Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Bumble is officially giving up on the rule that made it, well, Bumble.

The dating app announced Tuesday that anyone in a match can now send the first message, ending the women-message-first requirement that has been one of the company’s defining features for more than a decade. 

Bumble is also giving matches 72 hours to respond, up from 24, in an effort to take some of the pressure out of coming up with a response in a short time frame. The longer window gives people more flexibility to reply, rather than feeling like they need to check the app constantly or risk a match disappearing.

The change marks a pretty significant shift for Bumble, which built its brand around putting women in control of heterosexual dating conversations. When the app launched in 2014, Bumble was positioned as the more considerate alternative to Tinder, with women deciding whether a conversation would begin and, ideally, avoiding some of the unsolicited messages and general weirdness that had become synonymous with dating apps.

Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd framed the new update as an evolution rather than a retreat from the company’s original mission.

“While women making the first move was a radical idea, being women-first was never about prescribing just one way to connect. It was about designing an experience with women’s needs in mind to create better outcomes for everyone,” Herd said in a statement. 

And, apparently, plenty of women are ready for this change. According to Bumble’s survey data, 66% of women surveyed said they prefer men to send the first message, with many saying it would make dating feel less stressful. Additionally, more than half of members surveyed said the longer response window improved their experience.

“Today, our community is asking for more flexibility, less pressure, and more opportunities to create real, meaningful connections, and that is what this new experience provides. This evolution isn’t a departure from our founding vision, but the realization of it,” Herd added. 

The change also isn’t coming completely out of nowhere. Bumble began loosening its original rules in 2024 with “Opening Moves,” a feature that allowed women to set a question on their profile that a man could answer. 

The change also arrives as Bumble tries to turn around a business that has been struggling to regain its footing. The company’s second-quarter earnings report last week showed revenue dropping 15.2% year over year to $210.5 million, while the company expects its number of paying customers to decline in the third quarter.

Over the past several quarters, Bumble has tried to address a broader slowdown in online dating, as the industry wrestles with user fatigue, an increasingly crowded market, and the reality that swiping through hundreds of profiles isn’t necessarily anyone’s idea of a great time. The company recently revealed it’s exploring a swipe-free future, along with more in-person events and AI features to garner more traction, especially among Gen Z users. 

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Lauren covers media, streaming, apps and platforms at TechCrunch.

You can contact or verify outreach from Lauren by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at laurenforris22.25 on Signal.

Bumble's Valuation Hits an All-Time Low, Can Its Fortunes Change?Bumble NASDAQ: BMBL reported second-quarter results that were in line with its expectations, with revenue landing in the upper half of its guidance range and adjusted EBITDA exceeding the high end, as the dating-app company continued a technology and product transformation.

Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said Bumble has made progress in improving the quality of its member base and is now focused on product innovation and renewed brand investment to return to growth. The company is nearing completion of a technology overhaul, though a complex data migration has delayed some planned product launches by a couple of months.

Get Bumble alerts:

Second-Quarter Financial Results Bumble Stumbles Back Below $20...Should Investors Make a Move?Total revenue for the second quarter was $211 million, down from $248 million a year earlier. Foreign exchange provided an approximately $3 million tailwind during the quarter, according to CFO Kevin Cook.

Bumble App revenue was $172 million, compared with $201 million a year earlier. Badoo App and other revenue was $39 million, down from $47 million. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $73 million, compared with $95 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 35%, compared with 38% in the prior-year period. Cook said Bumble’s gross margin expanded by roughly 380 basis points year over year, with cost of revenue falling to 26% of revenue from 29%. The improvement was driven by continued adoption of alternative billing methods and lower aggregator fees.

3 Stocks That Went Public In 2021 May Be In Buy Range SoonOn a GAAP basis, Bumble recorded a net loss of $128 million, including a $169 million non-cash impairment charge. Cook said the charge did not affect operations, cash flow or liquidity, and that the company would have generated positive net income excluding the charge.

