Snap said on Tuesday it will not issue a formal second-quarter financial forecast citing economic uncertainty, as U.S. tariffs threaten to disrupt the global economy and digital advertising budgets, sending its shares down 9 per cent in extended trading.
The Snapchat parent faced challenges at the start of the current quarter, even as it continued to diversify both its advertiser base with small- and medium-sized businesses and its revenue sources with the growth of its subscription service.
Economic uncertainty could trigger an ad spending shift to bigger rivals such as Facebook and Instagram owner Meta due to their massive user base, some analysts have said.
Snap’s results come after Google’s ad revenue growth beat analysts’ predictions for the first quarter.
The social media company is focusing on direct response ads that are designed to prompt specific actions like app downloads or website visits, amid weakness in brand awareness ads.
Direct response advertising revenue reached 75 per cent of Snap’s total ad revenue contribution for the first time in the quarter ended March 31.
Total active advertisers grew 60 per cent from a year earlier in the first quarter, driven partly by the company’s focus on small- and medium-sized businesses.
Quarterly revenue rose 14 per cent to $1.36 billion, slightly beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.35 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $108.4 million in the quarter exceeded estimates of $64.7 million.
Daily active users of Snapchat increased by 9 per cent to 460 million, beating estimates of 458.3 million.
The company said its monthly active users reached 900 million, on track to achieve its target of 1 billion.
Snap trimmed its full-year forecast for adjusted operating expenses to between $2.65 billion and $2.70 billion, compared with its prior expectations of $2.70 billion to $2.75 billion.
