Snap’s flagship platform has lost some lustre, at least according to one social media “influencer” in the Kardashian-Jenner clan.
Shares of the Snapchat parent company sank 6.1% on Thursday, wiping out US$1.3bn in market value, on the heels of a tweet on Wednesday from Kylie Jenner, who said she doesn’t open the app anymore.
Whether it’s the demands of her newfound motherhood, or the recent app redesign, the testament drew similar replies from her 24.5m followers. Wall Street analysts too have begun to notice, citing recent user engagement trends noticed since the platform’s redesign.
Jenner’s tweet was followed late on Thursday by one from Maybelline New York, asking its followers if it should stay on the Snapchat platform. The beauty product brand owned by Paris-based L’Oreal said its “Snapchat views have dropped dramatically”, but it still wanted to connect with its followers.
Citigroup analyst Mark May downgraded the stock to “sell” from “neutral” earlier this week after seeing a “significant jump” in negative reviews of the app’s redesign. He expects the reviews could cause user engagement to fall, hurting financial results.
Meanwhile, as the app takes criticism, CEO Evan Spiegel may become one of the highest paid executives in the US. After the company’s IPO last March, Spiegel got a $636.6m stock grant that will be payable through 2020.
“Still love you tho snap,” Jenner hedged in a later tweet. — Reported by Justina Vasquez, with assistance from Luke Kawa and Courtney Dentch, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP
