Snap Crackles and Pops After Q2 Earnings Beat Expectations

Snap’s second-quarter earnings report surprised Wall Street after it beat expectations for revenues and earnings per share.

What you need to know:

• Revenue—$262 million ($250 million expected)
• Earnings per share—$-0.14 per share ($-0.17 expected)
• Average revenue per user—$1.40 (up 34% year-over-year)
• 188 million total users—2Q loss of 3 million

More details:

Expectations were low for Snap’s Q2 report, but the company beat analyst estimates on several fronts. Revenue and earnings per share were the two main bright spots, and the company appears to be finding ways to increase its average revenue per user.

Snap’s share price increased more than 10% in after-hours trading. Also after the bell, the company announced that Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed had made a previously undisclosed $250 million investment-equivalent to a 2.3% ownership stake—in May.

The bad news is that Snapchat unexpectedly lost users during the second quarter, as its total count drops to 188 million from 191 million. It’s the first time that the company has seen a quarterly drop in customers since going public.

Overall, Snap seems to have avoided a fate similar to social media cohorts Twitter and Facebook, which both took a beating in the markets following their recent earnings reports, which disappointed investors.