Match earnings gold as "Tinder Gold" boosts revenue
Business is great for dating apps and looks to only get better.
Match Group, parent company of Tinder, OKCupid and other dating apps, reported better-than-expected income for its second quarter this week. It had a profit of $132.5 million, exceeding Wall Street expectations of about $106 million.
The news sent shares of Match Group soaring 17 percent on Wednesday, to close at $45.60. On Thursday morning, Match was trading at about $46.40 per share.
Match is on track to have $1.7 billion in revenue this year, said CFO Gary Swidler. Nearly half of that—some $800 million—will come from Tinder, he said. That means the dating app is set to double the $400 million it brought in last year.
Much of that is driven by growing paid subscriptions and Tinder Gold, a premium subscription feature, according to Match. The company added nearly 300,000 new subscribers in the latest quarter, executives said.
The online dating company posted revenue of $421.2 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $413.1 million.
Match Group shares have risen 43 percent since the beginning of the year. It's not certain how the business could be affected by Facebook's foray into the dating space.