Match Group, the umbrella to dating brands including OkCupid, Hinge, PlentyOfFish and Match.com, has seen its public valuation hit an all-time high this week.
On Thursday 18 July shares were trading at $76.46, a rise of over 80% since the beginning of January. The company’s market cap now sits at $21.5 billion.
Investor’s Business Daily declared the company ‘Stock of the Day’, arguing that an imminent push into Asia will be advantageous for flagship property Tinder.
The swipe-based app is rolling out a Lite version, designed to reach users with low mobile data packages or older smartphones.
Their coverage also quotes Macquarie Research analyst Benjamin Schachter, who claims: “Match’s Tinder appears to be experimenting with options to go around Google Play on Android devices to avoid paying app store commissions.
“Match/Tinder is among the largest payers of app store commissions in the world. Match, Netflix, and Spotify are the three highest-profile companies to openly question app economics, and we believe that many others discuss the issue behind closed doors with Google and Apple (AAPL) as well as with other interested parties.”
Tinder climbed to the top of non-gaming app grossing charts this year after Netflix began taking a significant number of subscription payment via other channels.
Commentary in Forbes, courtesy of Schaeffer’s Investment Research, adds that the end of 2019 might see an “exodus of short sellers”.
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