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Snap
Fourth-quarter highs and lows exceeded Wall Street expectations on Thursday. But executives said 2021 will be a tumultuous year following the disruption of advertising spending and technological changes in January.
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Snap stock (ticker: SNAP) fell 7.7% in the extended session. Shares retreated 1.6% during regular trading to close at $ 58.31.
Snap reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $ 113.1 million, which is eight cents a share, compared to a loss of $ 240.7 million, or 17 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted for stock compensation, among other things, profits were nine cents per share. Wall Street had expected tight earnings of seven cents per share.
The company reported sales grew 62% to $ 911.3 million from $ 560.9 million the previous year. The consensus revenue estimate was $ 856.1 million.
“We delivered our first full year of adjusted Ebitda return and as we look to the future, we are excited to build on our augmented reality investments, mapping and content to drive our continued growth,” he said. CEO Evan Spiegel.
Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is a non-GAAP measure of profitability.
In prepared comments, executives attributed the gains to the company’s growth outside the U.S. and the improvements it has made to its advertising technology. Commercial director Jeremi Gorman said direct response advertising had remained constant throughout the year.
Snap’s daily count of members rose to 265 million, well above the agreed-upon forecast of 257.9 million.
The next quarter, however, may be more than a challenge. In prepared statements, Chief Financial Officer Derek Anderson said Snap experienced “a period of disruption” in the first two weeks of January due to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. An undisclosed number of brands stopped advertising during this period.
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Facebook
According to the guidelines (FB), Anderson warned Snap investors of a technological change close to Apple’s mobile operating system (AAPL) that could hurt ad segmentation. Anderson said it was unclear what impact the technological changes would have in the long run.
Apple has said its adjustment will help protect customer privacy, an argument Facebook has said is not genuine.
Despite setbacks earlier this year, Spiegel said Snap expects to advance further in profitability and increase revenue by more than 46%, the amount Snap increased full-year sales last year.
The company expects first-quarter sales of between $ 720 million and $ 740 million. Analysts modeled a tight first-quarter loss of two cents per share on sales of $ 705.1 million.
Write to Max A. Cherney at [email protected]