Social messaging service Snap (NYSE: SNAP) continues to flounder. The company had listed on the NYSE in March this year amid much speculation. Snap listed when its business model was yet to prove successful – it was not only missing profits but was also failing to deliver growth in other metrics. Recently reported quarterly results are no better, and the stock continues its downward trajectory.
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Snap’s Financials
For the third quarter of the year, Snap’s revenues grew 62% to $207.9 million, falling short of the analysts’ forecast of $236.9 million. The company ended with a net loss of $443.2 million, which was more than three times the loss reported a year ago.
Perhaps one of the big shockers from Snap’s report was the $40 million write-off the company absorbed for its Spectacles business. Last month, news reports revealed that the company had a big inventory of Spectacles and an additional $29 million purchase commitment related to hardware products. Snap did not disclose the details of its Spectacles business, but the $40 million write-off suggests that it was sitting on “hundreds of thousands of units in inventory”.
Among other metrics, daily active users came in at 178 million, compared with 158 million a year ago and 173 million a quarter ago. The market was looking for 181.8 million daily active users for the quarter. Snap’s average quarterly revenues per user came in at $1.17, compared with $0.84 a year ago, and fell short of the market’s forecast of $1.30.
Snap App Revamp
Part of the reason for Snap’s slowdown has been the rise in competition. business model was yet to prove successful – it was not only missing profits but was also failing to deliver growth in other metrics. Instagram has more than 500 million daily active users and WhatsApp has over a billion. Facebook reported that both Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status had more than 250 million daily active users already. Here is an interesting infographic, courtesy Statista that shows Snap’s disastrous performance when compared with its competitors.
