Executive Summary

Q2 revenue declined 7.6% YoY to $248.2M but modestly exceeded Street consensus ($245.7M*) and topped Q1 guidance ($235–$243M), driven by higher ARPPU and a sharp pullback in performance marketing, while FX added ~$2.4M tailwind . Primary EPS (SPGI) beat ($0.43 vs $0.34*), though GAAP EPS fell to $(2.45) on a $404.9M non‑cash impairment .
Record Adjusted EBITDA margin of 38.1% ($94.6M) reflected ~$100M in annualized cost removal and lower paid performance spend; management cautioned this margin is not a steady-state baseline as brand spend resumes in H2 .
Guidance: Q3 revenue $240–$248M (Bumble app $194–$200M) and Adjusted EBITDA $79–$84M, reflecting near-term attrition from trust-and-safety upgrades and a return to brand investment .
Strategic reset continues: quality-over-quantity member base (Approve/Improve/Remove), August “trust-first” product launch (phone/ID verification, mandatory selfie checks, coaching hub), and direct billing tests on iOS with ~30% adoption—potentially improving gross profit dollars despite lower reported revenue .
Leadership: Kevin D. Cook appointed CFO (effective Aug 12) to support the transformation; interim CFO Ron Fior assisted Q2 execution .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

Record profitability: Adjusted EBITDA rose to $94.6M (38.1% margin), above guidance ($79–$84M), driven by cost reductions and lower performance marketing, providing reinvestment capacity while protecting cash generation .
Quality mix improved: Full-price subscriptions rose to ~80% of total payers (from ~70% in Q1) as legacy promo strategies were phased out; ARPPU increased (Bumble app ARPPU $26.85; Total ARPPU $21.69) .
Early product/commercial green shoots: AI-led personalization and verification roadmap; iOS direct billing tests saw up to 30% adoption in targeted cohorts, implying gross margin benefits if scaled .

What Went Wrong

Topline contraction: Total revenue fell 7.6% YoY to $248.2M (Bumble app -7.6%; Badoo & Other -7.5%) as paying users declined 8.7% to 3.78M; management emphasized intentional cleanup of low-intent payers .
GAAP loss driven by impairments: Net loss $(367.0)M due to ~$404.9M non-cash impairment (goodwill/intangibles/Fruitz held-for-sale), swinging margins to -147.8% .
Near-term headwinds ahead: Trust & safety changes (phone/ID, selfie verification) expected to drive additional attrition in Q3–Q4; brand spend to increase in H2, pressuring margins sequentially .

Financial Results

Metric	Q2 2024	Q1 2025	Q2 2025
Revenue ($M)	$268.6	$247.1	$248.2
GAAP Net Income ($M)	$37.7	$19.8	$(367.0)
GAAP Diluted EPS ($)	$0.22	$0.13	$(2.45)
Adjusted EBITDA ($M)	$75.0	$64.4	$94.6
Adjusted EBITDA Margin (%)	27.9%	26.1%	38.1%
Net Income Margin (%)	14.0%	8.0%	(147.8)%

Estimates vs Actual (Q2 2025)

Metric	Consensus	Actual
Revenue ($M)	245.7*	248.2
Primary EPS (SPGI) ($)	0.342*	0.433*
EBITDA ($M)	87.1*	88.1*

Values with an asterisk (*) retrieved from S&P Global.

Segment and KPIs

Metric	Q2 2024	Q1 2025	Q2 2025
Bumble App Revenue ($M)	218.0	201.8	201.4
Badoo App & Other Revenue ($M)	50.6	45.3	46.8
Bumble App Paying Users (K)	2,817.2	2,708.4	2,499.8
Badoo & Other Paying Users (K)	1,321.4	1,306.3	1,277.4
Total Paying Users (K)	4,138.6	4,014.7	3,777.2
Bumble App ARPPU ($)	25.79	24.84	26.85
Badoo & Other ARPPU ($)	11.93	10.72	11.57
Total ARPPU ($)	21.37	20.24	21.69

Balance Sheet Highlights

Cash & cash equivalents: $261.7M; Total debt: $615.2M (as of 6/30/25) .

