Look out Snap shareholders: Internet stocks often plunge after their first earnings report

• After the close, Snap releases its first earnings report since going public.
• Other big social media stocks like Facebook and Twitter fell an average of 14 percent one day after their first public earnings report, according to MKM Partners.
• Snap shares are down about 5 percent from their first day of trade in March.

Snap may have trouble pleasing Wall Street analysts in its earnings season debut, if a history of past hot internet IPOs is any guide.

When Facebook, Yelp, Twitter and LinkedIn reported their first quarterly results as public companies, the stocks fell by an average 14.1 percent the next day, according to Jim Strugger, derivatives strategist at MKM Partners. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn last year.

After the close Wednesday, the parent of the popular Snapchat messaging app releases its first earnings report since its March initial public offering. The stock traded about half a percent lower Wednesday morning.

A "pattern of dislocations" in the internet start-ups' transition into public companies "suggests some caution is warranted ahead of Q1 earnings after the close today," Strugger said in a Wednesday note.

As of Tuesday's close, options traders were pricing in a 15.2 percent move in Snap shares in either direction, Strugger said.

The stock has struggled to hold gains since it hit a high of $29.44 in its first week of trading. Snap closed Tuesday at $23.32 a share, more than 35 percent above the initial public offering price of $17 a share.

Snap performance since IPO

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Snap.

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