Morgan Stanley Swipes on Tinder and These Other Companies

The bank said "the swipe is hype" in criticizing Tinder parent company's stock.

ByABC News
February 26, 2015, 4:40 PM
This photo illustration shows the dating application, Tinder.
This photo illustration shows the dating application, Tinder.
Franziska Kraufmann/AP Photo

— -- intro: "The swipe is hype."

That's what investment bank Morgan Stanley is saying about Tinder, the popular dating app. The bank argues that Tinder's paid version of its app launching next month will turn away customers who are used to swiping left or right for free to reject or accept potential romantic partners.

Morgan Stanley's note to clients on Wednesday, obtained by ABC News, explains why the bank gave IAC, the owner of dating sites Tinder, OkCupid and Match.com, an "underweight" rating, forecasting that its stock will perform worse than others in the industry.

Here's more about Tinder and four other companies that were swiped by Morgan Stanley:

quicklist:title: Tindertext:

Remember what dating life was like before Match.com launched in 1995? Pagers and Instant Messages were the prominent uses of technology when it came to romance. Now IAC's Match group, which encompasses all its dating properties, has been valued as much as $4.7 billion, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

But Morgan Stanley analysts are skeptical. After 15 years of online dating, the industry's "best case" scenario is that four percent of singles pay for online dating, according to Morgan Stanley's estimate. IAC's stock dipped in overnight trading but is up about half a percentage point mid-day today.

"First, given the young age of the target demo and frequent unwillingness to pay monthly recurring fees for social services, we believe Tinder will not have much success in monetizing with a high-cost recurring monthly subscription offer," the Morgan Stanley note read.

IAC did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

quicklist:title: Abercrombie and Fitch text: Today, Morgan Stanley swiped away bare-chested models and tween clothing by downgrading Abercrombie and Fitch to "underweight," expressing skepticism toward the retailer's international business, according to the TheFlyonTheWall.com.

In December, Abercrombie and Fitch cut its profit outlook for the year and said its sales fell 12 percent in its third quarter.

Abercrombie did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

quicklist:title: Inteltext: Another company that Morgan Stanley is not keen to have a cup of coffee with is Intel, which also carries an "underweight" stamp. Morgan Stanley maintained its rating in a report issued on Feb. 6, writing that it's "cautious" as it expects sales of desktop computers to fall about 6.2 percent this year, according to Benzinga.com.

Intel did not respond to a request for comment.

quicklist:title: Expedia text: In a report published Wednesday, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Expedia with an "underweight" rating. Possibly sending the travel site on a trek for some R&R, Morgan Stanley wrote that Expedia has "less room for growth," according to Benzinga.com.

quicklist:title: Twittertext: Morgan Stanley showed that it can transform from heart-breaker to "just friends" in a matter of months. Over a year ago, Morgan Stanley rated Twitter as "underweight," citing the intense online ad revenue competition. Months later, though, Morgan Stanley changed its rating to the more neutral "equal-weight" label. Despite Twitter's user and business growth, Morgan Stanley said it needs to “understand the impact" on monthly average users and monetization, according to Benzinga.com.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.