Match Group Inc at JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So kicking off, Spencer, clearly, you've had a long successful career co-founding Zillow and a number of other companies over the years. What's motivated you to take on a CEO role at this point in your career?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So challenges, as you just said. No secret, dating industry has been challenged in recent years. What's your view on the state of dating and what's your outlook on the category?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Makes sense. So zooming in on Match, you're coming up on your 100th day, I believe this week actually, as CEO. Where have you spent your time and what are your priorities going forward for the company?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So back to innovation. I think there's hope that AI could be what ultimately drives innovation in the category. How is this playing into your product roadmap and how do you just more broadly feel about the AI opportunity in dating?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So you announced some pretty significant changes last week with earnings, including a reorganization that impacted 13% of employees. Could you talk about the rationale behind these actions and where do you plan to reinvest those savings?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So you answer -- my next question was why you elected to stick with a financial framework. It sounds like you can do both. Maybe before we dive into the brand specifically, macro and tariffs, two topics I think we have to ask every company about.

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Today. You don't have any tariff exposure, of course, directly, but could you just talk about what you're seeing on the macro side in recent weeks? And what type of impact, just more broadly, would you expect on the company should the economy materially weaken more, even though this morning, it looks like it's going the other way?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Okay. So a couple of questions now on Tinder, your biggest brand in focus. This is a brand that's been in turnaround -- was in turnaround when you joined. Could you talk about your strategy to reinvigorate growth, maybe how it differs from the prior teams, and what gives you confidence the brand's best days are still ahead?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Yeah, totally. Unidentified Participant I have a 19-year-old, and she's an occasional Tinder user. And she calls it a buffet. I just thought that that --

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Makes sense. So I think investors have historically thought of Tinder payers as the key KPI for the company. What metrics are you looking at to gauge progress in the turnaround? And what do you think a realistic timeline is to start seeing improvement on the payer side?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So maybe shifting to Tinder pricing. That was a big initiative of the company before your time, to be fair, just to get it up to parity with the rest of the industry. Revenue prepared, I think, declined last quarter for the first time in a while. So curious how you're thinking about just the current Tinder price point.

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Okay. So let's move to the other brands, and then we'll open it up to Q&A as well. Hinge continues to be a bright spot not just for the company, but for the industry overall. What are your priorities for Hinge this year? And what gives you the confidence in reaching that $1 billion goal?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So one question on Asia then maybe one question on Evergreen and emerging, just to make sure we hit the whole portfolio. Asia, it's been a tough region, really, since the pandemic. Seems like it's started to stabilize. What are your priorities for Azar and Pairs? And what's your outlook on that region more broadly?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So Evergreen and Emerging, excuse me, you've been rightsizing the legacy brands for a while, but investing in Emerging. Where are you at in that process in any brands on the Emerging side you'd highlight?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Capital allocation, you've done M&A in prior leadership roles. Given where Match is today, what's your appetite to either add more brands to the portfolio? Or are you more in divestment mode, if that's something you consider?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : So I have one audience question, and we might have time for one more in the back after this one. So this was submitted online. Spencer, how should we think about the dividend and your commitment to it?

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Okay. Unidentified Participant Hi there. Yeah, it feels like you're making all the right steps to fix the different products, but I'm curious about the Tinder rework and how that fits from a competitive standpoint. If we think about TikTok and Instagram, they've already got the network groups, the friendship groups. They got the algorithms to show what the individuals like and whether it's a band or a restaurant or whatever. It feels like they've got that data advantage to pair people up and do this. So that's question one, that competitive positioning. And then secondly, the a la carte side of -- does that go away in this -- it will not go away. But is that less of an opportunity set and then there's more of a subscription-based model? And you talked about -- I honestly have not used the app, so I don't know. But I can imagine many people are going out buying digital roses for

Question: Cory Carpenter - JPMorgan - Analyst : Thank you all.