Snap Doubles Down On Premium Content Amid Q3 Growth

Efforts to rebuild its Android app have paid off for Snapchat operator Snap, according to the company’s latest financial report, which was released late on Tuesday (Oct. 22). The company said its daily active user base reached 210 million in Q3 — that’s in comparison with 203 million in Q2 2019 and 186 million in Q3 2018.

Snap Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Evan Spiegel said the company has been working hard to make the platform available around the world. As a result, people all over the globe can harness the strength of visual communication. After an Android app rebuild, he noted, the platform works better on a broader range of devices. The company has also been at work on localization, as well as other initiatives to form a better user experience in global markets.

Spiegel said, “This has helped us substantially increase the rate at which we onboard new Android users, who not only download Snapchat, but also use it on an ongoing basis to talk with their friends, contributing to our daily active user growth.”

Shrinking Losses

Snap’s user base is on the growth path, but the losses are still there. Net loss decreased by $98 million year over year to about $227 million, Snap said. As for revenue in Q3 2019, Snap noted that it stood at $446 million, a 50 percent increase year over year. That figure came out ahead of analysts’ estimates of $434.8 million. (The company also reported an earnings per share of $0.04, which came out ahead of a forecasted earnings per share of $0.05.)

“We delivered strong results this quarter ,and we are pleased that the investments we have made are continuing to drive the growth of our community and business,” Spiegel said.

The earnings report came after news recently emerged that the rollout of a new Instagram app caused shares for the owner of Snapchat to fall more than 7 percent. The decline followed Facebook’s announcement that it is launching Threads from Instagram, a new app that will let users share photos, messages and video with a close group of friends in a “dedicated, private space.” At the same time, the battle between Snap and Facebook is heating up. Reports previously surfaced that Snap has documented Facebook’s alleged anti-competitive moves in a collection of files nicknamed Project Voldemort.

AR Future

Spiegel said the company has a “significant lead” in augmented reality (AR) because of Snapchat’s “camera-first nature,” as well as the frequent usage of its camera. Snap has been putting heavy investments into tools such as Lens Studio to aid creators in making AR experiences. It has also evolved the ways it distributes Lenses via efforts like AR Bar and Scan.

“Even though augmented reality is a relatively new technology, it provides real utility for our community, and real results for advertisers, making it a natural growth opportunity for Snap,” Spiegel said.

The executive noted that Snapchat powers “billions” of Daily AR experiences, and daily active users interact with augmented reality almost 30 times each day on average. “This high level of engagement with augmented reality has made Snapchat an appealing platform for creators and developers to build and distribute new augmented reality experiences,” he explained.

He added that the company’s community has made more than 600,00 Lenses in Lens Studio to date, and top-performing Community Lenses have attained “billions of views” on Snapchat. He said, “In just a few years, we have built a thriving augmented reality ecosystem where users, creators and businesses all benefit from using our platform and tools.”

The months to come may bring more clarity on how Snap might continue to grow, and possibly show how its AR innovations will shape the world of commerce and payments.