Match Group, Inc. (MTCH)

Dating apps 'have to go back to the drawing board' for Gen Z

Is your portfolio struggling to find love in the market? Raymond James analyst Andrew Marok sits down with Julie Hyman and Josh Schafer to talk about which dating app stocks investors should swipe right on. Grindr (GRND) shares are up by over 38% year-to-date, while Bumble (BMBL) is down by 58% in that same window. Match Group (MTCH) — the parent company of online dating apps and websites Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, OKCupid, Plenty of Fish — is down nearly 6% in 2024, but has seen a slight uptick in its share price over the past month. Marok notes the generational differences becoming apparent between Gen Z and Millennial users on these apps, especially in the straight-dating scene. Younger users coming onto the dating scene are preferring in-person events and activities, rather than swiping for matches. "These two generations have kind of antithetical preferences to how they choose to approach relationships. And since these apps were largely built by Millennials, for Millennials, navigating this switch to the Gen Z preferences has proven quite tricky," Marok explains. "We haven't seen that so much in the gay dating market, which is why Grindr has kind of prospered while the others have stumbled." Marok underlines the fact that dating apps with more specific purposes find larger engagement. Several of them even have functions and in-app settings to socialize and find friends or even network professionally. "Hinge does really well and resonates with Gen Z. I think the focus on more serious relationships, not a swipe based model, is something that is quite positive. Grindr, the fact that it serves a pretty wide variety of social connection needs within the gay community is something that has resonated really well." For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.