Snapchat owner set to lose $9 bln in market value after results disappoint

Snap’s stock fell 31% on Wednesday after its revenue for the fourth quarter fell short of Wall Street’s projections. The business is finding it difficult to compete with industry giants like Meta and Alphabet for advertising dollars. The owner of Snapchat has announced excellent advertising revenues, which contrasts with his results. This suggests that, in an unpredictable economy, marketers are choosing to work with larger, more reliable enterprises. Based on its share price of $12.04 on Wednesday, Snap, whose shares nearly doubled last year, was expected to lose about $9 billion in market value if premarket losses continue. Pinterest, a rival, dropped by more than 4% as well. “Once again, Snap’s results have disappointed investors,” said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, adding the company’s rebound hasn’t kept pace with the big tech titans. During the holiday quarter, Meta’s ad sales jumped by 25%, and Alphabet’s Google ad business expanded by 11% while YouTube ad sales increased by 16% during the same period. LSEG data shows that the company’s fourth-quarter revenue of $1.36 billion fell short of analysts’ projections of $1.38 billion. Earlier this week, Snap announced that it would fire 528 workers, or 10% of the workforce, in order to “invest incrementally” in the company’s expansion. Snap’s stock is trading at 88.37 times predicted earnings, while rival social networking company Meta’s and Pinterest’s projected PEs are 22.71 and 29.47, respectively. (With agency inputs)