In a potential barometer of what’s to come from advertising-dependent internet companies, Snap SNAP, +4.24% on Tuesday posted a loss of more than a quarter-billion dollars in the holiday quarter and declined to provide a forecast for the current quarter, which is likely to rattle investors in Meta Platforms Inc. META, +1.30% and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL, +1.96% GOOG, +1.96% Google, both of which report financial results later this week.
Analysts polled by FactSet had predicted revenue of $1.3 billion and a loss of 11 cents a share. Shares plunged more than 14% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the results, after closing with a 4.2% increase at $11.56, their best closing price since November. Snap executives warned last year that marketers were lowering their budgets amid economic uncertainty, after they laid off roughly 20% of employees in the summer, months before other tech companies began cutting.
The downturn in digital advertising as well as the threat from TikTok has contributed mightily to layoffs at Snap, Meta and Google. That is why investors are eager to know where executives expect the industry to head in the coming months and year, but Snap executives declined to provide specific financial projections.
Another quarter another disappointing earnings from $SNAP