Match Group Inc Q4 2015 Earnings Call Transcript

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

Question: Ross Sandler - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Two questions. One on Tinder and then one on Core for Gary or Greg. So, sounds like Tinder had another strong quarter in 4Q, accelerating the PMC adds versus the prior two quarters. Where do you see Tinder's PMC at the end of 2016. And which of the paid products are working the best to drive that growth? Second question. For Core dating, ex Tinder, ex PlentyOfFish, it sounds like the PMC growth was basically flattish again in Q4. Is that likely to get meaningfully better in 2016? And from the prepared remarks, you called out that mobile penetration is getting a little bit more mature, saturated. When do you feel like that will go from a headwind to a tailwind? Thank you.

Question: Ross Sandler - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Thanks, guys.

Question: John Blackledge - Cowen Group - Analyst : Great. Thanks. A couple questions. For 1Q 2016, do you expect Tinder net sub adds to accelerate from 4Q levels? And how are the core North American Match sub trends thus far in the quarter? And do you expect that segment or that cohort to be up or down in the quarter? In then in the prepared remarks you mentioned stepping up investments in advertising. Can you discuss where the investments will be with headcount, technology for analytics, et cetera? And maybe perhaps provide an update on Tinder advertising expectations for 2016? Thank you.

Question: John Blackledge - Cowen Group - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Peter Stabler - Wells Fargo Securities - Analyst : Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. A couple. Greg, could you comment, how do you think about the pacing of launching new features on Tinder in terms of your road map? And is there anything you can advise to us in terms of how you approach the calendar? You had the Super Like. How much of a pause before we see additional features? Or is it more a kind of build as fast as you can and throw stuff against the wall, as you suggested OkCupid has done in the past? And then secondly, wondering though it's early, wondering if you can comment, if only directionally, on what you're seeing in terms of retention rate among Tinder PMCs. Thanks so much.

Question: Peter Stabler - Wells Fargo Securities - Analyst : Thanks, Greg.

Question: Nat Schindler - Bank of America Merrill Lynch - Analyst : Two questions. One, a little bit of follow up on that last question about whether or not after the nine months of -- or I guess almost a year now -- of Tinder Plus subscriber behavior, you've seen significant differences between how a Tinder subscriber behaves versus a core Match subscriber and whether -- and how that would play out on the longer-term. 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. FEBRUARY 03, 2016 / 1:00PM, MTCH.OQ - Q4 2015 Match Group Inc Earnings Call Also, can you go into a little more detail on the non-dating businesses? Specifically, what caused the falloff from your expectations and additionally, maybe on a broader sense, why does this -- what is strategic about this business inside Match?

Question: Nat Schindler - Bank of America Merrill Lynch - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Eric Sheridan - UBS - Analyst : Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe some, two clarifiers from the prepared remarks. One on ARPPU. I think there is a lot of noise out there, with the decline in ARPPU but also backing into what the mix-adjusted ARPPU is. On our math mixed-adjusted was a lot better than the headline number. I just wanted know if we could get a little bit of color on ARPPU mix across properties. And number two, when we look through the EBITDA guide, just want to back into, is that implying a range of about $400 million to $450 million? I just make sure we're reading the comments right. Thank you.

Question: Eric Sheridan - UBS - Analyst : Thanks for the color.

Question: Jason Helfstein - Oppenheimer & Company - Analyst : Maybe, Greg, talk a bit more about marketing efficiency. You talked in the past how TV has had reduced efficiency for you, particularly in 2015. Even though you guys have had a very refined marketing funnel. Maybe give us an update, where we now with the marketing funnel? Particularly thinking about more like the legacy brands, so Match, Meetic, OkCupid. Have we -- where are we in that point? And then secondly, I know part of the focus is going to be to try to cross sell more of the PlentyOfFish and OkCupid to consumers who may go to Match or Meetic but are unlikely to convert. Maybe give us an update on how that is going and if you think that could ultimately help accelerate sub growth in the back half of the year. Thanks. 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. FEBRUARY 03, 2016 / 1:00PM, MTCH.OQ - Q4 2015 Match Group Inc Earnings Call

Question: Jason Helfstein - Oppenheimer & Company - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Dan Solomon - Northwood Family Office - Analyst : Good morning, everyone. Greg, could you -- you mentioned in the prepared remarks and it has been clear on this call a little bit and anyone who's been paying attention would notice it, that the pace of product releases at Tinder has picked up quite a bit in the back half of the year, especially since the fall. Do you see that being a sort of temporary ramp up? Or do you see the cadence of product releases staying at the elevated level? And then second, just maybe your current thoughts on the competitive environment for it and how that plays into your thinking on product updates? 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. FEBRUARY 03, 2016 / 1:00PM, MTCH.OQ - Q4 2015 Match Group Inc Earnings Call

Question: Dan Solomon - Northwood Family Office - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Brendan Ross - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Thanks for taking the question. I just wanted to get a little granular on the international versus the domestic businesses. The international legacy businesses appear to be more stable now while the domestic seems to be much more challenged. I just wanted to find out what the difference is there. And, on the mix shift to mobile, you say that the effect is slowing, but if we look at the legacy North American PMC when we back into it, it seems to have declined at a much more rapid rate in Q4 than in prior quarters. Just hoping you could reconcile that. Thanks.

Question: Brendan Ross - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Great. Just -- also on Tinder, again looking at domestic versus international, you spoke in the prepared remarks to user growth continuing to be strong across all geographies. But you did not give the same color for paid sub growth. Can you, just talk to the differences in paid sub growth in the domestic business versus international. Thanks.

Question: Brendan Ross - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Great. Thank you.

Question: Douglas Anmuth - JPMorgan - Analyst : Thanks for taking the question. A couple things. First just on the mobile conversion, you talk about in the letter how the improvement is based on the effort you are able to put toward it. So just wanted to understand better what the factors are that might be constraining you here around exerting more of that effort. Is it the tech rebuild or what other resource constraints there might be. And then also, on Tinder, can you talk about just overall engagement growth? How you're feeling about it from an MAU basis not just from PMCs and then also about some of the changes you made on the algorithms in particular over the last few months? Thanks.

Question: Douglas Anmuth - JPMorgan - Analyst : Thank you. 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. FEBRUARY 03, 2016 / 1:00PM, MTCH.OQ - Q4 2015 Match Group Inc Earnings Call