Online dating is one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S.
From 2007 to 2012, the number of people who visited or used an online or mobile dating service doubled to 40 million from 20 million. During that time, industry revenue more than doubled, climbing to $1.9 billion from $900 million.
In January of 2014, 39% of all mobile transactions came from a dating service or app.
Today – one in 10 adults now average more than an hour every day on a dating site or app, according to market research firm Nielson.
Clearly, online dating has become a bedrock of U.S. – and global – culture.
And looking forward, the online dating industry is going to do nothing but grow.
Analyst are projecting the U.S. online dating industry will grow annual revenue by $100 million, or 5% annually through 2019. That represents a huge opportunity for industry leaders that can capture an out sized portion of that sales growth.
That’s why I am excited to share a fresh investment idea this week that I want all my clients to think about.
Match Group (Nasdaq: MTCH) isn’t just a global leader – the company is credited with giving birth to the online dating industry – with its founding dating back 20 years ago to 1995.
Today, Match Group is a holding company. It owns the industry’s most powerful and impressive portfolio of dating sites and services. That includes match.com, Tinder, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish. Anyone who has signed up for online dating knows these are the most popular sites.
Adding all of its assets together – Match packs a powerful punch.
- 59 million monthly active users.
- 4.7 million paid members.
- 75 million messages sent per day on their products.
- 89% of singles in North America are aware of Match Group dating products.
- 45 different brands operating in 190 countries in 38 different languages.
- Match products have led to the start of 8.4 million relationships, and approximately 2.5 million marriages.
This industry leading portfolio has helped Match crush the competition in the last two years. There is no other company that has come even close to booking the same sales growth. Take a look below.
Last quarter, Match Group reported revenue of $239 million, an increase of 13% from the same period last year. Match Group’s revenues is expected to increase 18% in 2015 to $1.24 billion.
The bottom line is that Match is an industry leader in a high-growth industry.
And now, we have an opportunity to profit from that growth.
On Thursday, November 19, Match had an Initial Public Offering (IPO). That means its shares are now available to investors through the public stock exchanges.
Match shares gained 20% in the first two days of trading. It’s off to a great start.
Long term, I believe there is still plenty of growth ahead.
If anyone is interested in buying shares – call or email me and let’s get moving!
The Online Dating industry is Growing Quickly – But this Industry is Growing Even Faster
There are few industries growing faster than online dating. But this next industry blows it out of the water.
Marijuana was the fastest growing industry in the U.S. in 2014.
Researchers from The ArcView Group, a cannabis industry investment and research firm based in Oakland, California, found that the U.S. market for legal cannabis grew 74 percent in 2014 to $2.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2013.
Looking forward, this trend is going to accelerate.
Industry analysts are projecting revenue growth to double in the next three years. Take a look below.
This incredible growth is being driven by a powerful trend.
More countries around the world are recognizing that the “war on drugs” is a total failure. In turn, they are also recognizing that drug legalization reduces crime rates, weakens drug cartels, lowers incarceration rates, cuts government spending and increases tax revenues. That’s called a win, win, win, win, win.
On that note, there has been some major news on the legalization front that everyone needs to know about.
Canada’s New Prime Minister Wants Full Legalization of Marijuana
Canada elected a young, new Prime Minister named Justin Trudeau last month. One of the biggest platforms he campaigned on was full legalization and regulation of marijuana.
30 days into his administration, he is already making good on that promise.
Last week, Trudeau sent a mandate letter to Justice Minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould asking her to meet with other members of the government to “create a federal-provincial-territorial process that will lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana.”
Make no doubt about it, Canada is on its way to full legalization. This is a huge catalyst for the marijuana industry.
Mexico is also Quietly on its way to Legalizing all Drugs
We all know Mexico has been ravished by the drug trade. Today, the country is in the early stages of legalizing marijuana – and every illegal drug within a decade.
In late October Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that marijuana use was a ‘human right.”
This sets the stage for legislation that would allow for the commercialization and regulation of marijuana.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is predicting that all drugs will be legal within a decade as Mexico tries to crush the illegal drug trade that has plagued the country.
The Entire North American Continent is on the Cusp of Full Marijuana Legalization
Taking a higher level view, its not hard to see marijuana is on the cusp of full legalization across the entire North America continent in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Can you imagine the Tsunami of growth this is going to trigger? Cannabis is already the fastest growing industry in the US. When you add in legalization in Canada and Mexico, I believe that pace of growth is going to accelerate.
An Industry Leader with a 500,000 Square Foot Grow Facility
Marijuana stocks have taken a beating in the last year.
But now, in light of some positive legal developments, cannabis stocks are beginning to turn around.
For example, Canopy Growth Corp (OTC: CGC) is one of Canada’s largest marijuana companies.
It is one of a small group of companies that have been granted permission by Canadian regulators to grow marijuana. This is a huge competitive advantage.
A few years ago, it purchased a 500,000 square foot manufacturing facility from Hershey Co in Canada and proceeded to turn it into a marijuana production facility.
Here’s how the facility it looks from above.
Here’s what it looks like on the inside.
In addition to growing marijuana, CGC is also involved in developing consumer products such as edibles, oils and wax.
When news hit the wire that Canada had elected a pro-marijuana Prime minister, the company’s share price jumped 115% in four weeks. Take a look below.
This is just one example. There are plenty more companies in position to benefit from legal marijuana.
I know the ride has been bumpy. But if anyone wants to either add to existing positions, invest for the first time or get back in after selling, please let me know.
We’re heading into the end of the year. The S&P has been on a roll, just finishing its best week of the year with a 3.1% gain. This is good news. The market is now in the green for the year. I’ll be looking for more of the same as we head into the end of the year.
I’ll be back in a few weeks with another update. In the meantime, please think about Match and Marijuana.
Mike
Disclosure: I own shares of Match Group and Canopy Growth Corp.
