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Loop Capital analyst Laura Champine cut her rating on Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) on Wednesday on the grounds that the online dating company has the potential for earnings and revenue to miss expectations heading into 2023.
Champine took down her rating on Match (MTCH) to hold from buy, and also lowered her price target on the company's stock to $60 a share from $70. Champine said that after Match (MTCH) missed Wall Street's second-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts, "we see potential for further misses" going into next.
According to Champine, business from Match's (MTCH) Tinder dating app "remains a wildcard" due to recent market share losses to Bumble (BMBL), as well as the recent departure of Renate Nyborg from her Tinder Chief Executive post.
"Tinder has not been executing in line with expectations," Champine said, in a research note. "Match blamed Tinder for its lower outlook overall, and said product launches had been poorly executed of late. The brand needs to do a better job attracting new customers."
Champine also said that Match (MTCH) CEO Bernard Kim "has his hands full" but she sees him being able to bring in "exciting talent" to the company form outside the dating industry.
Wall Street analysts currently have a consensus buy rating on Match's (MTCH) stock, while Seeking Alpha authors have hung a sell rating on the company's shares. Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently outperforms the market, also has attached a sell rating on Match's (MTCH) stock.