Tinder owner Match gains as Barclays upgrades, sees a number of upside catalysts

By Senad Karaahmetovic

Barclays analysts upgraded Match Group (NASDAQ:) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $52.00 per share.

Shares are trading over 6% higher in Tuesday’s trading session. Including today’s move higher, the analysts’ price target still implies an upside potential of about 40%.

“We believe MTCH has effectively transitioned from an Internet growth stock over the past few years to now a value stock due to its high-margin profile and strong cash flow generation,” they wrote in an upgrade note to clients.

The analysts took note of the MTCH stock underperformance in 2023 amid Tinder growth concerns.

“While there is continued risk that Tinder payer growth does not recover by 2H23 if macro continues to weaken, we believe the company’s strategy in FY23 to focus on optimizations to drive payer growth is a prudent one that was highly effective in the past as they resulted in sequential payer net adds at a similar magnitude to new large features such as Tinder Gold,” they added.

They also believe there is a limited downside for MTCH, while outlining several positive catalysts that could help drive shares higher. These include a higher-priced subscription tier, advertising, and App Store fees.