March 11 (Reuters) - Bumble on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter revenue above estimates as the dating app operator began to see early benefits from a broad turnaround plan, sending its shares soaring about 24% in extended trading.
Bumble has been undergoing a strategic overhaul since founder Whitney Wolfe Herd returned as CEO about a year ago, pushing for product improvements and new AI-enabled features designed to better appeal to younger daters and counter stiff competition in a saturated market.
The online dating industry has been grappling with slower user growth as it deals with changing demand from younger users, who still feel the swiping fatigue.
In response, major players including Bumble and Match Group's Tinder and Hinge have accelerated the rollout of AI-powered tools aimed at improving match quality, helping users craft messages and reducing the friction associated with continuous swiping.
Match Group, last month, posted quarterly revenue above estimates as it saw early results from its product initiatives.
Bumble's total average revenue per paying user for the reported quarter increased 7.9% to $22.20, whereas the total number of paying users fell 20.5% to 3.3 million.
For the first quarter, the company expects revenue in the range of $209 million to $213 million, the midpoint of which is slightly above estimates of $210.9 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company posted quarterly revenue of $224.2 million, compared with analysts' estimates of $221.3 million.
(Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
