Match Group Stock Climbs 30% in 2 Months

Match Group’s stock has climbed from $36.36 on 20th November 2018 to

$50.45 on 25th January 2019, a rise of over 30% in little over two months.

By crossing the $50 mark, Match has recovered almost all of the value that was lost after lower-than-expected projections accompanied its Q3 earnings.

The company had good news in the run-up to Christmas, however, taking some early wins in its IP battles with Whitney Wolfe Herd’s Bumble.

A court ruled that the swipe-based interface had significantly altered the online dating experience, and so it may be patentable and the infringement case against Bumble cannot be dismissed.

A Seeking Alpha analysis at the turn of the year then emphasised the group’s dominance in the dating niche, and suggested that it may have been undervalued in the wake of the earnings call.

The piece argued: “The pure numbers of users on Tinder create a tremendously valuable amount of match supply that simply cannot be matched.”

Investors and commentators were initially puzzled by the decision to award a $560 million dividend to investors, with some suggesting the transaction would wipe out Match Group’s cash reserves.

Others argued that it was a confident move, however, and that reading of events seems to have won the day. The dividend is expected to help power a major IAC acquisition; Match’s parent company took the vast majority of the capital.

This week, Match was revealed to be backing a new startup. ‘Ship’, a collaboration with the lifestyle blog Betches, will allow friends to cooperate on matching for a single in their group.

Read more here.