Analysts were expecting major losses on Snap’s Q4 earnings call today (around $409m and $255m in revenue). But, lo and behold, Snap reported slightly less major losses (~$350m), and ~$31m extra in revenue, to boot.
Now, Snap’s stock is riding a 26% boost, closing at $18 a share — the first time it’s traded above its IPO price since July.
It’s a bright spot in a long, dark tunnel
In the face of Snap’s dismal performance this past year, founder Evan Spiegel’s repeatedly assured investors that his company’s not afraid of imitators.
But they probably should be: Confidential data leaked last month revealed that user growth for Snap Stories has basically flatlined ever since Facebook released its copycat, Instagram Stories.
Meanwhile, usage actually dropped on Spiegel’s huge bets on original content in the Discover channel and Snap Maps — efforts that sucked up millions in resources (expenses were up 93% last quarter over the same period last year).
But hey, gotta celebrate the wins, right?
Time will tell whether Snap’s experiments with a self-serve ad platform and letting people share snaps outside the app will offset their massive expenses.
But for now, they can take comfort in a 9m uptick in total users since Q3, a 46% increase in revenue per user since last year, and some relatively positive press for once.
