Dating-App Investors Should Play the Field

WALL STREET JOURNAL - July 13 - Match Group may always shine bright in online dating, but right now Bumble has some appeal. Match Group is up 62% over the past year, while Bumble has shed 25% since its February IPO. Bumble is now trading at just 9.4 times enterprise value to forward sales, with Match at a significant premium at 14.6 times. There is a reason Match has outperformed. It not only owns Tinder, but seven of the top 10 dating apps by consumer spending in the U.S. as of the Q1, according to Sensor Tower. Despite its mission to empower women to make the first move, a recent survey from Evercore ISI found a higher percentage of women say they are using Tinder than Bumble. It also found that of males and females using both apps, a significantly higher percentage of both groups reported being more satisfied with Tinder. Between the two, Bumble's underperformance this year leaves more room for upside. Both Evercore ISI's survey and a May survey from Morgan Stanley found 87% of respondents plan to maintain or increase their usage of dating apps over the next several months. 53% of those who don't pay currently said they would consider paying for online-dating apps in the future.