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current/Actual	Change
Total Revenue ($M)	Q2 2025	$235–$243 (issued 5/7/25)	$248.2 (actual)	Beat
Adjusted EBITDA ($M)	Q2 2025	$79–$84	$94.6 (actual)	Beat
Total Revenue ($M)	Q3 2025	—	$240–$248 (guide)	New
Bumble App Revenue ($M)	Q3 2025	—	$194–$200 (guide)	New
Adjusted EBITDA ($M)	Q3 2025	—	$79–$84 (guide)	New

Management noted inability to reconcile forward Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP due to unknown variability in certain items .

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q4 2024, Q1 2025)	Current Period (Q2 2025)	Trend
AI/Personalization	Modernizing matching algorithm; AI for safety/coaching; summer product moment planned	“AI-first, cloud-native” rebuild by next spring; coaching hub launch; >10% lift in women’s yes-votes from legacy stack tweaks	Accelerating AI buildout
Trust & Safety/Member Cleanup	Intensified removal of bots/scammers; verification expansion; willing to accept near-term payer declines	August launch: phone/ID verification, mandatory selfie checks; Remove <10% “bad actors,” migrate “Improve” to “Approve”	Cleanup deepening; near-term attrition
Marketing Mix	Shift away from performance; Q2 marketing down ~$20M; brand to resume H2	Minimal performance marketing; brand spend to rise in H2; focus on organic growth and brand halo	Mix pivot sustained
Alternative Payments	—	iOS direct billing tests: up to 30% adoption; potential GP$ lift but lower reported revenue	Early traction
Cost Structure	Restructuring plan; efficiency focus	~$100M annualized cost removed; record EBITDA margin not a baseline	Cost discipline durable
BFF/Non-dating	BFF update planned; >1M active members; Geneva tech leveraged	All-new BFF app launch; strong Gen Z appeal	Building second growth vector

Management Commentary

“We have removed over $100 million from our cost base… These efforts contributed to record EBITDA margins in Q2… profitability, margin expansion and cash flow will remain core priorities even as we redeploy some savings into product, AI, UX and trust and safety” — Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO .
“We exceeded our Adjusted EBITDA guidance… reduced our cost structure and realigned our marketing strategy with our organic growth focus… improved operational efficiency and created room to reinvest… while protecting cash generation” — Ron Fior, Interim CFO .
“August launch… phone and ID verification, mandatory selfie checks and richer profile-building tools… We are also introducing our human and AI powered coaching hub” — CEO .
“Direct billing… early results have been positive with up to 30%… opting for direct billing… modest positive impact to gross profit dollars… headwinds to reported revenue” — Interim CFO .
CFO transition: Kevin D. Cook named CFO (effective Aug 12), succeeding interim CFO Ron Fior .

Q&A Highlights

Alternative payments: iOS direct billing tests saw ~30% adoption; may lift gross profit dollars but reduce reported revenue due to discounts vs app store take .
Member quality buckets: “Remove” under 10% of member base; focus on moving “Improve” to “Approve” to drive retention and monetization; ARPPU uplift consistent with strategy .
Metrics and reinvestment: Internal focus on deeper quality/engagement signals rather than headline payers; brand spend and AI/product hiring to ramp selectively in H2 while sustaining cash generation .
Gen Z & BFF: Addressing core pain points (verification, relevance, efficiency); launching all-new BFF with community/events to meet offline demand from Gen Z/young millennials .

Estimates Context

Q2 2025 beat: Revenue $248.2M vs $245.7M consensus*; Primary EPS $0.433 vs $0.342 consensus*; EBITDA $88.1M vs $87.1M consensus* (company Adjusted EBITDA reported $94.6M, reflecting different definitions) .
Q3 2025: Guidance bracketed around Street revenue ($244.8M*) and EBITDA ($81.1M*) with margin step-down expected as brand reinvest resumes and trust/safety changes drive attrition .