UPDATED 20:32 EST / FEBRUARY 03 2022

APPS

Wild ride: Snap shares surge on strong earnings and first-ever quarterly net profit

Shares in Snap Inc. surged in after-hours trading today after the company smashed estimates on earnings, revenue and user growth in its fourth-quarter earnings report and reported its first-ever quarterly net profit.

The stock jump of nearly 60% in extended trading followed a decline of 24% in the regular session as investors assumed Snap might suffer the same fate as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. yesterday, when it missed earnings forecasts and today saw its shares fall 26%.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Snap reported a net profit of $22.6 million, or a penny a share, its first quarterly net profit. Revenue jumped 42% from a year ago, to $1.298 billion. It earned a profit before certain costs such as stock compensation of 22 cents a share.Analysts had expected an adjusted profit per share of 10 cents on revenue of $1.2 billion.

Daily active users on Snap grew to 319 million, up 54 million or 20% year-over-year and the fifth straight quarter of DAU growth of 20% or more. Analysts had expected 316.9 million.

Highlights in the quarter included 18 New Year’s Eve Lens generating more than 7 billion impressions, several enhancements and new features to Lens Studio, and the launch of a product called Food Scan that can understand different food and ingredients to suggest recipes.

Snap further invested in its content offerings in the quarter, including renewing partnerships with NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS and Disney. Twenty-five different Discover partners each reached more than 50 million unique Snapchat users globally during the quarter.

Full the full year 2021, Snap reported adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents — up 895% year-over-year on revenue of $4.117 billion, up 64%.

“The strength of our core business has enabled us to accelerate our investments in augmented reality, transforming the way that the Snapchat community experiences the world through our camera,” Evan Spiegel, chief executive officer of Snap, said in a statement.

Looking forward, Snap said it expects revenue of $1.03 billion to $1.08 billion in the first quarter, with DAUs of 328 million to 330 million. Analysts had been estimating revenue of $1.01 billion and DAUs of 327.8 million. Snap did not provide financial guidance in the quarter ahead.

Investors liked the numbers, but it was a day of contrasts for Snap that ended with the pleasant surprise of the company’s earnings report.

Snap shares fell 23.5% in regular trading today, to $24.50 a share. The earnings report dropped after the bell and the share price turnaround in extended trading was remarkable. Snap’s share price surged by us much as 62% before settling up 59%.

Photo: Unsplash

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