Until early last year, Match Group’s (MTCH) Tinder was little more than a free mobile app, one of many dating apps that use Facebook (FB) links to verify users. That changed in March 2015 when Match Group rolled out a premium version of Tinder, priced in a range of $9.99 to $19.99 monthly, Investor’s Business Daily reported.
“The strength of Match Group right now has been the Tinder results. They’re adding more than 200,000 subscribers per quarter,” said Brandon Ross, an analyst at BTIG, a financial services firm. “There’s amazing brand equity. You think of dating, you think of Tinder. It’s in the zeitgeist.”
Tinder had 1.23 million paid members as of June 30. It accounted for 23% of Match Group’s overall 5.3 million paid members in the June 2016 quarter, up from 11% in the year-earlier period, and was the driving force behind Match Group’s stock doubling from a low in February.
Match Group has been investing heavily in Tinder, with employee head count more than doubling in the past year.
MTCH is a Cabot Top Ten Trader stock.