Snapchat’s big year rolled along on Tuesday, with Snap Inc. reporting its Q3 revenue jumped more than 52% from the same time last year — news that sent its stock price soaring higher. The Los Angeles-based company also added 11 million new daily users — up 19% from Q3 2019 — putting it at 249 million overall.
For Q3, Snap reported revenue of $679 million, running past analyst estimates of $556 million. The company also posted an unexpected adjusted profit, with adjusted EPS of $0.01 topping Wall Street’s expectations of a 5 cent loss.
“Our focus on delivering value for our community and advertising partners is yielding positive results during this challenging time. We’re excited about the growth of our business in Q3 as we continue to make long-term investments in our future,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said. “The adoption of augmented reality is happening faster than we had previously anticipated, and we are working together as a team to execute on the many opportunities in front of us.”
More users led to more Snaps being sent, with the company reporting a 25% increase in pictures and messaging from last year. Snap’s third quarter net loss also dropped to $200 million, down $27 million from Q3 2019.
Snap’s stock price surged 15% soon after the report came out, pushing the company north of $33.00 per share.
Heading into Tuesday, Snap’s stock price had already jumped more than 30% since early August, helping the company reach heights it hadn’t seen since the first week it went public in 2017. The company’s share price has surged 70% since the start of 2020, coinciding with an overall tech boom that’s been accelerated by widespread COVID-19 lockdowns. As TheWrap reported a few months back, Snapchat has continued to double down on short-form original shows and gaming as a way to keep users engaged — something the company expects will draw more attention to its ads.
On Tuesday, Snap said it has seen a 50% increase in time spent watching its shows since last year — although the company didn’t share how many minutes that comes out to on average per day.
