Snap Shares Plunge on Weakest Sales Ever

Shares of Snap Inc. (SNAP) plunged nearly 35% at the start of trading Friday following disappointing second quarter results, posting its weakest-ever sales.

The social media company was hit hard by a major slowdown in ad spending and rising competition from competitors like TikTok for dwindling marketing dollars. The company also said Apple's privacy upgrades continued to hurt its advertising business. 

Snap’s second quarter revenue grew 13% to $1.11 billion, falling short of analyst expectations of $1.14 billion. Snap’s daily active users rose to 347 million in the quarter compared to estimates of 344 million.

Because of the economic uncertainty, Snap failed to issue financial guidance for the third quarter. Snap also said it would “substantially slow” its rate of hiring, as well as the rate of operating expense growth. In a statement, the company said “we are not satisfied with the results we are delivering, regardless of the current headwinds.” 

Snap’s board also authorized a $500 million stock buyback in the next 12 months and said it would split the stock if it reached $40 in the next 10 years.

Snap shares are down about 65% so far this year. Shares of other social media stocks, including Meta Platforms (META), Twitter (TWTR), Pinterest (PINS), and Alphabet (GOOGL), fell along with Snap shares.