Shares of the dating service Bumble are having a great day. It may go private

Shares of Bumble, the developer of the dating service of the same name, soared nearly 50% on October 12, marking their best day ever. The company is in talks to sell at a price that, even after the rally, is nearly three-quarters higher than its market capitalization, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing its sources. According to their information, the deal could be announced as early as this week.

Bumble’s stock rose 49.6% on the Nasdaq on October 12, reaching $3.8. This marks the largest single-day gain since the company’s IPO on February 11, 2021. On that day, its shares rose 63.5% from the offering price but were down 7.5% from the opening price.

Investors reacted to a WSJ report: the publication, citing its sources, reported that Bumble is in active talks regarding a privatization deal valuing the company at approximately $1 billion. This is 72% higher than the company’s market capitalization following the rally on October 12 and three times its closing price on Friday, October 9—the last trading day before news of the potential negotiations broke.

A potential buyer of the service is Ithaca Holdings, sources told the WSJ. The holding company was founded in March 2026 by Ravi Gupta, a partner at venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, and Meta veteran John Hegeman, with the goal of “using cutting-edge technology to create products that will truly improve people’s lives.”

Ithaca plans to raise $1 billion and will seek to acquire at least one public or private company to integrate new technologies into its operations, Bloomberg reported earlier. The acquisition of Bumble will be one of its first major moves, according to the WSJ article. Sources told the publication that, if negotiations do not fall through, the deal could be finalized as early as this week.

Bumble was founded in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, a former co-founder of Tinder (owned by Match Group). She sought to turn the traditional dating model on its head by creating a platform where women take the initiative in starting conversations.

The idea caused a sensation. In 2021, Bumble went public on the Nasdaq, selling 50 million shares to investors at $43 each—above the initially announced price range—which valued the company at $7.7 billion. At age 31, Wolfe Herd became the youngest female founder to take a U.S. company public, according to CNBC. At its peak in February 2021, the dating app developer’s market capitalization exceeded $14 billion, according to the WSJ.

Since then, its market value has been declining—the company has lost 95% of its value since its IPO.

Bumble has “terrible financial metrics,” wrote Brian Socci, editor-in-chief of Yahoo Finance, in a column. The service’s business model is based on offering basic features to users for free, while additional features are available for a fee. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, the company lost 16.4% of its paying users, leading to a 15.2% year-over-year decline in revenue to $210.5 million. Wolf Herd is trying to “save” the situation, which is why the service scrapped its main rule—that women must message first—in August. Sources at the WSJ say that if Bumble is taken private, its founder will, at the very least, remain involved in the company’s operations.

“The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that millions of people are now forming relationships with personal AI agents rather than with potential human partners,” writes Socci. Because of these factors, he considers the company’s $1 billion valuation to be too high.

Sozzi also points out the resurgence of Bumble’s main competitor, Tinder. Its new CEO, Spencer Rascoff, is actively promoting the company by organizing in-person events for people to meet, and there are plans to hold even more of them in the future.

“Social media has worsened relationships between people,” Raskoff said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. What was originally conceived as a means of communication has become a platform for content consumption. He believes that AI “could further exacerbate the epidemic of loneliness as people begin to form relationships with artificial intelligence.” “We believe that people need other people now more than ever,” said Tinder’s CEO.

The most common Wall Street rating for Bumble stock is “hold.” Ten analysts have issued this recommendation. In addition, the service provider’s stock has one “buy” recommendation and one “sell” recommendation. The average price target is $3.49, which is below the current market price.