Tinder Partners with White House to Accelerate COVID-19 Vaccinations

Match Group’s (MTCH) mobile dating app Tinder is teaming up with the White House to ensure that people get vaccinated against COVID-19 before going out on dates. The push comes following a recent survey showing that more than half of Gen Z are only interested in dates with people who have taken the shot.

As part of the partnership, the Tinder app will locate the nearest vaccination site and recommend it to those who wish to get a shot. To that end, Tinder is embedding the vaccine locator tool from Vaccine.gov on its app.

Additionally, the dating app will allow vaccinated members to display stickers proclaiming their vaccination statuses in their profiles. Also, from June 2nd to July 4th, those who participate in the promotion will receive a free “Super Like”.

The vaccination drive comes on the heels of Match Group’s unit seeing a significant increase in chatter around “vaccine.” The use of the “vaccine” term has been up 800% since the pandemic started hitting an all-time high in April.

“We’re excited to work with the White House to help 70% of American adults get vaccinated by July 4th. Nothing like fireworks to signal a new spark and a new start for those looking to meet new people IRL this summer,” said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Tinder. (See Match Group stock analysis on TipRanks)

Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald has reiterated a Hold rating on the stock in the aftermath of the company’s reporting solid Q1 results. According to the analyst, management has expressed increasing confidence that the company will reach the high-end of full-year revenue and EBITDA guidance.

Fitzgerald stated, “We view MTCH as a best-in-class operator and manager of a strategically attractive portfolio of dating assets constructed to serve a broad array of use cases and consumer lifestages. We view the online dating sector as fundamentally sound and well-suited to capitalize on mobile connected device and demographic trends.”

The analyst has a $160 price target on the stock, implying 11.64% upside potential to current levels.

Consensus among analysts on Wall Street is a Moderate Buy based on 6 Buy and 3 Hold ratings. The average analyst price target of $168 implies 17.22% upside potential to current levels.

MTCH scores a 6 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, implying its performance is likely to align with market expectations.