How Snap’s Stock, Once Up 700%, Plummeted in 2022 | WSJ What Went Wrong

Snap shifted from overdrive to reverse this year as it prepares for its lowest period of sales growth since going public. WSJ’s Meghan Bobrowsky explains how Snap’s dependence on digital ads led to its restructuring efforts.
Illustration: Jacob Reynolds
What Went Wrong explores the challenging conditions and decisions that led to a company's downturn.
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[@ALT-vz3jn]

That girl needs media training asap… geez

[@caducoppini]

Seriously she’s talking to Stacy during break

[@tribaltroll]

She makes this feel like an Onion video

[@jonnyh5858]

😂 intern vibes

[@MrSupernova111]

@@caducoppini . Like... literally.

[@meluckycharms111]

Woah, where is this reporter from? At first I thought she was slurring her words and then I realized it was an accent. It’s deep Valley Girl. I couldn’t help but be hugely distracted by it lol

[@MrSupernova111]

She's a overgrown child pretending that she knows anything about managing a multi billion dollar business. lol

[@mccallanger6734]

So, so true

[@justinweaver5900]

As soon as I heard that voice I came directly to the comments to make sure it wasn’t only me lol

[@calvinallan2208]

Me : likes a company Company : starts doing badly

[@giovannip8600]

Which other do you like? Please tell

[@calvinallan2208]

@@giovannip8600 I liked Boeing then it started losing customers because of 737, I also liked Netflix and recently they are losing subscribers. Don't know i feel like cursed😂

[@joshramnarain]

Plz start liking apple 😉

[@Riddlemethiseveryone]

Nothing went wrong, Snap is back to its actual worth.

[@Lucky14970]

Minus whatever 20% of what their stock was ultimately worth. That's more like it

[@swedesam]

Social media companies have got to be the worst stocks to invest in with fickle consumers that quickly jump from one app fad to the next.

[@Lucky14970]

Wow, someone took Psych 101. Congrats on your new acquired epiphany! Real Zeitgeist mover and shaker, aren't you?!

[@LeahyGroup]

The journalist in the red top is super annoying.

[@durancoley]

I swear I thought it was just me. I respect the message and messenger but that nonchalant voice isn’t it

[@takoflame4948]

talks like a teen yet is for sure way older

[@thenewwayhome]

This is why it's not always great to rely on sponsors, tracking each individual's activity and behavior online, for advertisement purposes. Great content!

[@lornariveral7313]

nah their main problem was their leadership just like robinhood snapchat insisted on redesigning their app even if their users doesn't want it that's the first reason why their user base collapse then tiktok happens and the hope of the reborn of snapchat is now good as impossible

[@fovo8470]

@@lornariveral7313 TikTok is for videos tho

[@lornariveral7313]

@@fovo8470 yup

[@srourfamily]

snap new toys will break the company too much junk and we follow you reverse thinking!! waste of time and many employees just play games and now they will need to work!!

[@ifthen1526]

This girl sounds like what I think Snap would sound like if it were a human haha

[@Sniper21361]

Respect to Apple privacy features

[@YT-mp7ei]

My god this woman being “interviewed” have such a terrible voice for media

[@MrSupernova111]

How much management experience do you think she has to be providing business analysis on a multi billion dollar firm? lol

[@bigboss337]

So, a hype speculative stock of a nonprofitable company which is burning cash to operate sees its stock price plunge from insane valuations. Yes, very shocking indeed...........

[@mushroomtits8387]

Mah Jaw stands Agape 😲🤯👄

[@Lucky14970]

I’m forever bewildered by the constant tomfoolery that’s perpetrated by the hooligans who time and time again look to morph themselves into the proverbial cracks and creases in the road of life and only operate in this fashion to eventually become ice cold, making themselves the equivalent of black ice on the bumpy road life. A danger to us all!

[@bngr_bngr]

Meghan sounds drunk.

[@JudgeDredd_]

I only used it when I was in a LD relationship. Connected with a few old friends who I still have no idea how they found me in snap when I deleted their numbers ages ago. Other than that I had no need for it so I left but it was funny while I was on it. That whole news section was trash though and that’s ultimately why I left.

