How Bumble Can Rekindle Investor Love

How can Bumble make investors fall in love with the company again? 

The dating app roared out of the gate with a successful initial public offering in 2021. The company’s origin story was especially noteworthy: Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd had been a founder of dating app Tinder, and her experiences there led to her filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against Tinder (which was settled for an undisclosed sum). Based on the fall-out from Tinder and being the target of online harmful content, she founded Bumble as a female-focused app. For example, Bumble was designed so that   even though anyone could swipe left or right on matches (as with Tinder), only the woman had the ability to make contact first. After matching with someone, women would have 24 hours to send a message before the match disappeared. In addition, Bumble advocated for women in many other ways, such as content about how to protect oneself from digital abuse and uplifting female brand ambassadors. 

By identifying a need for a safer space for women to date, Bumble experienced incredible success. Its stock value soared after opening day, and the company inspired glowing news stories that would make any PR professional envious. But the halcyon days soon gave way to investor turmoil. Even though the company reported consistent quarterly growth, its performance underwhelmed expectations. And when you fail to meet expectations, your stock price is going to take a hit. On top of that, turbulence in the stock market, inflation, and international political instability have dragged down the company’s stock price.  

Of course, investors are not Bumble’s only audience. Like any business, Bumble answers to multiple stakeholders, including employees and customers. On Glassdoor, Bumble has an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5, based on over 397 reviews left anonymously by employees. 84% of employees would recommend working at Bumble to a friend and 80% have a positive outlook for the business. Its total paying customer base is going up. The company just made its first acquisition: French dating app Fruitz. 

But when a company is publicly traded as Bumble is, negative investor sentiment can cast a long shadow. So, what can Bumble do differently?  

At Investis Digital, we answer this kind of question all the time for publicly traded companies. We manage and host more than 2,000 corporate and IR websites. Those websites give us data every day on how clients reach key audiences such as investors. We also benchmark corporate communications online, including websites, using our proprietary Connect.IQ methodology. Based on our most recent analysis of what investors seek from corporate/IR sites, we suggest that Bumble: 

• Articulate its growth strategy. Company strategy is a cornerstone of the investor narrative, but many companies fail to articulate and quantify their strategic ambition or time frame. The Motley Fool recently criticized Bumble for its “scattershot plans for the future.” The acquisition of Fruitz gives Bumble an opportunity to lay out a plan for its international growth strategy on its website including a time horizon for delivering on that strategy. 
• Share an investment case. An investment case is one of the most popular pages on any IR site. An investment case should discuss Bumble’s business fundamentals, competitive advantage, and market landscape, clearly and convincingly. 
• Share principal risks and uncertainties. The pandemic and climate change have made everyone more focused on risks and uncertainties. Right now, investors are discussing Bumble’s risks and uncertainties. Bumble should join the conversation by discussing its principal risks and how the company manages against them (here is an example of one company that does this). 

Bumble has a lot going for it: brand cachet, a compelling CEO, and differentiation through its approach of female empowerment. Like any publicly traded firm in today’s turbulent stock market, Bumble will continue to face challenges. But Bumble can build more investor love by improving its IR narrative on its website. 

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To learn how we can help you audit how strategic and valuable your corporate/IR site is, contact us. We’ll apply our proprietary Connect.IQ methodology to help you see how you measure up.