The Bumble Inc. (BMBL) app is shown on an Apple iPhone in this photo illustration as the dating app operator made its debut IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake/Illustration
(Reuters) -Bumble said on Wednesday it would lay off nearly a third of its workforce, the latest cuts in a dating app industry striving to develop features that will keep users spending amid economic uncertainty.
The company also raised its second-quarter revenue forecast, as a broader effort to revamp the platform starts to take hold.
The job cuts will affect 240 roles, or 30% of Bumble's staff. Rival Match also announced a 13% workforce reduction last month.
Bumble shares rose 19% on the news, but their market value has shrunk by about a fifth this year to a little over $500 million. Its peak was around $15 billion, when the company went public in 2021, LSEG data shows.
The "layoffs reflect Bumble's new strategy of optimizing for user experience rather than revenue or user growth in the short term", and underscores new CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd's desire for a more agile startup structure, said M Science analyst Chandler Willison.
Online dating firms have struggled in recent years to retain audiences, especially Gen Z users, leading to management overhauls at Match and Bumble as well as pressure from activist investors.
Bumble's Herd returned as CEO earlier this year with the promise of boosting the company's performance by focusing on match-making quality.
The company raised its second-quarter revenue forecast to a range of $244 million to $249 million, up from the prior view of $235 million to $243 million.
It had also met Wall Street expectations for first-quarter revenue in May, even as it posted a 7% decline.
Bumble said it will incur about $13 million to $18 million in layoff-related charges, primarily in the third and fourth quarters of 2025.
It expects to save about $40 million of annual costs, which it plans to reinvest in initiatives such as product and technology development.
(Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Devika Syamnath)