[@mattsch21]

Congratulations.

[@areoladan5580]

Same here, I’d had the app for years but the content on the news section made me get rid of it. Absolute garbage.

[@JudgeDredd_]

@@areoladan5580 Hahahahhahahaha Areola Dan that name has me absolutely dying Hahahaha

[@kialuvsyoo]

They probably didn't delete your number though

[@pearcake]

Jesus, Megan Brobowsky needs to do something about her vocal fry

[@xHaComio]

Can’t handle this girl’s voice and tone. It’s another Zoe (“this is your tech news briefing”) that drive me away from these informational videos

[@takoflame4948]

fr sounds so out of it

[@MrSupernova111]

Like... literally...

[@MrSupernova111]

Was Zoe the one doing the voice overs in other WSJ videos? WSJ needs to get tenured people with real world experience in this videos.

[@HelloForeignWorld]

All teens are now at tiktok, snapchat is long forgotten

[@2beJT]

What happened is people get hyped about companies we think are 'the next big thing' but some flashes in the pan look a lot like the next big thing.

[@Essays4College]

I couldn’t agree more JT

[@bigbanknewyork3655]

It's called TIK TOK

[@Bxu021]

I wasn’t looking at the screen at the start, so I didn’t know what snap was referring to 😂😂 I was like “have I heard of this app before?” 😂😂😂 and then I looked over and I saw the white ghost on a yellow background and went like “oh Snapchat!” 😂😂😂

[@8731Cordova]

Also SNAP is food stamp benefits in California 😂😂😂

[@killtrocity6857]

Snap just snapped 😳

[@ohmyrufiohhh1303]

Haven’t been on in years. I went on the other day and it was pretty dead. Not only that but there was an ad after every freaking snap that can’t be skipped. That was annoying.

[@andrewcampbell3100]

Key word: Long term Value.

[@thisisgame]

why would anyone pay $3.99 a month to use snap?

[@ropro9817]

Bobrowsky needs a voice coach. She sounds like a 12 year old.

[@koshobai]

She's young. Performance and delivery gets better over time, I'd argue. Plus, the content of her words is clear and convincing.

[@MrSupernova111]

@@koshobai . She's young and its unlikely that she ever managed a business. Why would WSJ choose a kid to provide business analysis of a multi billion firm? Its baffling. Especially when you consider SNAP isn't the only overhyped stock taking a bloodbath this year?

[@OrangeGummyMoon]

And?

[@FlosBlog]

She’s British it’s her mix of dialect and sociolect- don’t focus on appearance so much

[@ropro9817]

@@FlosBlog She doesn't sound British, she sounds like a child. Also, voice != appearance.

[@SquizzMe]

Why anyone still uses this app is beyond me. Whatever it can do, there's always another app that does it better. It's not the best at any one thing.

[@qswedin]

This girls voice is way too nasally.

[@alparslankorkmaz2964]

Nice video

[@AlbertKimMusic]

this is how hard running a business is

[@mushroomtits8387]

Work is hard. LoL I think being successful at daytrading or finding good value stocks in a bubble

[@pejuangyutub6703]

wall street journal should fire these journalists with annoying accents!

[@auro1986]

how? they went volatile like images uploaded shared in app. then that yellow drone toy

[@ASK-ko9qx]

Apple could be sued for monopolistic behaviour if it goes ahead with it's own ad update. Ads for thee not for mee.

[@jumbomuffin1316]

🤡 social media collects and sells user data for other companies to profit so they all deserve the fall. Apple makes it own products, runs its own software and has the right to make its own choices that users want and that’s privacy.

[@sudhakarpartheepan4211]

you may do similar analysis for ROKU

[@trailerhaul8200]

Well it just goes to the real value

[@turklurk]

Tiktok snapped it. 😂

[@ajwaddanwarr3409]

My question is then why is Tiktok still soo effective? How are they tracking users so effectively?

