By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com -- Shares of Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) tumbled more than 11% in early Wednesday trading after the company posted earnings and revealed its chief executive Shar Dubey will step down.
After the close Tuesday, the company posted diluted earnings of $0.60 per share on revenue of $798.63 million, beating the $0.54 per share and $796.04 million, respectively, expected by analysts polled by Investing.com.
Payers increased 13% to 16.3 million, up from 14.4 million in the prior-year quarter, while Tinder's direct revenue increased 18% over the prior year, with all other brands collectively growing direct revenue by 22% year-over-year.
Despite the earnings and revenue beat, the company said its business has been impacted by the Ukraine-Russia war, foreign exchange headwinds, and the slow COVID recovery.
"We estimate total impact on our revenue of approximately $10 million per quarter, primarily at Tinder. This includes the reduction of our revenue in Russia, Ukraine, and other nearby countries," Match said.
They later added: "The COVID recovery is gaining momentum, but more slowly than any of us would like. The endless waves of COVID have impacted word of mouth virality and new user adoption of our services."
Meanwhile, Match Group CEO Dubey will step down but remain as a director and advisor to the company, with Bernard Kim, president of gaming company Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA), taking over as the chief executive officer, effective May 31.
Match has also authorized a buyback of up to 12.5 million of its outstanding shares.
Looking ahead, the company expects Q2 revenue to be between $800 million and $810 million, representing 13% to 14% year-over-year growth. Match said this reflects the impact of the challenging current macroeconomic environment, with year-over-year growth rates negatively impacted by approximately five points of FX impact and about one point due to the effect of the war in Ukraine.