The company generated $54 million in operating cash flow and $51 million in free cash flow during the quarter. It ended the period with $154 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Technology Migration Delays Product Roadmap Wolfe Herd said Bumble is transferring core functions to a new technology platform and moving critical data from its own data centers to cloud infrastructure. The volume and complexity of the data have made the migration more time-consuming than expected, delaying the company’s new interaction model and portions of its product roadmap.

“We would rather get this perfectly right than beat some deadline,” Wolfe Herd said during the question-and-answer session.

The company now expects to begin rolling out elements of its reimagined interaction model in early 2027, rather than in 2026. Wolfe Herd said the approach will move away from optimizing for “swipe speed and velocity” toward “fewer, better, more considered signals.” She did not disclose what would replace swiping, citing competitive considerations.

Once the migration is complete, Bumble expects to move faster in launching member-facing features and enhancing its recommendation engine. Wolfe Herd said the new system should allow the company to make algorithmic adjustments more quickly to surface more relevant matches.

Chat, Matching and Group Initiatives While the platform migration continues, Bumble has been testing changes intended to address member pain points. In 12 markets, the company has changed chat initiation so that either person can send one opening message, but a conversation will not progress until the recipient responds. Bumble is also extending its 24-hour match response window.

Wolfe Herd said initial tests showed significant increases in chat initiation and mutual chat rates. Bumble plans to roll out both updates globally by the end of the month.

The company is also testing algorithmic changes to how recommendations are sorted and surfaced. According to Wolfe Herd, the tests have produced gains in members getting matches and initiating chats, contributing to higher average mutual chats.

Bumble is placing greater emphasis on real-life and group-based ways to meet. The company said its BFF group initiative has seen strong growth in active groups and in the average number of active members per group. Wolfe Herd said the offering has resonated particularly well with Gen Z women.

In addition, Bumble is testing Plans, a standalone app for curated in-person social events that allows attendees to match after an event. Wolfe Herd described early results from summer tests marketed to younger prospective members as promising.

Free Experience and Marketing Investment Bumble is testing a more expansive free experience, including limited free access to the Liked You feature, which has generally been restricted to paying members. The company said early testing has shown increased yes votes, matches and mutual chats.

Wolfe Herd said the company plans to simplify subscription tiers, provide a clearer path from free to paid offerings and explore a higher-priced tier centered on mutual serious intent. “Monetize value and outcomes, not friction,” she said.

After reducing marketing spending during its product transformation, Bumble plans to increase brand marketing in the second half of 2026. The company intends to focus on community, creators and hyperlocal initiatives aimed at younger consumers, with a larger brand push expected in 2027.

Cook said selling and marketing expense was $28 million, or 14% of revenue, compared with $30 million, or 12% of revenue, in the prior-year quarter. Product development expense increased to $31 million from $24 million as Bumble invested in platform modernization.

Wolfe Herd said most of the anticipated decline in margins will be directed toward strategic marketing investments rather than broad spending. She said Bumble will seek to maintain disciplined margins while investing to grow.

Third-Quarter Outlook For the third quarter, Bumble forecast total revenue of $205 million to $213 million, including Bumble App revenue of $167 million to $173 million. The company expects adjusted EBITDA of $56 million to $60 million, representing an approximately 28% margin at the midpoint.

Cook said adjusted EBITDA margins are expected to normalize through the remainder of 2026 as Bumble increases investment in technology, talent, product innovation and marketing. The company expects the benefits of those investments to take time to appear in financial results but believes they will support durable engagement and monetization.

About Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL)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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Should You Invest $1,000 in Bumble Right Now?Before you consider Bumble, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Bumble wasn't on the list.

While Bumble currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

Looking to profit from the electric vehicle mega-trend? Click the link to see our list of which EV stocks show the most long-term potential.

Get This Free Report

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Bumble (BMBL.O), opens new tab on Wednesday forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates, as paying users ​declined during an ongoing platform overhaul ‌to win back swipe-weary Gen Z users.

The company is reviving its service with a ​rebuilt, AI-enabled "Bumble 2.0" platform, designed ​to feel less transactional and more ⁠curated than traditional swipe-based apps.

