Tech

Snap rally fades after earnings beat

Key Points
  • Snap, the maker of Snapchat, posted a loss of 10 cents per share, vs. an expected loss of 12 cents per share.
  • The company also managed to continue growing its user base, hitting a daily active user count of 190 million for the quarter.
Snap surged after its earnings report, and here's what the CEO said that had investors so excited
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Snap surged after its earnings report, and here's what the CEO said that had investors so excited

Snap, the maker of Snapchat, saw its stock price shoot up as much 11% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after beating analyst expectations. However, the stock gave up most of those gains during the company's earnings call, as investors digested the numbers a bit more. It's currently up only about 1%.

The company posted a slimmer-than-expected loss for the first quarter as it continued to grow its user base and advertising revenue.

Here's how the company did compared with analyst projections:

  • Loss per share: 10 cents vs. 12 cents forecast by Refinitiv
  • Revenue: $320 million vs. $307 million forecast by Refinitiv
  • Global daily active users (DAUs): 190 million vs. 187.22 million forecast by FactSet
  • ARPU: $1.68 vs. $1.62 forecast by FactSet

"In the first quarter we delivered strong results across our business with growth in daily active users and revenue," said CEO Evan Spiegel in a statement.

Snap kept its user growth momentum going on Tuesday, saying it now counts 190 million daily active users, up from 186 million last quarter.

Snap's share price is up more than 100% year to date after a fast start in 2019. Besides resurging user growth, Snap has announced a new gaming platform, new original shows, an ad network and more augmented reality features. The company has also completed the roll out of its re-engineered Android app.

During the company's earnings call, Spiegel said Snapchat's Android app is now available on all Android devices, which he said creates an opportunity to increase the app's user base.

"There are billions of Android devices in the world that now have access to an improved Snapchat experience, and we look forward to being able to grow our Snapchat community in new markets," Spiegel said.

Snap competitor Twitter had a strong earnings report earlier in the day on Tuesday, with better-than-expected earnings and user growth sending the stock up more than 15%.

One analyst expressed caution with Snap's user base and how attractive it can be to advertisers.

"Our primary concern is when you have a younger millennial audience on this platform, can you monetize this audience?" said Brent Thill of Jefferies.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Snap.

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