Why Snap Analysts Are Mixed On Social Media Stock After Q4 Earnings, 58% Rally

After the release of the company’s fourth-quarter results last Thursday with strong guidance for the upcoming quarter, Snap Inc. SNAP stock soared. Shares finished the week at $38.91, up by 58.82% at the Friday close. Let’s examine the updated perspectives and sentiments of various sell-side firms below:

Rosenblatt Reiterates Buy Rating, Lowers Price Target From $85 To $50

Positive on “iOS impact on direct response better-than-feared” with Snap “recovering more quickly while Meta’s recuperation looks slated for 2H22E”; highlights gross margin leverage driven by efficient scaling of cloud infrastructure to accelerate opex investment.

Credit Suisse Maintains Outperform Rating, Raises Price Target From $81 To $93

Highlights that “advertisers accounting for 75% of direct response revenue have now adopted Advanced Conversions” with positive tailwinds already “showing up in the 1Q22 guidance”; notes 31% year-over-year revenue growth with “the path back to ~50%+ remains an optionality.”

KeyBanc Reiterates Overweight Rating, Raises Price Target From $36 To $45

Believes “+26% and +39% year-over-year revenue growth is achievable in 2022E and 2023E, respectively” with this quarter achieving the milestone of “first quarter of GAAP profitability”; sees growing competition but positive on daily active user (DAU) growth.

Raymond James Maintains Market Perform Rating

Remains positive on “strong revenue performance and ability to navigate iOS headwinds” but warns that “brand business remains impacted by macro headwinds”; sees “solid trends in overall content viewership and time spent” but notes that “user-generated Stories continue to slow and has not returned to pre-Covid levels.”

Also See: Snap Stock Is Flying After Earnings: What's Next?