New York, June 18, 2026, 07:04 (EDT)
- Snap shares traded at $4.74 in the latest quote, off 42 cents, putting the stock down 8.1%. Market cap stands near $8.0 billion.
- Snap’s $2,195 Specs, its first augmented-reality glasses for consumers, are set to ship this fall in the U.S., UK and France. The company announced the launch as its next step.
- U.S. stock-index futures traded up ahead of the open, with Thursday set to be the final full day for equities this week as the market closes for Juneteenth on Friday.
Snap stock slid in the latest quote ahead of Thursday’s open, under more pressure after investors raised doubts that a $2,195 AR glasses bet can jumpstart growth at the Snapchat owner without burning more cash. The shares were at $4.74, down roughly 8.1% from the last close.
Snap is pitching Specs as a true computing platform as it heads into a long holiday weekend in the U.S., with its main ads business still trailing behind Meta and Alphabet. The timing isn’t great.
NYSE regular hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. U.S. markets shut Friday for Juneteenth. Early Thursday, futures traded up. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.36% at 5:01 a.m. ET after the Fed sent stocks lower Wednesday.
Snap unveiled its Specs glasses on Tuesday at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California, saying the device is aimed at moving beyond smartphones. AR, or augmented reality, overlays digital objects onto what people see in the real world. Reuters said the new glasses pack two Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, offer up to four hours of battery, and come with a charging case.
CEO Evan Spiegel told Reuters: “We wanted to build a totally new type of computer.” He said higher memory-chip prices have been “quite impactful.” Snap is hoping for cheaper chips next time. Reuters
Cost is top of mind for Wall Street. Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told Reuters the price tag is “still a bit on the high end” for buyers. He also said fully featured AR glasses are difficult and costly to make. Snap’s specs come in below Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro but cost more than Meta’s $379-to-$799 line of smart glasses. Reuters
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart-glasses have given the Facebook owner an early lead in the space. Google has tried to catch up, working with Warby Parker on its own AI glasses. IDC’s Jitesh Ubrani says Meta’s “distribution” advantage is tough for smaller hardware rivals. That’s a warning for anyone looking to break in. Reuters
Irenic Capital Management is pushing Snap to take action on its Specs unit, and the stock has reacted. The activist, which in March said it owned around 2.5% of Snap’s Class A shares, called for either a spinoff or shutdown. Irenic said Snap has poured over $3.5 billion into Specs and is burning about $500 million in cash on it every year.
Spiegel defended Snap’s strategy. “While investors may want more short-term profitability,” he told Reuters, Snap is focused on long-term profit and building the company. Snap made Specs a separate unit back in January, which could open up outside funding in the future. Reuters
Snap’s financial picture looks stronger than in past hardware cycles. Revenue rose 12% in the first quarter to $1.53 billion, with net loss tighter at $89 million. Adjusted EBITDA climbed to $233 million, and free cash flow came in at $286 million.
But it’s a clear risk. Specs might take years of spending before Snap can show there’s real demand, and with a high price, the product could end up stuck with just developers. If ad growth cools or Meta, Apple, or Google move quicker, investors might push Snap to hang on to cash instead of funding another long shot.
