Snap Inc.

Who owns Snap Inc.?
Snap Inc. is a publicly traded company listed on NYSE under ticker SNAP. Co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy hold Class B shares with 10 votes per share, giving them combined voting control of approximately 99 percent. This dual-class structure means that public shareholders have minimal voting influence despite owning the majority of the economic interest in the company.

Is Snap profitable?
Snap has not achieved full-year GAAP profitability. In FY2025, the company reported a net loss of $460 million, an improvement from $698 million in FY2024. However, Q4 2025 was profitable with net income of $45 million. In Q2 2026, the net loss narrowed to $164 million from $262.6 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was $689 million in FY2025, and adjusted earnings reached $250 million in Q2 2026.

Who founded Snap Inc.?
Snap was founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown while they were students at Stanford University. The original app was called Picaboo and was designed around disappearing photos. Brown was pushed out of the company in 2013 and later received a settlement reported at $157.5 million. Spiegel serves as CEO and Murphy serves as CTO.

How many users does Snapchat have?
Snapchat had 493 million daily active users and 971 million monthly active users as of Q2 2026. Global DAU grew 5 percent year over year. However, North American DAU declined 7 percent to 92 million, while Europe and the Rest of World saw growth. Australia's social media minimum age act and reduced marketing spending contributed to the North American decline.

What is Snap's revenue?
Snap reported full year 2025 revenue of $5.93 billion, up 11 percent from $5.36 billion in 2024. In Q2 2026, revenue reached $1.6 billion, up 19 percent year over year. Advertising revenue was $1.28 billion in Q2 2026, while other revenue (including Snapchat+ subscriptions) reached $316 million, up 85 percent. The company issued Q3 2026 guidance of $1.7 billion to $1.74 billion.

What are Specs?
Specs are Snap's augmented reality glasses. CEO Evan Spiegel has described AR glasses as a major strategic priority and a long-term growth opportunity. Snap has released multiple generations of Spectacles, with the latest focusing on AR display capabilities. Specs are not currently a meaningful revenue source but represent Snap's bet on the future of computing beyond smartphones.

Why did Snap lay off employees in 2026?
In April 2026, Snap laid off approximately 16 percent of its workforce and eliminated 300 open positions. CEO Evan Spiegel described the restructuring as part of an "AI-driven transformation" of the company. The layoffs followed a period of significant hiring and were aimed at improving margins and reducing the company's persistent losses. The workforce was reduced to approximately 4,500 employees.

Snap was founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown at Stanford University. The original app, called Picaboo, was designed around the concept of disappearing photos: users could send images that would automatically delete after being viewed. The idea was controversial but addressed a consumer desire for more casual, less permanent forms of digital communication.

The app was renamed Snapchat in late 2011 and began to gain traction, particularly among teenagers and young adults. The disappearing message concept resonated with users who were wary of the permanence of other social media platforms. By 2012, Snapchat users were sending millions of Snaps per day.

In 2013, Snapchat introduced Stories, a feature that allowed users to post sequential photos and videos visible to their friends for 24 hours. Stories became one of the platform's most popular features and was subsequently copied by Instagram (Instagram Stories) and other platforms. The introduction of Stories marked Snapchat's evolution from a one-to-one messaging app to a broader content platform.

Reggie Brown, one of the three founders, was pushed out of the company in 2013. He later sued Spiegel and Murphy for wrongful termination and received a settlement reported to be $157.5 million in 2016.

Snapchat added Discover in 2015, allowing media companies including CNN, ESPN, and Vice to publish content within the app. Discover created a new revenue stream through advertising and established Snapchat as a platform for professional content alongside user-generated content.

The company rebranded from Snapchat Inc. to Snap Inc. in September 2016, describing itself as a "camera company." The rebrand coincided with the launch of Spectacles, sunglasses with a built-in camera for capturing video for Snapchat. Spectacles were initially sold through vending machines called Snapbots, creating artificial scarcity and buzz. The hardware strategy was ambitious but costly. Snap took a $39.9 million write-down on unsold Spectacles inventory in 2017.

Snap went public on NYSE in March 2017 under ticker SNAP. The IPO priced at $17 per share and valued the company at approximately $24 billion. The stock initially surged but then declined as the company struggled with user growth and monetization.

In 2016, Snap acquired Bitstrips, the company behind Bitmoji, for approximately $64 million. Bitmoji allowed users to create personalized cartoon avatars that could be used within Snapchat and other platforms. Bitmoji became deeply integrated into Snapchat, appearing in stickers, Snap Map, and augmented reality lenses.

