Match Group, Inc.

Match Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTCH) owns dating apps including Tinder, Hinge, Match, Pairs, Azar and other brands. Everyone Everywhere, or E&E, groups the portfolio outside Tinder and Hinge.

Third-quarter results

The table compares the three months ended September 30. Amounts are USD millions, except per-share figures.

Adjusted EBITDA excludes interest, taxes, stock compensation, depreciation, amortization and selected other items. Its 14% reported growth includes the comparison benefit from a $61 million legal settlement charge in Q3 2025. On the company's comparison excluding that prior-year charge, adjusted EBITDA fell 5%.

Brands and user trends

Direct revenue comes from subscriptions and other purchases by users. It excludes advertising and other indirect revenue. Amounts below are USD millions for Q3.

Tinder's daily active-user measure returned to year-over-year growth in September, after management said in August it expected that turning point soon. For all of Q3, the measure remained down 1%; monthly active users fell 5.5% and average monthly payers fell 4% to 8.9 million.

The daily measure counts users active during the preceding seven days, averaged over the period. Monthly active users count people active during each month. Payers are average monthly users generating direct revenue at a brand.

Tinder is expanding social features including Events and Group Hangouts while improving recommendations. Hinge continues international expansion and is testing a lower-priced subscription tier. E&E faces a revenue decline following Azar's required app redesign and weakness at other brands.

Expectations and Q4 outlook

Q3 revenue was within August's $885 million to $895 million forecast. Adjusted EBITDA exceeded the $330 million to $335 million forecast, primarily because some marketing spending moved into Q4.

For Q4, Match expects revenue of $865 million to $875 million and adjusted EBITDA of $327.5 million to $332.5 million. Higher marketing and a prior-year office-sale gain contribute to an expected 11% profit decline at the midpoint.

At the Q4 revenue midpoint, Match expects full-year revenue to be flat. Its expectation for free cash flow to slightly exceed the upper end of its initial annual forecast assumes a further Apple payment arrives by the last reporting day of the year.

Cash, debt and capital returns

Operating cash flow for the first nine months was $886.3 million. After $54.7 million of capital spending, free cash flow was $831.7 million, versus $715.5 million a year earlier.

During those nine months, Match spent $335.5 million on share repurchases and $136.9 million on dividends. It separately used $118.1 million to settle employee equity-award withholding taxes. An additional $44 million of repurchases occurred in October.

At September 30, cash and short-term investments totaled $729.1 million, including $726.2 million of cash. The carrying value of debt was $3.553 billion. Match paid $423.9 million to settle exchangeable notes at maturity in June.

The board declared a new $0.20 quarterly dividend payable on January 21, 2027, to holders of record on January 6.