Snap Shares Slide After Q3 Miss on Revenue and Users

The quarter in the numbers

Snap posted $1.72 billion in Q3 revenue, narrowly below the $1.73 billion consensus from LSEG. Global daily active users reached 495 million against StreetAccount's 499 million view, while average revenue per user landed at $3.48, matching expectations.

Earnings per share came in at 3 cents, a number that isn't comparable with analysts' estimates. Sales grew 14% from a year earlier, and net income totaled $56 million compared with a $104 million net loss in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted earnings were $383 million, topping the $337 million projection from StreetAccount.

Outlook and metric changes

For the fourth quarter, Snap guided revenue to a range of $1.95 billion to $1.99 billion. The midpoint is above Wall Street's $1.95 billion estimate. It expects Q4 adjusted earnings of $490 million to $525 million, versus analysts' $498 million forecast.

Executives said the company plans for global monthly active users to become its "primary audience metric" beginning with its first quarter of 2027, and reported 977 MAU for the quarter. As the investor letter put it, "Daily engagement has historically been stable as a percentage of monthly engagement, but we do not intend to optimize Snapchat around daily use at the expense of long-term value for our community." The letter added, "A longer-term horizon better aligns our reported metrics with the product and safety decisions that strengthen relationships, create lasting utility, and support broader, more durable audience growth."

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What this means for your portfolio

Mixed scorecard: slight misses on revenue and DAUs, a clean ARPU match, a revenue growth rebound at 14%, an adjusted earnings beat, and guidance ranges that edge above some Street numbers. Add the plan to spotlight monthly rather than daily usage in 2027, and you have a clearer picture of how Snap wants investors to track its audience over time.

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