The 2018 redesign of Snapchat was controversial. The redesign separated content from friends and publishers, aiming to improve user experience. Instead, it confused many users and contributed to a decline in user growth. Kylie Jenner, a high-profile user, tweeted that she no longer used Snapchat, causing the stock to drop 6 percent in a single day.

Snap faced intense competition from Instagram, which copied many of Snapchat's core features. Instagram Stories reached 200 million daily users within months of launch, surpassing Snapchat's entire user base at the time. Meta (then Facebook) also copied Snapchat's AR lenses and other features across its platforms.

Through the late 2010s and early 2020s, Snap rebuilt its user growth and improved monetization. The company invested in augmented reality technology, launching AR lenses and filters that became popular with users. Snap Map, launched in 2017, added location-based features. Spotlight, launched in 2020 as a TikTok competitor, offered short-form video content with a creator fund.

In 2021 and 2022, Snap benefited from the pandemic-era surge in digital advertising. Revenue reached $4.6 billion in 2022. However, the company was hit hard by Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy, which made ad measurement more difficult on iOS. Snap's stock declined sharply in 2022 as revenue growth slowed.

The company continued to invest in augmented reality hardware. In 2021, Snap launched second-generation Spectacles with AR displays, and in 2024, it unveiled the fifth-generation Spectacles. CEO Spiegel has consistently described AR glasses as the future of computing and a major strategic priority for Snap.

In 2025, Snap reported full year revenue of $5.93 billion, up 11 percent from $5.36 billion in 2024. The net loss narrowed to $460 million from $698 million. Q4 2025 was notable for achieving net income of $45 million, the company's first profitable quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year was $689 million, up from $509 million.

In November 2025, Snap announced a $400 million partnership with AI startup Perplexity, which was expected to contribute revenue in 2026. The deal was seen as a way to integrate AI-powered search into Snapchat. However, Snap amicably ended the relationship in Q1 2026, and its Q2 2026 guidance assumed no contribution from Perplexity.

In April 2026, Snap laid off approximately 16 percent of its workforce and eliminated 300 open positions. CEO Spiegel described the restructuring as part of an "AI-driven transformation" of the company. The layoffs followed a period of significant hiring and reflected pressure to improve margins and reduce losses.

In Q2 2026, Snap reported revenue of $1.6 billion, up 19 percent year over year, beating analyst estimates. The net loss narrowed to $164 million. Global DAU reached 493 million, and MAU reached 971 million. However, North American DAU declined 7 percent year over year to 92 million. The company issued Q3 2026 revenue guidance of $1.7 billion to $1.74 billion. CEO Spiegel said the company saw "improving momentum in our advertising business."

Snap publishes an annual ESG report covering environmental impact, social initiatives, and governance practices. The company has committed to achieving carbon neutrality and has invested in renewable energy for its data center operations.

Snap's content moderation policies have been the subject of public debate. The platform has been criticized for both insufficient moderation of harmful content and for overly aggressive moderation that limits free expression. Snap has implemented safety features including Family Center (parental controls) and content controls for younger users.

The company's handling of younger users is a particular focus. Snapchat is popular among teenagers, and Snap faces regulatory scrutiny regarding minor safety, age verification, and the impact of its products on youth mental health. Australia's social media minimum age act, which restricts social media access for users under 16, has directly affected Snap's user growth in that market.

Snap has faced multiple regulatory and legal challenges:

The FTC has investigated Snap over its privacy practices, particularly regarding the collection and use of data from younger users. The company has also faced scrutiny from state attorneys general regarding the impact of Snapchat on youth mental health.

Snap's advertising measurement has been affected by Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy, which limited the company's ability to track user behavior across apps. Snap reported significant revenue impact from ATT in 2022 and has since invested in rebuilding its measurement capabilities.

The April 2026 layoffs of approximately 16 percent of the workforce drew criticism from employees and labor advocates. CEO Spiegel framed the restructuring as necessary for the company's "AI-driven transformation," but the scale of the cuts raised questions about Snap's ability to execute its product roadmap with a reduced workforce.

The Perplexity partnership, announced in November 2025 as a $400 million deal, was terminated in Q1 2026. Snap's Q2 2026 guidance explicitly assumed no contribution from Perplexity. The short-lived partnership raised questions about Snap's strategic direction in AI.

The Middle East conflict has created operational headwinds. Snap's Q2 2026 guidance noted that it assumes "the operating environment in the Middle East region remains consistent relative to the magnitude of the headwinds we have experienced in March and April." The company cautioned that the trajectory of the geopolitical situation is uncertain.