The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who not so much). Let’s have a look at how the social networking stocks have fared in Q4, starting with Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).
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. There has been a stampede out of high valuation technology stocks, but social networking stocks held their ground better than others, with the share price up 9.57% since earnings, on average.
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 top line results slightly under analyst estimates and an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.
"Our strong 2021 performance positions us to improve execution and deliver on our 2023 goals," said Parag Agrawal, Twitter's new CEO.
Twitter delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. The company reported 217 million daily active users, up 13% year on year. The stock is up 6.29% since the results and currently trades at $40.20.
Read our full report on Twitter here, it's free.
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 an impressive quarter for the company, with a very strong beat of analyst estimates and an exceptional revenue growth.
Snap achieved the strongest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company reported 319 million daily active users, up 20.3% year on year. The stock is up 54.6% since the results and currently trades at $37.91.
Is now the time to buy Snap? 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 up 6.7% since the results and currently trades at $26.10.
Read our full analysis of Pinterest's results here.
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 outlook.
Meta had the slowest revenue growth among the peers. The company reported 3.59 billion monthly active users, up 8.78% year on year. The stock is down 29.3% since the results and currently trades at $228.05.
Read our full, actionable report on Meta here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned