Shares of Match Group rose sharply on Wednesday, after the company behind Tinder and other popular dating apps reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue on strong subscriber growth.
Match CEO Mandy Ginsberg told CNBC, "Tinder did drive a ton of growth this quarter. We hit actually a big milestone. And at the end of the quarter, we had five million subscribers."
Describing the appeal of Tinder, which allows users to swipe right or swipe left on possible dates, Ginsberg said, "Tinder is this fun, free, engaging experience for people. And ultimately people want to find love and connections."
Match, which also owns its namesake brand and other dating services such as POF (formerly PlentyOfFish), OkCupid and Hinge (acquired in February), announced late Tuesday adjusted quarterly earnings of 42 cents per share, about a 27% increase from a year ago and a solid 10 cents above Wall Street estimates. Revenue grew 14% to a better-than-expected $465 million.
Average subscribers increased 16% to 8.6 million, while average revenue per subscriber, or ARPU, was flat due to foreign exchange fluctuations.
Shares of Match were up about 13% in midday trading Wednesday. The stock is up nearly 60% year-to-date and up nearly 90% in the past 12 months.
While Tinder continued to gain in popularity, Ginsberg was also excited to talk about Hinge, which Match recently acquired. Hinge, which launched in 2011, calls itself "designed to be deleted," as it helps users find love.
"We've seen tremendous traction with Hinge ... and real word-of-mouth marketing," Ginsberg said in a "Squawk Alley" interview. "It's all around intent and more serious relationships," which tends to mean its users are a little bit older than Tinder's sweet spot of 18- to 25-year-olds.
All of the brands under the Match umbrella aim to help users expand their dating pools, said Ginsberg.
And her advice to singles looking for love is "be your true authentic self."
WATCH: Here's the full interview with Match CEO Mandy Ginsberg