August 8, 2018 | 7:00 AM by Fahad Khalid | fkhalid@jaguaranalytics.com

Behind The Numbers – Match Group (MTCH) Tinder Gold and Hinge

Two days ago, on August 6, in JaguarLive chat room, we pointed out to clients buyer of Match Group (MTCH) 1,000 August 42 calls for $0.65. These calls will open at $3.00 today with stock trading at $45 in pre-market.

The same day we also pointed out InterActive (IAC) which is the parent company with 80% ownership in both MTCH and ANGI (and other businesses) saw large buyer 1,600 long term January (2020) 180-strike calls for up to $16.90. Approx $2.6 million bullish bet now reflected in open interest.

MTCH reported really impressive quarter last night and management provided a presentation to go along with earnings report highlighting key drivers of strong growth, particularly Tinder Gold, Hinge and Pairs.

– Q2 EPS of $0.45 vs $0.34 estimate – Beat
– Q2 Revenue of $421.2M vs $413.2M estimate – Beat
– Q2 Total Revenue increased +36% Y/Y
– Q2 Average Subscriber Growth of 27%
– Q2 Tinder Avg Sub increased 299K Q/Q and 1.7M Y/Y

Behind The Numbers – Strong growth story driven by platform improvements and new launches.

Hinge – Previously we have talked plenty of times about strong Tinder Gold launch. But perhaps recently acquired Hinge should deserve equal attention. Hinge is highly relevant and well-received product, particularly among young, cosmopolitan singles looking for relationships. Monthly downloads up 400%+ over last twelve months with meaningful traction in major cities, particularly NYC. MTCH has 51% ownership as of June 2018 with right to acquire remaining shares. MTCH and Hinge together are planning significant marketing push for 2H of 2018.

Tinder Gold – The platform continues to see improvement / enhancement in interface. Tinder U was launched with limited release as test case, and now will be rolling out everywhere for college students with significant marketing push expected for back to school. Tinder Picks, which provides up to 10 curated picks daily, is currently being tested in 9 markets on both iOS and Android with full roll out expected by year end. This adds value to Gold subscription. Tinder Places is showing strong retention according to management, a new feature that was rolled out in Q2, available in only 4 large cities so far. Still plenty of ground to cover.

#IAC#MTCH

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