By Mackenzie Tatananni
Dating apps have taken a beating this year, and there is more to it than intensifying competition. They must contend with "dating app fatigue" -- user burnout from the seemingly endless cycle of swiping on potential matches.
The dating scene is changing more broadly, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd noted on an earnings call with analysts Wednesday. Many people now prefer to meet in person and in group settings. That new reality is a dilemma for the dating app known for its women-led swiping, which Herd launched in 2014 as a "100% feminist" alternative to Tinder.
Bumble's stock has tumbled 21% in the past 12 months. Tinder parent Match Group has fallen 2.7% over the same period, compared with a 29% gain for the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Bumble and Tinder may be on their way to reviving their struggling stocks, however. Both apps unveiled a host of new AI features this week. Tinder said at a product launch event Thursday that its app upgrades will include AI-curated match recommendations and AI-powered safety features.
While the Tinder announcement failed to lift Match Group's shares, Bumble surged 34% to $3.81 after Herd said on the earnings call that Bumble was integrating AI into its platform. The gains were the stock's largest single-day increase in four years and brought shares solidly into positive territory for the year.
Bumble is "actively infusing AI into the core Bumble experience and recommendations algorithm," Herd said. It will also debut an AI agent tentatively named Bee, which Herd styled as a "personal dating assistant and matchmaker."
Bee will learn about users through one-on-one conversations with them and uses those insights to find their most compatible matches on the platform. Bumble is internally testing a pilot version and will enter beta testing soon, according to Herd.
Herd has envisioned a tool like Bee for years. Speaking at a conference in 2024, she envisioned a world where AI "dating concierge" could track down potential matches. "It will go scan all of San Francisco for you and say, 'These are the three people you really ought to meet,'" she said.
On the earnings call, Herd conceded that AI is nothing without the information that feeds it. Luckily, Bumble has built a moat of proprietary data over time from its tens of millions of active daily users. Herd said it has "one of the largest and most nuanced datasets of real human connection in the world" and is "uniquely positioned to apply AI in ways that are more personalized and effective than any potential new entrant."
Bumble will also introduce "chapter-based profiles," which Herd described as a move away from the traditional, rapid-fire swiping interface.
Wall Street is optimistic these changes could tip Bumble into green territory. Evercore ISI analyst Robert Coolbrith is watching the stock from the sidelines for now, but he believes Bumble is emerging from its "quality reset" phase with a more intentional user base. That lays the groundwork for successful future product launches.
Citi Research analyst Robert Josey also has his sights trained on Bumble's product overhaul in mid-2026, with "expanding use cases that could attract incremental usage."
Bumble has undertaken a broader turnaround effort over the past year. It has shifted its focus to individuals seeking longer-term, committed relationships rather than casual, short-term interactions. The move has thus far wounded its top line: Total paying users fell by 12% in 2025, contributing to a 9.9% drop in revenue for the year.
Beyond Herd's notes on AI, the rest of Bubble's earnings release was nothing to write home about. The company posted a fourth-quarter loss of $499.4 million, or $4.06 a share, compared with a profit of $4.2 million, or 4 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for earnings of 23 cents a share.
For the current first quarter, Bumble foresees revenue of $209 million to $213 million, down from $247.1 million in the same period last year. Analysts were expecting revenue at the midpoint of the range.
The company is also targeting adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization between $76 million and $80 million, sharply above Wall Street's call for $57.7 million.
Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 13, 2026 09:11 ET (13:11 GMT)
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