Snapchat app on App Store. (image via Fortune Dot Com)

Snap's Stock Increase More Than 200%, What Happened?

Snapchat was social media users’ beloved app. Its unique and creative filters were on top of everything and it ranked number one on Apple’s most downloaded app in 2016. However, when Instagram launched insta-story in August 2016, Snapchat’s download number slowly went downhill. One of the reasons is because some people dislike using two social media apps at the same time. Hence, they immigrated to Instagram, where they can use the Snapchat features, but only require one app. Nonetheless, it seems like people still love Snapchat’s filters more than Instagram, even after 3 years later.

It is reported that Snap’s stock went up to more than 200% in 2019. What’s going on? It’s most likely due to their new filter. In May 2019, Snapchat released a gender swap filter on their app. The augmented reality technology went viral in a short time, as people were sharing their ‘swapped face’ on various social medias platforms. Because of this, a lot of people (who might have uninstalled Snapchat) installed the app in an instant, due to their curiosity.

It is revealed that back in December 21 2018, Snap hit a record low of $4.99. Thanks to the new filter, Snap’s stock increased, closing at $15.61 on Friday. Some of their investors have increased the 12-month price target from $13 to $18. Bank of America, one of their investors, did the same thing as well. They raised the price target from $12 to $17.

After facing the decline, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel’s has tried many things to revive the company. However, things did not work out the way he planned, so he kept trying to make other innovations. It turns out once the company focused on Gen Z (youths who were born from 1995 to 2009) by making the app ‘for them’, the number of users increase slowly. Spiegel hopes Snap could continue this success in the future.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/13/snaps-stock-up-more-than-200percent-from-its-low-and-is-huge-winner-in-2019.html