Background: Bumble is the dating app launched in 2014 by a former Tinder co-founder, built around one key twist: women make the first move. When it listed on the Nasdaq in 2021, founder Whitney Wolfe Herd became the youngest self-made female billionaire at the time.    

What happened: But in recent years, online dating fatigue among Gen Z and millennials has hit the business hard, sending Bumble's share price down more than 90%. Despite that backdrop, the stock suddenly jumped more than 30% after its latest earnings report.  

What else: The strange part is, revenue was actually down about 5% and paying users fell nearly 10%. But adjusted EBITDA came in at around $95 million for the quarter, smashing expectations. And the company issued a strong forecast for the next quarter.

What's the key learning

💡 A company doesn't need more customers to make more money... sometimes it just needs fewer costs.  

💡 Bumble's results looked weak on the surface, with falling revenue and fewer paying users. But profitability improved because the company cut marketing and other operating expenses significantly.

💡 Bumble also focused on monetising the users it still has. Average revenue per paying user rose about 7.9%, while performance marketing spend reportedly dropped more than 80% year-on-year, making the business more efficient even as the user base shrank.