Spark Networks SE

OTCPK:LOVL.Q Stock Report

Market Cap: US$2.6k

This company listing is no longer active

This company may still be operating, however this listing is no longer active. Find out why through their latest events.

Spark Networks Future Growth

Future criteria checks 0/6

We currently don't have sufficient analyst coverage to forecast growth and revenue for Spark Networks.

Key information

n/a

Earnings growth rate

n/a

EPS growth rate

Interactive Media and Services earnings growth12.5%
Revenue growth raten/a
Future return on equityn/a
Analyst coverage

None

Last updatedn/a

Recent future growth updates

Recent updates

Analysis Article • Feb 25

Spark Networks (NASDAQ:LOV) Use Of Debt Could Be Considered Risky

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says...
Seeking Alpha • Oct 17

Spark Networks: The Ugly Girl At The Prom

Summary Spark Networks has shown little improvement in recent months. Insiders aren’t touching the stock. Other than a buyout, I see limited upside. Management doesn't seem to have a plan for how to improve operations. Update & Thesis Back in June, I wrote a piece comparing Match Group (MTCH) and Spark Networks (LOV). In summary, I gave Match a "hold" since I disliked the company but didn't have enough of a reason to initiate a bearish view. I gave Spark a "sell" based on their business models and income statements. Match is down 41% since the publication and Spark is down 45%. While both stocks have decreased in value, I will credit the bear market for the decline instead of my foresight. I still believe Spark has much more room to fall if they continue the status quo. There has been no observable improvement in the business model flaws discussed in my last writing. Spark Networks is an online dating conglomerate with 12 different platforms. Prior to the Zoosk acquisition, the company mainly operated dating sites on an exclusionary basis and did not utilize the Networking Effect. For example, Jdate is likely to discourage a Christian from using the platform. Even more odd is that Spark operates JSwipe as a second separate Jewish-based dating platform. Why would a business compartmentalize such a specific demographic and not merge them? This would be akin to Amazon (AMZN) operating completely separate sites for adults under 30 and over 30. Spark Networks Subsidiaries (Spark Networks) In my opinion, this is a terrible business strategy and the company's financials prove it to be true. As discussed in my last piece on Spark, the business model limits the company's scalability. What's peculiar is I believe this flaw is extremely obvious and can't comprehend how management doesn't see it. Transcripts are full of excuses with no results. I see no positive long-term prospects for Spark Networks other than a possible buyout. Management: Excuses, Excuses Sparks failed to capitalize on the Covid lockdowns like other dating companies have. As you can see here, the company did grow their revenue during the lockdown period. This was the opportunity of a lifetime for online dating companies: in-person dating was put on hold and the only way to mingle was through the internet. If Spark was going to grow its user base, this was the time to do so. It is now October 2022, a full 30 months since the start of Covid. As you can see from the income statement, the company is now recording losses in operating and net income now that the lockdowns are over. Other than the Zoosk acquisition, the company still hasn't pivoted away from its exclusivity business model. Transcripts show what I believe to be a lack of direction on management's part. The absence of insider purchases even as the stock price declined this year suggests a lack of belief. Below are some quotes from the CEO, none of which give me confidence in the company for the long term. "We saw an increase in fraud on our SilverSingles and EliteSingles platform, which we believe led to lower performance versus our expectations." "Our Board has been highly engaged with the company's external financial, legal and strategic advisers to identify and assess a range of alternatives to enhance Spark's value" "We are working to simplify our technology infrastructure by moving our primary brands from 3 platforms to 2. While we have made good progress in our plan, we prioritize some of our resources to focus on safety, delaying our transition to H1 next year." "We continue to make progress on getting Zoosk back to growth." "If you have subscribers that are going to renew but had a bad experience, they wouldn't renew." - CEO Eric Eichmann To be fair, management did make statements that can inspire some optimism. The company restructured its debt, by negotiating a package with MGG Investment Group, and which you can read about in detail here. In short, the company elected to take on more debt but with a longer maturity date. As you can see on Spark's balance sheet, long-term debt increased from $85M to $105M YOY. Total Cash on hand remained roughly flat from the June 2021 quarter as well. So why am I still bearish? The concern here is not that the business has challenges, such as fraud and security on the platforms. The concern is that Spark's competitors such as Bumble (BMBL) and Tinder are meeting them head on and continue to be top companies in the industry while Spark Networks is stalled. From a financial standpoint, both competitors mentioned have a history of profitability. 5-Year Net Income (Seeking Alpha) From an operational standpoint, Spark's competitors are already delivering value to their user base. Match is looking to add features to its platform and does not appear not focused on restructuring debt. Bumble and Tinder are also extremely simple to use, which is why I believe their user base is so engaged. These quotes suggest to me that management is behind the curve and playing catch-up. The statements are focused on correcting past mistakes rather than specific plans of how they will grow their user base. This suggests to me that management doesn't have what it takes to be an innovator in the online dating space. Further proof of this is Spark's largest platform based on number of users is Zoosk, which came from an acquisition and not from organic growth. Zoosk is also ranked #11 in total users according to Business Of Apps. Zoosk has also decreased in rank since 2015 as the images below show. It should also be noted that five of the 2021 top 10 dating platforms are owned by Match Group: Tinder, Plenty of Fish, Hinge, OkCupid, and Match. Bumble has two in the top 10 as Bumble owns Badoo.
Seeking Alpha • Aug 09

