Unmatched: Tinder's parent company lost a fifth of its value as its pandemic swiping boom fizzles
Girls’ night out > another coffee date… Match Group wasn’t feeling the love from investors after earnings yesterday. Shares of the dating icon plunged 18% after it reported that swipe-fueled growth was cooling. Refresher: Match owns Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and 20+ other e-romance businesses.
- Burned out: Match’s revenue growth slowed significantly last quarter to 12%, and it’s lowered its forecast for the current quarter too.
- Left-swiped: Tinder’s CEO stepped down this week after less than a year on the job. America’s #1 dating app also ditched its romantic metaverse plans (including a Tinder digi-coin).
From FaceTime to face-to-face… Match benefited during the pandemic as stuck-at-home singles shelled out more $$ for extra swipes to connect. But now users are more interested in BFF vacay retreats than at-home swipe sprees. Last quarter, Match's revenue per user grew just 3% — down from 15% last year. Global dating-app revenue has grown every year since 2015, but downloads have dipped from prepandemic highs.
There are plenty of fish left in the sea… The key is fishing in the right spot. As Match’s saturated North American market hits a wall, it’s looking overseas to expand. Last year, Match spent $1.7B to buy Korean social company Hyperconnect (its biggest acquisition) and launched Hinge in Germany. This year Hinge is expected to bring in $300M in revenue as it launches in other European countries and India, where dating apps are less popular.