Snap Soars After Q4 Results Point to Turnaround Progress
*By Chloe Aiello*
Shares of embattled social media company Snap soared more than 16 percent in extended trading on Tuesday, after the company beat Wall Street's expectations for its fourth-quarter financial results and reported users stayed relatively stable from a year ago.
Wedbush's Dan Ives said the results showed signs of progress.
"With a lot of these turnaround stories, it's not just one quarter ー you need a few quarters to really see these turnarounds take place, but no doubt it looks like a step in the right direction," Ives said.
Snap ($SNAP), which is best known for its application Snapchat, reported a loss of $0.04 per share on revenue of $390 million, beating Wall Street’s estimates of a $0.07 loss per share on $377.52 million in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.
“We are substantially closer to achieving profitability, as we have maintained a relatively flat cost structure across the past five quarters while growing full-year revenue 43 percent year-over-year,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a statement.
In the ever-important category of daily active users, which measures audience engagement, Snap reported 186 million ー the same number as in the third quarter, and only slightly less than the 187 million it reported this time last year. Average revenue per user came in at $2.09 vs. $1.53 last year.
Snap also said 30 percent more users are using its Stories and Shows features daily.
Bruised by competition from Facebook’s ($FB) Instagram, and a virtual rotating door of executives, Snap’s stock is down close to 50 percent from last year.
Hershey is cautioning on its 2024 profit growth as the company contends with rising cocoa costs, leading to increased prices for chocolate. The company anticipates its full-year earnings per share being relatively flat, partly due to higher cocoa and sugar costs.
Prince Harry has reached an out-of-court settlement with a tabloid newspaper publisher that invaded his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping. Attorney David Sherborne said that Mirror Group Newspapers had agreed to pay Harry’ “substantial” costs and damages.
An attorney representing passengers of an Alaska Airlines flight that lost a door plug in midair says a “whistling sound” was heard on a previous flight of the same Boeing 737 Max 9.
What do Arnold Schwarzenegger, Aubrey Plaza, and Tom Brady all have in common? You'll see them on Super Bowl Sunday, but not on the field. If you only watch the Super Bowl for the ads, here's a sneak peek.
The Federal Communications Commission knows (to loosely quote Drake) "when that [AI robocall] hotline bling, that can only mean one thing" — deception. The agency says bad actors have been using these voices to misinform voters.
David Stryzewski, CEO of Sound Planning Group, breaks down Disney’s latest results, from adding Taylor Swift to building out ESPN, and why Bob Iger’s leadership is crucial.