Spark Networks reports Q2 results; narrows FY22 soft guidance

Spark Networks press release (NASDAQ:LOV): Q2 net loss was $8.8M, compared to $49.0M in the second quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $1.7M, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $8.6M in the second quarter of 2021. Revenue of $48.04M (-13.0% Y/Y). Total paid subscribers grew from 831,000 to 838,000 sequentially in the second quarter.  "We now expect total revenue for the year to be down low to mid-single digits on a percentage basis as compared to 2021. On a constant currency basis, we expect full-year 2022 revenue to be consistent with full-year 2021 revenue. On the profitability side, although we expect full-year Adjusted EBITDA to be lower than previously anticipated, we expect to deliver low double-digit Adjusted EBITDA margins for the full year."
Analysis Article • Jun 07

Spark Networks (NASDAQ:LOV) Takes On Some Risk With Its Use Of Debt

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it might be obvious that you need to...
Seeking Alpha • Jun 02

Spark Networks: Love Might Be In The Air Again

Today, we take our first in-depth look at Spark Networks in over two years. This dating site operator has been severely impacted by the pandemic. Can the shares turn around as the coronavirus outbreak ebbs? A full investment analysis follows in the paragraphs below.
Analysis Article • Apr 05

Does Spark Networks (NYSEMKT:LOV) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the...
Analysis Article • Mar 08

How Much Did Spark Networks'(NYSEMKT:LOV) Shareholders Earn From Share Price Movements Over The Last Three Years?

Spark Networks SE ( NYSEMKT:LOV ) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 11% in the last quarter. But...
Analysis Article • Feb 01

Spark Networks SE's (NYSEMKT:LOV) About To Shift From Loss To Profit

Spark Networks SE ( NYSEMKT:LOV ) is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business, so we would like to...
Analysis Article • Dec 26

What Type Of Shareholders Own The Most Number of Spark Networks SE (NYSEMKT:LOV) Shares?

The big shareholder groups in Spark Networks SE ( NYSEMKT:LOV ) have power over the company. Insiders often own a large...
Analysis Article • Nov 30

Spark Networks'(NYSEMKT:LOV) Share Price Is Down 54% Over The Past Three Years.

The truth is that if you invest for long enough, you're going to end up with some losing stocks. But long term Spark...

In this section we usually present revenue and earnings growth projections based on the consensus estimates of professional analysts to help investors understand the company’s ability to generate profit. But as Spark Networks has not provided enough past data and has no analyst forecast, its future earnings cannot be reliably calculated by extrapolating past data or using analyst predictions.

This is quite a rare situation as 97% of companies covered by SimplyWall St do have past financial data.

Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts

OTCPK:LOVL.Q - Analysts future estimates and past financials data (USD Millions)
DateRevenueEarningsFree Cash FlowCash from OpAvg. No. Analysts
6/30/2023172-59-4-2N/A
3/31/2023179-41-21N/A
12/31/2022188-44-12-10N/A
9/30/2022198-37-3-1N/A
6/30/2022203-2901N/A
3/31/2022210-6957N/A
12/31/2021217-681617N/A
9/30/2021223-1031415N/A
6/30/2021230-1011416N/A
3/31/2021232-512023N/A
12/31/2020233-471619N/A
9/30/2020234-161215N/A
6/30/2020230-31811N/A
3/31/2020201-34-22N/A
12/31/2019171-3549N/A
9/30/2019140-22712N/A
6/30/2019113-91116N/A
3/31/2019114-6812N/A
12/31/2018118-4610N/A
9/30/2018114-7-13N/A
6/30/2018113-6-9-4N/A
3/31/2018112-7-8-3N/A
12/31/2017100-8-6-1N/A
6/30/201791-148N/A
3/31/2017820N/A7N/A
12/31/2016771N/A7N/A
12/31/2015660N/A2N/A

Analyst Future Growth Forecasts

Earnings vs Savings Rate: Insufficient data to determine if LOVL.Q's forecast earnings growth is above the savings rate (2.4%).

Earnings vs Market: Insufficient data to determine if LOVL.Q's earnings are forecast to grow faster than the US market

High Growth Earnings: Insufficient data to determine if LOVL.Q's earnings are expected to grow significantly over the next 3 years.

Revenue vs Market: Insufficient data to determine if LOVL.Q's revenue is forecast to grow faster than the US market.

High Growth Revenue: Insufficient data to determine if LOVL.Q's revenue is forecast to grow faster than 20% per year.

Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts

Future Return on Equity

Future ROE: Insufficient data to determine if LOVL.Q's Return on Equity is forecast to be high in 3 years time

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2024/07/13 05:16
End of Day Share Price 2024/07/08 00:00
Earnings2023/06/30
Annual Earnings2022/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

Spark Networks SE is covered by 2 analysts. 0 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Rajiv SharmaB. Riley Securities, Inc.
Austin MoldowCanaccord Genuity