Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! Three times a week, I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: (Some) Dating Apps are Down Bad

Over time, dating apps have gone from a niche experiment to *the* way people meet. But lately, looking at the financial side of this space, the story isn’t so clear-cut.

Match Group $MTCH ( ▲ 1.86% ) – which owns Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and others – is swiping left on profits, with its stock down to $31/share and a 4% drop in paying Tinder users. The outlook for Bumble $BMBL ( ▲ 1.37% ) looks even worse—its stock has tumbled well below $5/share, and while paying users are up 10%, they’re spending 10% less. 

Wall Street’s not feeling the love. Here’s what the bears are saying:

• Match: Cory Carpenter of JPMorgan $JPM ( ▲ 1.56% )  recently downgraded MTCH, citing stagnant user growth and outdated features. Analysts are also wary of internal challenges – they just appointed a new CEO – as a potential hindrance to revitalizing growth.

• Bumble: Analysts cited the loss of 57K paying customers in Q4 2024, with an anticipation that more people will leave. Something tells me all of these people didn’t find love.

Meanwhile, Grindr $GRND ( ▲ 0.68% ) – and its primary user base of gay, bisexual, and queer men – is thriving like that annoying ex who went on to date a hard-9. With 13 million monthly users, a 14% boost in paying subscribers, and a 16% increase in revenue per user, it’s one of the few apps actually turning digital romance into real profits. Turns out, power users who chat more (121 billion messages in 2023!) also spend more.

So, is online dating in decline? Not exactly. 17% of the U.S. population—nearly 60 million people—used dating apps in 2024. But here’s the twist: dating apps are just social networks, and online spaces are where people increasingly meet now – at least at first. Whether it’s Instagram DMs, X, or even LinkedIn (but also, seriously don’t), people are making connections in digital spaces.

Which begs the question—do we even need dedicated dating apps anymore, or is dating just another by-product of our increasingly online lives? Alas, if only we could mold the perfect person out of clay!

When it comes to dating apps, I’ll leave the swiping to the romantics and stick to the business case. Investors should look at the fundamentals—and right now, Match Group and Bumble are struggling to make the math work, while Grindr is showing signs of life.

Quick plug: Fintwit’s favorite power-couple Heather and Doug Boneparth have a fantastic newsletter called THE JOINT ACCOUNT where they dig into how money and relationships intersect. They also have a BOOK coming out soon, so sign up for their newsletter for updates.

Daily Rip Live Recap: Tariff Turbulence, Bad Jobs Report, and Wegovy vs. Hims

Every weekday, Shay Boloor and I run down the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. Here’s what we recently covered:

• Markets are on a rollercoaster ride this week as investors scramble to make sense of shifting tariff policies and retaliatory moves from Canada and China. The U.S. slapped 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, plus 10% on China—then hinted at walking some of it back.

• The latest ADP $ADP ( ▲ 0.34% )  jobs report was a faceplant: just 77K private sector jobs added in February, missing the 148K estimate by a mile. My co-host Shay points out that this could be a knock-on effect of Federal job cuts.

• Novo Nordisk $NVO ( ▲ 2.17% )   just shook up the weight-loss drug game, slashing Wegovy prices by 50% with a direct-to-consumer pharmacy, going toe-to-toe with hims & hers. $HIMS ( ▲ 5.35% )  stock had a recent surge before falling back to earth—retail investors are watching closely.

• Big-picture trends are catching long-term investors’ attention: AI applications, nuclear energy, and humanoid robotics—because apparently, the future is now. According to Shay, second-wave AI plays like Palantir $PLTR ( ▲ 6.9% )  and Cloudflare $NET ( ▲ 5.38% )  are heating up, while the Mag 7 keeps chasing AI dominance like it’s a gold rush.

• Crypto stocks like $BTC ( ▲ 0.12% )  spiked on U.S. reserve news Sunday, then gave it all back by Monday—turns out, that pump had an expiration date.

• Stocktwits is launching a new show where execs face unfiltered investor feedback—no PR spin, just straight talk. I’ll be your host and we’re kicking it off with Affirm’s $AFRM ( ▲ 2.9% )  CFO, Rob O’Hare, who will be answering all your burning questions.

Hear Shay and I yap about the markets every weekday at 9 a.m. ET on X (@stocktwits), YouTube, LinkedIn, or in your Stocktwits app.

More Headlines

BlackRock $BLK ( ▲ 2.66% )  and its partners are taking control of key Panama Canal ports in a $23 billion deal, following U.S. pressure to curb Chinese influence. PA-NA-MA!

Digg is making a comeback as its founder Kevin Rose and $RDDT ( ▲ 4.74% ) founder Alexis Ohanian team up to revive the once-dominant news aggregator with AI-powered tools and a fresh vision for online communities.

Abercrombie & Fitch $ANF ( ▼ 0.95% )  stock plunged over 16% after warning that new Trump tariffs could squeeze profits, echoing similar concerns from $TGT ( ▲ 3.43% )  and $BBY ( ▲ 3.99% )  as Wall Street scrambles to price in the impact.

The IRS is planning to slash up to half of its 90,000-person workforce through layoffs, buyouts, and attrition under the Trump administration’s push to shrink federal agencies, sparking warnings that it could cripple tax collection and government efficiency.

FanDuel — parent company $FLTR ( ▲ 0.08% ) — cemented its dominance in U.S. sports betting with $14 billion in 2024 revenue, despite an NFL season that favored bettors (not to mention the Chiefs 😏), while its rival ESPN Bet $DIS ( ▲ 3.12% )  struggles under a shaky $2 billion Penn Entertainment $PENN ( ▼ 0.33% )  deal.

Now Here’s a Chart

Let’s take a closer look at those ADP job growth numbers I mentioned earlier:

• Private sector jobs are growing at a slower rate than expected (77K added in February vs. 148K expected).

• The economy experienced net job losses in the (very) small business category (1-19 people), down 17K month over month.

• Most jobs were added in leisure and hospitality (41K), professional and business services (27K), financial activities, and construction (both 26K).

• Most jobs were lost in trade, transport & utilities (-33K) and education and health services (-28K).

Reading List

• Initial guest list for the White House crypto summit just dropped (CoinTelegraph) — Perhaps your invite was lost in the mail?

• Here are the likely market winners and losers if Trump stays aggressive on tariffs (BusinessInsider) – Winners: Services, Healthcare, Consulting, T-Bills, and US-based Mid-Caps; Losers: IT Hardware, Autos, and some Consumer Goods)

• This major ad agency for Google, Samsung, and Nike (R/GA) just bought back its independence (Fast Company)

• US has now canceled about one in 10 active federal commercial real estate leases (Costar)

• Firefly Aerospace Becomes First Commercial Company to Successfully Land on the Moon (Firefly Aerospace)

🎧 Now playing: “100 Years Ago (Piano Demo)” by The Rolling Stones. 12 out of 10. No notes.

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

✔ Need senior marketing support? Work with Katie.

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Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.