Looking back on social networking stocks' Q4 earnings, we examine this quarters’ best and worst performers, including Snap (NYSE:SNAP) and its peers.
Businesses must meet their customers where they are, which over the past decade has come to mean on social networks. In 2020, users spent over 2.5 hours a day on social networks, a figure that has increased every year since measurement began. As a result, businesses continue to shift their advertising and marketing dollars online.
The 4 social networking stocks we track reported a mixed Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 2.71%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 2.29% under consensus. The technology sell-off has been putting pressure on stocks since November, but social networking stocks held their ground better than others, with the share price up 5.91% since earnings, on average.
Best Q4: Snap (NYSE:SNAP)
Founded by Stanford University students Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown, and Bobby Murphy, and originally called Picaboo, Snapchat (NYSE: SNAP) is an image centric social media network.
Snap reported revenues of $1.29 billion, up 42.4% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 8.05%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analyst estimates and an exceptional revenue growth.
“2021 was an exciting year for Snap and we made significant progress growing our business and serving our global community,” said Evan Spiegel, CEO.
Snap pulled off the strongest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The company reported 319 million daily active users, up 20.3% year on year. The stock is up 41.5% since the results and currently trades at $34.69.
We think Snap is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report here, it's free.
Meta (NASDAQ:FB)
Famously founded by Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard dorm, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB) operates a collection of the largest social networks in the world - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, along with its metaverse focused Facebook Reality Labs.
Meta reported revenues of $33.6 billion, up 19.9% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.
Meta had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The company reported 3.59 billion monthly active users, up 8.78% year on year. The stock is down 33.1% since the results and currently trades at $215.81.
Is now the time to buy Meta? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Slowest Q4: Pinterest (NYSE:PINS)
Created with the idea of virtually replacing paper catalogues, Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) is an online image and social discovery platform.
Pinterest reported revenues of $846.6 million, up 19.9% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 2.34%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with declining number of users.
The company reported 431 million monthly active users, down 6.11% year on year. The stock is down 5.92% since the results and currently trades at $23.01.
Read our full analysis of Pinterest's results here.
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)
Born out of a failed podcasting startup, Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) is the town square of the internet, one part social network, one part media distribution platform.
Twitter reported revenues of $1.57 billion, up 21.7% year on year, missing analyst expectations by 0.22%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and a miss of the top line analyst estimates.
Twitter had the weakest performance against analyst estimates among the peers. The company reported 217 million daily active users, up 13% year on year. The stock is up 21.2% since the results and currently trades at $45.85.
Read our full, actionable report on Twitter here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned