Among social media platforms, Snap (SNAP) has been 2020’s best performer – up year-to-date by 27%. COVID-19 has resulted in increased engagement and Snap has been gaining credibility among users for several reasons – confidence in the app’s promoted products and principled stand against misinformation, have both played their part.
Last week’s virtual Snap Partner Summit had enough highlights to keep users happy and offered new features, services, and partnerships.
Snap unveiled Snap Minis, bite size third party apps which operate in the Snap Chat section. Minis can be used among friends and save the hassle of switching to different apps by completing tasks in Snapchat. The initiative has partners including Coachella, movie ticketing app Atom Tickets and meditation app Headspace.
Snap now has a navigation bar for the first time, has added new camera innovations such as the ability to “scan” plants and dogs, and has added Voice Scan, a partnership with SoundHound, that lets users activate a Lens with their voice.
Furthermore, the company has just revealed a new partnership with game maker Zynga, which will create multiplayer games exclusively on the Snap platform.
There’s a lot to like about the social media app, says Monness analyst Brian White. However, “given the macro environment and concerns around competition,” the 5-star analyst remains on the sidelines for now. Long term, White remains confident in Snap’s ability to execute, but the coming months will be challenging, nonetheless.
White added, “The digital ad market enjoys a strong secular trend that has fueled the growth of companies such as Snap, and we expect the shift from traditional advertising to digital advertising to continue; however, all ad spending is sensitive to the vicissitudes of the economy. Although we expect Snap to struggle with a weakening digital ad spending environment in 2020, we look for the shift toward digital advertising, and away from traditional advertising, to eventually accelerate over the next couple of years as the COVID-19 crisis acts as a catalyst for advertisers to more expeditiously move away from traditional venues.”
Accordingly, White has a Neutral rating on Snap with no fixed price target in mind. (To watch White’s track record, click here)
The Street’s view on Snap presents a strange conundrum. On the one hand, based on 20 Buys, 8 Holds and 1 Sell, the disappearing photo app has a Moderate Buy consensus rating. However, the average price target of $18.59 represents possible downside of nearly 9%. It will be interesting to see whether the analysts downgrade their ratings or upgrade price targets over the coming months. (See SNAP price targets and analyst ratings on TipRanks)
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