Snap shares plummet 15% after weak second-quarter revenue metric

Snap shares tanked 15% Tuesday when it reported second-quarter earnings in which global average revenue per user missed expectations.

Here is how the company did compared with Wall Street's expectations:

• Earnings per share: Loss of 16 cents. That figure is not comparable to analysts' estimates.
• Revenue: $1.34 billion vs. $1.35 billion expected, according to LSEG
• Global daily active users: 469 million vs. 467 million expected, according to StreetAccount
• Global average revenue per user (ARPU): $2.87 vs. $2.90 expected, according to StreetAccount

ARPU is an indication of how much advertising revenue the company generates from each user. The weaker-than-expected result is particularly noticeable because some of Snap's social media and online ad peers, such as Reddit, have beaten analyst estimates for ARPU during this earnings season.Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in an investor letter that the company's "topline growth" was affected by a bungled update to its adverting platform that has since been addressed, the "timing of Ramadan" and the "effects of the de minimis changes," referring to President Donald Trump's trade policies.Spiegel said the advertising platform update, made to improve advertiser performance, resulted in some online ad campaigns clearing "the auction at substantially reduced prices." Now that Snap has "reverted this change," the company's "advertising revenue growth has improved as advertisers adjust their bid strategies to achieve their objectives," the executive wrote.

In April, Snap reported first-quarter earnings in which it declined to provide guidance due to macroeconomic uncertainties that could affect its online ad business.

The company said its second-quarter sales grew 9% year over year while it recorded a net loss of $262.6 million. Snap's net loss during the same quarter last year was $248.6 million.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, for the second quarter came in at $41 million, trailing the $53 million that StreetAccount was projecting.

Snap said third-quarter revenue will come in between $1.475 billion and $1.505 billion, ahead of Wall Street estimates of $1.475 billion.

The company said adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter will be in the range between $110 million and $135 million. That figure's midpoint of $122.5 million is higher than StreetAccount's projections of $116 million.

Snap said third-quarter global daily active users will total 476 million, roughly in line with the 475.7 million StreetAccount is expecting.

The company's Snapchat+ subscription service is approaching 16 million in the second quarter, representing a 42% year-over-year increase, Spiegel wrote in the investor letter. Snap's subscription service is the "largest driver" to the company's Other Revenue category, rising 64% year over year to $171 million in the second quarter, Spiegel said.

Snap's adjusted operating expenses for the second quarter rose 10% year over year to $654 million, Spiegel said in the letter.

Spiegel said in the investor letter that it will be "distributing" its engineering teams to "directly support" its business functions, resulting in its core applications team reporting to tech chief Bobby Murphy. The monetization engineering team will be reporting to business chief Ajit Mohan.

"Our Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer will report to me and lead enterprise-wide foundational infrastructure and platform integrity," Spiegel said in the letter. "This new, distributed structure will empower our teams to take greater ownership and drive continued innovation for our community and advertising partners."

Eric Young, Snap's senior vice president of engineering who joined the social media company in 2023 from Google, is leaving the company to "pursue a new opportunity," Spiegel said in the letter.

Last Thursday, Amazon reported second-quarter earnings in which its online ad sales rose 23% year over year to $15.69 billion, while Reddit reported second-quarter revenue that jumped 78% year over year to $500 million.

Alphabet reported its second-quarter earnings on July 23 that beat on the top and bottom lines. Meta said on July 30 that its second-quarter sales grew 22% year over year to $47.52 billion.

Pinterest will report its financials on Thursday.