Bumble offers mode-switching features that allow users to find friends through “Bumble BFF” or pursue professional networking opportunities via “Bumble Bizz.”

Beyond the Bumble app, the company also owns and operates Badoo, a social discovery platform with a substantial global footprint, particularly in Europe and Latin America.