No match for the market: World’s biggest dating app stocks have slumped by 38% over five years as daters turn to IRL

• IG analysis shows basket of leading dating app stocks have massively underperformed S&P 500 and FTSE 100 over five years
• Basket of companies analyzed has lost 38% since 2021 vs a 102% gain for the S&P 500
• Bumble is worst performer, falling 56% in past year and 95% over five years

Investors in the world’s biggest dating app stocks may be feeling heartbroken this Valentine’s Day, according to analysis from investing and trading platform IG.

IG analyzed the performance of the four biggest dating app companies globally – Match Group (owner of apps Tinder and Hinge), Grindr, Hello Group and Bumble, finding that the basket of stocks has produced a negative return for investors over one year (-22%), three years (-2%) and five years (-38%).

The S&P 500 meanwhile has returned 102% over five years, with the FTSE 100 close behind, returning 93%. Over the past year alone, the FTSE 100 has delivered a bumper 37%.

To put this into perspective, an investor who had put £1,000 into the S&P 500 five years ago would have seen their investment grow to £2,020 today, while the same £1,000 invested into the basket of dating apps would have fallen to £620.

The worst-performing company in the basket analyzed was Nasdaq-listed Bumble, which made its name by pioneering the approach of only allowing women to strike up conversation. Bumble has lost investors 56% over the past year, and is 95% down over five years, with the poor performance driven by a decline in paying users and intense competition, particularly from competitor Hinge.

Match Group faces the same competitive landscape, with its flagship product Tinder in particular losing out due to a failure to innovate in the face of newer rivals.

While Grindr has returned 123% over three years, investors who bought the stock a year ago would have seen a 33% loss. Dissatisfied users have pointed to prolific advertising, technical glitches and safety concerns as key reasons for abandoning the platform.

The one company in the basket to buck the trend is Hello Group, benefitting from increased demand for dating apps and social media among China’s burgeoning middle classes, while enjoying significant free cashflow generation.

In the UK, appetite for dating apps is on the decline, with the top 10 apps seeing a reduction in users of 16% according to Ofcom*.

The picture for social media companies more broadly is mixed, with Facebook and Instagram owner Meta returning 399% over three years, but just 8% over the past year, while Snapchat owner Snap Inc. has lost investors 31% over three years and is down 85% over five years.

Table shows the performance of the basket of dating stocks analyzed vs S&P 500 and FTSE 100

*Data taken from Reuters on 29/01/26, past performance is not an indicator of future returns

Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG, said: “Dating apps operate in an incredibly competitive market, and most are relatively newly listed, having risen quickly as start ups. It’s being widely reported that users are growing increasingly alienated with the quality of interactions on dating apps, favouring real-life dating experiences, and investors are clearly paying attention to this trend.  

“While many of these companies have seen declining user participation in Europe and the US, there is a growing trend towards diversification into China driven by increased demand to meet shifting lifestyles and social expectations. ”

*Ofcom report on declining use of dating apps.

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