By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Snap's stock (NYSE:SNAP) soared 45% in premarket trading Friday after it posted a surprise quarterly profit when many expected to it to be weighed down by changes to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) privacy rules.
Net profit was $23 million, a first since its public debut in March 2018, as revenue rose 42% to $1.3 billion.
Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ:FB) disclosure of a first-ever quarterly loss of subscribers in its history has weighed on stocks of social media platforms like Snap and Pinterest (NYSE:PINS). The Facebook-owner blamed changes to Apple’s privacy rules that have made it tougher for apps to track users and sell targeted ads for its below-par performance.
Many wondered if those changes would have an industry-wide impact. For Snap, this wasn’t the case as it grew its subscriber base and got more money from each subscriber, on average. Snap closed the year with 319 million average daily active users, adding 13 million during the quarter. Average revenue per user rose 18% in the same period. The company also booked positive free cash flow in the quarter.
The company is now projecting current-quarter revenue to be around $1.06 billion with a likely breakeven at operating level on an adjusted basis, which would make it the third such result in a row.