Match Group Inc (Nasdaq: MTCH ) did its best to reassure troubled investors on Tuesday, reporting first-quarter earnings and revenue beats that sent the stock higher by 5 percent on Wednesday morning.

Match shares were hammered recently by the news that Facebook ( FB ) is planning to launch its own dating service, but Match management did its best to spin the Facebook news as a positive.

Match reported first-quarter earnings per share of 33 cents on revenue of $407 million. Both numbers topped Wall Street consensus forecasts of 19 cents and $386 million, respectively. Revenue was up 36 percent from a year ago.

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Match reported 3.5 million average Tinder subscribers in the first quarter, up 368,000 from a quarter ago. Tinder subscriber count is up 84 percent from a year ago.

Match's average revenue per user was up 8 percent to 58 cents. Free cash flow was up 39 percent to $117.2 million.

CEO Mandy Ginsberg says the first quarter was the company's best performance since its 2015 initial public offering.

"I am highly confident that our product roadmap, particularly at Tinder, will allow us to remain the clear leader in this category and deliver continued growth for Match Group shareholders," Ginsberg says in a statement.

Even after the post-earnings gain, MTCH stock is down nearly 20 percent since May 1, when Facebook announced it will launch its own dating service. Ginsberg has defended Match's ability to fend off competition from Facebook. She says Facebook users will not want to mix their dating lives with their social presence on Facebook, particularly following Facebook's recent data security issues.

"We don't think Facebook will have any impact on Tinder, which is our growth engine," Ginsberg said on Tuesday, according to MarketWatch.

She also said Facebook could help remove some of the remaining stigma against online dating, broadening the market for all competitors.

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Morningstar analyst Ali Mogharabi says Match has more than a fighting chance against Facebook.

"While Facebook's entrance into the online dating space represents an opportunity for Facebook to utilize its over 2 billion user base and further enhance its ecosystem to maintain users on its platform longer, it will be a difficult task for the firm to displace the narrow-moat Match Group in the space," Mogharabi says.

Morningstar has an "overvalued" rating and $37 fair value estimate for MTCH stock .

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