Snap's fourth-quarter earnings included top- and bottom-line wins
The shares of Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) are skyrocketing today, last seen up 49.2% to trade at $36.55, following the company's upbeat report. The Snapchat parent announced fourth-quarter earnings of 22 cents, which was more than double Wall Street's estimates, alongside better-than-expected revenue and user growth -- marking its first-ever quarterly net profit. Plus, the social media name issued an optimistic current-quarter forecast. As a result, Snap stock was able to buck the sector pullback stemming from Meta Platforms' (FB) dismal earnings report.
The stock has received plenty of analyst attention after the results. While BofA Global Research upgraded SNAP to "buy" from "neutral," RBC downgraded the stock to "sector perform" from "outperform." Elsewhere, no fewer than eight firms chimed in with price-target hikes, while four slashed their price objectives.
Options traders are ramping up their activity today, too. So far, 385,000 calls and 259,000 puts have exchanged hands, which is 11 times what's typically seen at this point. Most popular is the weekly 2/4 35-strike put, followed by the weekly 2/4 40-strike call, with new positions being opened at both.
After yesterday dipping to its lowest level since September 2020, Snap stock is headed for its best single-day percentage gain in at least two years. Still, SNAP has had a rough start to 2022, down 23.2% year-to-date, while sitting down 37.5% over the last 12 months.