NEW YORK, June 29, 2026, 13:03 (EDT)
- U.S. markets were open at the dateline. Nasdaq’s regular session runs 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
- Snap slipped 0.5% to $4.39. Meta Platforms NASDAQ:META, Pinterest NYSE:PINS and Reddit NYSE:RDDT moved higher.
- Another figure: Snap’s market cap is about $7.7 for each Q1 monthly user, well under what Pinterest gets on the same basic metric.
- Australia is stepping up enforcement of the under-16 social media ban, with Snapchat now being investigated.
Snap Inc. NYSE:SNAP shares fell Monday at midday, giving up gains seen across other internet and communications stocks. Investors pointed to concerns over the value of Snap’s user base and fresh regulatory risks out of Australia.
The shares traded at $4.39, off 0.5%, putting the company’s market cap around $7.4 billion. Meta added 2.6%, Pinterest was up 3.8% and Reddit advanced 3.1% in the same live quotes.
The gap was notable with the broad market trading stronger. By 11:45 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq Composite had gained 1.36% and the S&P 500 communications services sector was up 2.9%. Ben Snider, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, said the S&P 500’s 21% gain over the past year was “driven entirely by earnings,” meaning the next earnings season could be key for stocks. Reuters
The valuation gap is clearer. Based on live market values and an annualized run rate from Q1 revenue, Snap trades around 1.2 times sales. Pinterest is about 3.4 times, Meta sits near 6.4 times, and Reddit is up at 13.1 times. User counts aren’t measured the same at each company, but it points to how little the market is valuing Snap’s audience. Q1 numbers for Snap, Meta, Pinterest and Reddit are from company filings.
| Company | Intraday move | Market value | Q1 revenue | Market value / annualized Q1 revenue | Company user metric and market value per user |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snap Inc. NYSE:SNAP | down 0.5% | $7.4 bln | $1.53 bln | 1.2x | 956 mln MAU, $7.7 each |
| Meta Platforms Inc. NASDAQ:META | up 2.6% | $1.45 trln | $56.31 bln | 6.4x | 3.56 bln DAP, $407 |
| Pinterest Inc. NYSE:PINS | rose 3.8% | $13.8 bln | $1.01 bln | 3.4x | 631 mln MAU, $21.8 per |
| Reddit Inc. NYSE:RDDT | gained 3.1% | $34.8 bln | $663 mln | 13.1x | 126.8 mln DAUq, $275 per |
Investors are weighing if Snap is undervalued due to missed cash flow or if it’s just a trust issue with the market. Free cash flow in Q1 hit $286 million, up from $114 million last year. Revenue climbed 12% to $1.53 billion. Net loss shrank to $89 million.
Australia rolled out a new test Monday as the government put forward a bill to expand the eSafety Commissioner’s power over social media. The move comes as eSafety looks at potential rule-breaking by five platforms: Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Alphabet’s NASDAQ:GOOGL YouTube, according to Reuters. The new bill would raise the top fine to A$99 million, or $68.2 million. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said firms need to do “everything within their power” to block under-16s. “We are not here to play games,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said. Reuters
For Snap, the biggest possible Australia penalty would be around 24% of its Q1 free cash flow and about 0.9% of its market cap. That’s also roughly 77% of Snap’s Q1 net loss.
| Snap measure | Amount | Read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Current market value | $7.4 bln | This is the lowest among peers listed above |
| Q1 free cash flow | $286 mln | This comes out to an annualized yield of roughly 15.5% on its market value |
| Proposed maximum Australia fine | $68.2 mln | That’s equal to around 24% of Q1 free cash flow |
| Q1 net loss | $89 mln | The proposed fine would account for about 77% of its net loss in the quarter |
Snap’s latest figures still raise flags for skeptics. CEO Evan Spiegel said in the Q1 report that Snap grew daily active users again and turned in solid free cash flow. The company is still backing Specs, its smart-glasses push. Global monthly active users climbed to 956 million, with daily active users up at 483 million.
The bear case is still here. Reuters said in May that Snap’s Q1 ad revenue rose just 3% to $1.24 billion. The company took a $20 million to $25 million revenue hit from the Middle East conflict. Snap dropped its $400 million deal with Perplexity AI. The company said almost 70% of ad spend used at least one AI automation tool.
Specs is still drawing resources and focus away from the main ad business, which remains choppy. Spiegel told Axios last week Snap wants to “make computing more human” and plans for Specs to “bring computing into the real world.” Axios said the $2,195 glasses are still paid for out of Snap’s core business, though Spiegel said a spinout or external funding is possible later. Axios
Q2 is the next focus. Snap projected revenue for the second quarter between $1.52 billion and $1.55 billion, matching what analysts expected. In the first quarter, average revenue per user came in at $3.17, which missed estimates, and daily active users in North America fell.
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