Learn about the latest breakthroughs in AI and tech with the Reuters Artificial Intelligencer newsletter. Sign up here.

Here are ​some details:

Bumble shares fell 5% in ​extended trading following the results.

It forecast third-quarter revenue of $205 million to $213 million, below analysts' average ​estimate of $215.1 million, according to data ​compiled by LSEG.

Bumble, which operates the women-first Bumble ‌app ⁠along with Bumble For Friends and Bumble Bizz, forecast third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $56 million to $60 million.

The company's second-quarter ​revenue fell ​15.2% to $210.5 ⁠million from a year ago, in line with analysts' ​estimate of $210.4 million.

Total paying users ​decreased ⁠16.4% to 3.2 million, while average revenue per paying user rose 1.2% to $21.96.

Peer ⁠Match ​Group (MTCH.O), opens new tab also forecast third-quarter revenue below ​Wall Street estimates on Tuesday.

Reporting by Nithyashree R ​B in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

The Bumble Inc. (BMBL) app is shown on an Apple iPhone in this photo illustration as the dating app operator made its debut IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange February 11, 2021. ... Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

SummaryCompaniesGrowth has slowed in online dating, and revenue fell last yearShares have fallen sharply as competition intensifiesNEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - Dating app Bumble (BMBL.O), opens new tab is exploring a sale amid slowing growth in the online dating ​sector, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The company, which gained recognition as one of ‌the first major platforms to require women to initiate contact, is working with investment bankers at Morgan Stanley (MS.N), opens new tab on a potential sale process, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the discussions are private.

Get a daily digest of breaking business news straight to your inbox with the Reuters Business newsletter. Sign up here.

Sources cautioned that no deal is certain and the company ​may decide to stay independent.

Bumble did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Morgan Stanley and ​asset manager Blackstone, which owns about 22% of Bumble according to LSEG data, declined ⁠to comment.

Shares of Bumble, based in Austin, Texas, have fallen 48% over the past 12 months, leaving it ​with a market value of $388 million. Whitney Wolfe Herd, a co-founder of Tinder, founded Bumble in 2014 and built its ​brand around a “women-first” approach to online dating. Wolfe Herd, the youngest woman to take a company public in the United States when Bumble debuted in 2021, returned as chief executive in March 2025 after previously stepping down as CEO in 2023.

Blackstone acquired a ​majority stake in MagicLab, Bumble's parent company, in 2019 in a deal valuing the business at about $3 billion. ​MagicLab was later renamed Bumble Inc. and went public in February 2021 at a valuation exceeding $7 billion. Blackstone affiliates sold $28.2 million ‌of ⁠Bumble shares this month.

PAYING USERS DECLINEThe company has struggled with slowing growth and declining users. Total paying users fell more than 11% in the full year 2025 to about 3.7 million, while annual revenue declined nearly 10% to about $966 million. In the first quarter of 2026, paying users dropped by about 20% year-on-year as the company ​trimmed lower-engagement accounts.

Larger rival Match ​Group (MTCH.O), opens new tab has also faced ⁠slowing growth, but has increased its market value by about 12% over the past year.

Bumble has sought to offset the drop in users by raising prices and improving ​monetization, with average revenue per paying user rising modestly. Still, analysts say the ​company faces mounting ⁠competition, shifting user preferences and broader fatigue with dating apps, particularly among younger users.

The company’s “Built for Women, Better for Everyone” motto, which defined its women-first brand, was once a key competitive advantage but analysts increasingly view it as less ⁠distinctive, with ​user behavior shifting in the online dating sector.

Bumble has expanded beyond ​dating with offerings such as Bumble For Friends, a social networking feature, and Bumble Bizz, which focuses on professional connections, but those products ​remain small parts of its business.

Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; editing by Colin Barr and Rod Nickel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Milana Vinn reports on technology, media, and telecom (TMT) mergers and acquisitions. Her content usually appears in the markets and deals sections of the website. Milana previously worked at GLG and PE Hub, where she spent several years covering TMT deals in private equity. She graduated from CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with Masters in Business Journalism.