Match Group Inc Q3 2016 Earnings Call Transcript

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

Question: Brandon Ross - BTG - Analyst : Hi. Thanks for taking the question, guys. Just wanted to know on Tinder with you guys exceeding your expectations in subscriptions and on micro transactions, I was wondering why dedicate resources to advertising at all when it may undermine the consumer experience? We found that consumers don't like advertising on mobile and you're so successful on subscription so far. Thanks.

Question: Brandon Ross - BTG - Analyst : Great. Thanks and one more quick question. On the launch of web for Tinder. Is that a margin opportunity for you guys? Do you think even in the United States that you could drive consumers from the app to mobile web to potentially avoid Apple and Google to access.

Question: Brandon Ross - BTG - Analyst : Thanks for the questions.

Question: Eric Sheridan - UBS - Analyst : Thanks so much for the taking the questions. First one, understood on 2017 and it's still early how you think through this, but when we think through the numbers and investors look at it outside looking in, how should we think about what a dollar invested in the business in 2017 and beyond and what that does to the arc of revenue growth? How are you thinking about ROI developing as you look at some of these investments you're going to make as we move from 2016 into 2017. And then maybe one on the balance sheet. You continue to bring the leverage down. Any update on where you're comfortable getting the leverage to and how that might inform the way you think about capital long term? Thanks, guys.

Question: Eric Sheridan - UBS - Analyst : Great. Thanks, guys.

Question: John Blackledge - Cowen and Company - Analyst : Great. Thanks. A couple questions. So in terms of the core match trends ex-Tinder it looks like North America subs were down about 80,000 in Q3 international plus 60,000. Just wondering if our math is right there and how that should trend in the fourth quarter. And then per Greg's comments with the sudden surge in kind of non-Tinder marketing spend, can core Match get back to mid to high single digits sub growth in 2017 or beyond? without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. 'Thomson Reuters' and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 02, 2016 / 12:30PM, MTCH.OQ - Q3 2016 Match Group Inc Earnings Call And then, just one other question. Percentage of Tinder revenue that's ala carte and with boosting offered to subs and non subs going forward, are all of the a la carte products going to be available for non Tinder plus subs? Thank you.

Question: John Blackledge - Cowen and Company - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Heath Terry - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Great. Thanks. Just curious in the commentary around sort of the lifetime value calculation. How much of that has been deterioration of that lifetime value and I realize this is only relative to one sort of small segment. Is it related to mobile, is it related to just shorter lifetime on that particular platform given the demographic? Just sort of curious what the math behind that change in LTV is? And then on Tinder and the commentary that you had around mobile advertising. I guess somebody sort of referenced a similar question earlier, but is there a sense that advertising on Tinder is going to have the kind of demand that you're expecting for it just given the broader I think weakness and sort of run of mobile advertising that we see not just within Dating but kind of across everything that's non-Facebook, Google and a handful of other sites?

Question: Heath Terry - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Great thanks a lot.

Question: Dan Salmon - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Hey, guys. Good morning. Greg when you look at the out performance of Tinder PMCs as you discussed which was the original forecast at the beginning of the year, can you dive in a little bit to the demographics? Are you seeing younger users more inclined to pay, is it older users picking up the app in the first place? Just a little color on that would be great. And then second, on the advertising roll out you discussed getting the back-end set by moving over from LiveRail to DoubleClick. I'm just interested sort of what are the near term priorities now? Is it filling out the sales force, agency relations or is it really now diving into ad product and starting to run a little bit more? Thanks.

Question: Dan Salmon - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Okay. Thanks, Greg.

Question: Douglas Anmuth - JPMorgan - Analyst : Thanks for taking the question. Greg, I was hoping to get your latest thoughts on whether Princeton Review is strategic to your business and whether you would actually consider some strategic or structural alternatives here? And also, can you to help us understand the normalized growth rate for PlentyofFish better just as it fully lapped here in October? Thanks.

Question: Douglas Anmuth - JPMorgan - Analyst : Any color on PlentyofFish?

Question: Douglas Anmuth - JPMorgan - Analyst : Got it. Okay. Thanks, Greg.

Question: Ross Sandler - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Thanks, guys. Just can you give us an update on the overall size of Tinder on a user DAU basis? And then, as you start rolling out some of these new features, you have been rolling out the paid products now for a number of quarters, how does the retention rates look in some of these cohorts? And how does the US and the international markets differ from a retention standpoint? And then Gary, on the 2017 outlook just want to make sure

Question: Chris Merwin - Barclays Capital - Analyst : All right. Great. Thanks. I just had a couple questions. So for Tinder next year in terms of the various pieces of growth you think the bigger driver is Top of the Funnel traffic growth which I guess is going to be helped by marketing? Or is it also driving conversion and increasing the paid penetration rate for that app? And then, a second question, and this is just a follow-up from earlier, in terms of conversion head winds for the core business I think you said that those are mostly behind you next year, so in order to get back to high-single digit growth over the long-term is that purely a function of more efficient marketing spend or are there still some conversion tail winds there? Just trying to understand the pieces of that. Thank you.

Question: Chris Merwin - Barclays Capital - Analyst : All right. Thank you.