Match Group Inc (NASDAQ: MTCH) stock fell 3.5% on May 9th (As of 9:53 am GMT-4; Source: Google finance) after posting a rally of over 36.8% in the last six months. The firm posted better than expected results for the first quarter of FY 19 driven by strong international growth in its online dating app Tinder. Tinder attracted more than 384,000 new subscribers in the first quarter, boosting direct revenue 38 percent from the year earlier period. The online dating app, where users swipe right to indicate interest in a potential date, now have 4.7 million global subscribers. Overall, Match’s average subscribers rose 16 percent with most of the new users flowing in from outside North America. The net income grew 23 percent from a year earlier to $123 million in the three months ending March 31.
Meanwhile, as the arranged marriages are declining in India and the stigma towards online dating eroding in Japan, Ginsberg is concentrating on international expansion. There are more than 400 million single people living outside North America and Europe, two-thirds of whom have not yet tried a dating product, as per the company. Ginsberg had recently revamped the company’s leadership team in Asia, had appointed general managers in Tokyo, Seoul and Delhi, and is trying to grow Match’s footprint across the continent.
Further, Tinder is also experimenting with new video features. About a year ago it had launched Loops, which had allowed the users to post videos to their dating profiles and Ginsberg said the feature has seen strong engagement. Last month, Snap Inc. announced a partnership with Tinder so users will soon be able to post videos from their Snap Stories onto their dating profiles. Match’s other dating sites have also seen rapid growth in the past quarter, with Hinge posting in 1.2 million downloads.
MTCH in the first quarter of FY 19 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 42 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 31 cents, as per the analysts surveyed by FactSet. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 14 percent to $464.6 million in the first quarter of FY 19, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $464 million.
For the second quarter, MTCH expects $480 million to $490 million in revenue and $190 million to $195 million in adjusted EBITDA. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were projecting revenue of $485 million and EBITDA of $186 million, respectively.