Match Group showing ‘signs of life,’ says Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Benjamin Black says Match Group is showing “signs of life” after the company reported a solid quarter and outlook. Tinder payers that came in well ahead of estimates with guidance for 250,000 quarter-over-quarter net adds for Q3 well ahead of buy-side expectations of 50,000-100,000 net adds sequentially, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes the key highlight from the shareholder letter was the stabilization in monthly active users and believes Match’s outlook for user trends continues to improve. The company “checks a lot of boxes for investors” as it is a market leader in a category that until recently did not appear to be even close to fully digitally penetrated, has very attractive margins and is capital light, contends Deutsche Bank. The firm keeps a Buy rating on Match with a $38 price target.