One strategy to play Match Group's rally to records, investor says
One investor is betting on love in the time of Covid-19.

Todd Gordon, managing director of Ascent Wealth Partners, said Match Group could be headed higher.

"It's a stock that we've been tracking and holding in our global growth strategy at Ascent," Gordon told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Thursday. "According to [Ascent Chief Investment Officer Scott McCartney], this is a clear market leader in a secular growth category within our new virtual normal as a response to Covid-19 and social distancing."

Gordon also sees a bullish case forming in the charts. The stock, he said, is attempting to break out above resistance at $100 after surging 116% off March lows. The shares were trading above $96 on Friday afternoon. Match Group hit an all-time high of $99.43 earlier in the day.

To take advantage of a move up above $100, Gordon is opting for a stock replacement strategy where he buys the Delta 70 call with Aug. 21 expiration – this is a bet that Match can break higher heading into and following Aug. 5 earnings. The Delta 70 call option acts as 70% of the stock – when the stock rises $1, the underlying option increases by 70 cents.

"Back to the fundamental thesis, we think Match customers prefer sort of a stand-alone dating app thus Facebook 's efforts to enter the space are not really a concern and recently they settled litigation with Bumble – this is a privately held competitor – which is bullish," he added.

Match is expected to post earnings of 45 cents a share for its June-ended quarter, according to FactSet. That implies 5% profit growth.

Disclosure: Ascent Wealth Partners holds Match.

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