Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) stock recently spiked after releasing its fourth quarter and full-year results for 2017. The stock has struggled since reaching an all-time high of $29.44 in its first week of trading back in March 2017. One of the biggest challenges has been its inability to keep its Daily Active Users within range of its competition, which includes Facebook-owned Instagram.
In Q4 Snap looked to be turning things around. CEO Evan Spiegel was optimistic that the redesign of its Snapchat application was going well, in particular the changes made to the Android app. Revenue surged 72% year over year to $285.7 million compared to $252.8 million expected by analysts. Daily Active Users (DAUs) were up 5% from Q3 and hit a total of 187 million.
The company posted a lower net loss than expected at $0.13 earnings per share compared to the $0.16 net loss per share that was projected by analysts. However, there was some concern that its app redesign was alienating its young user base, as it tested particularly well among older users.
A tweet from media personality Kylie Jenner appeared to justify this concern. Jenner claimed that she no longer uses the app in a tweet that generated significant buzz and saw Snap lose 6.1% on the day. Some analysts have downgraded the stock after a significant amount of negative reviews have emerged due to its app redesign. Snap is up 19% in 2018 after a solid Q4, but the company has a long way to go to quell concerns in 2018.