[@OrangeGummyMoon]

One word: China

[@UtkarshKaushik]

It's the user's interactions in the FYP using which they are able to make sense of a person's likes and dislikes

[@TodaTruth]

After snap ticktock will be next

[@q3itachyon209]

@@OrangeGummyMoon No

[@deliztube]

Because only Americans care about privacy.. The rest of the world doesn't give a s*it

[@HAMZZZ1985]

I’m all in.

[@bartleby_]

Snapchat is so confusing to use, that’s why…

[@userre85]

Ugly and childish UI.

[@musiclover6842]

Sorry but her voice is annoying the lady with the red-ish shirt that is. Why give out 5 milion to help your employees yes they are in a war zone but the company is already not stable financially. All I hope is that I can still acces my Snapchat data such as vids and pics even when Snap decides to shut down.

[@Scatteril]

Because of ads?! Is that totally accurate? Once I used tiktok I left it snap along with my friends

[@joseolvera4467]

I stopped using Snapchat a long time ago!

[@MrRapmaster19]

Same here. The whole gimmick became a chore after a while and when Instagram introduced their stories feature, I just started to use that to share what I was up to rather than Snap's. Their main user base is starting to age out of the platform.

[@giovannip8600]

What age range are you guys in?

[@MrRapmaster19]

@@giovannip8600 I’m currently in my mid-20s. Snap got really big when I was in High School and used it pretty avidly from then until the end of college.

[@MrSupernova111]

I never used it. Seems pointless to me to be posting my mug on the app every time I shove food down my throat or go on a drive. 99% of people posting on those social media apps are just desperate for attention.

[@MrRapmaster19]

@@MrSupernova111 I kind of felt that way in the end. Even the friends of mine I was sending snaps to weren't my closest friends or anything, just people I was maintaining streaks with an occasionally actually chatted with. Always preferred actual conversation over picture chat, so when I left college and kept my strongest friendships, I kind of lost the point of Snapchat.

[@aliasqar5379]

If you didn't show commentator's face I would have thought that Sophie Turner is commenting

[@andriytroyan3888]

I might be an old 27 years old boomer, but I never understood snaps appeal. Used it mostly while in the US. Stopped using in Europe.

[@EmuEmuchu]

Always hated Snapchat it stops working when i disable camera

[@emmajaramillo9160]

😭

[@tacothepaco]

what did u expect💀💀

[@eggshi]

What were they thinking about spending R&D money on Pixy? So dumb.

[@heavyizthacrown-5842]

That girl with the slow speech pattern talks like snotty-nose Clark Peters, from King of the Hill.

[@pollutingpenguin2146]

It’s a terrible app with a terrible design and a terrible user interface

[@AtukNakal]

They simply snaped

[@mis3trcha]

How about competition? Tiktok?

[@kioly_ah]

the fair value should be around $2

[@FinancialShinanigan]

How * Insert Unprofitable Tech Company * Plummeted in 2022

[@trailerhaul8200]

Snap gets snapped

[@rrgofficial9481]

Because developers refused to learn SQL

[@richardshipe4576]

BASED

[@joosunkmybattleship]

That Snapchat expert sounds exactly like what I'd assume is a Snapchat expert

[@Muttley3000]

"'Regulated' Ponzi Scheme"

[@manuvns]

This has happened to name’s like Shopify and twilio which are better companies

[@fred8169]

All the stocks fell this year

[@uscsca]

Go after those digital advertising dollars Evan.

[@VictaCheung]

Im going to short snap for earnings. Ya it aint looking good.

[@ScrapPalletMan]

It was great seeing such a young person expressing big business concepts, projections and ideas. Excellent.

[@MrSupernova111]

Yeah, nothing like someone who never managed a business providing business analysis of a multi billion dollar firm. LOL

[@grimtooth2336]

She looked and sounded like a Jr. High school girl talking about basic economics.

[@ScrapPalletMan]

@@MrSupernova111 contentless random commenter lol

[@MrSupernova111]

@@ScrapPalletMan . Some random commenters have degrees in finance and many years of experience in the industry. But hey, enjoy the middle school level analysis.

[@OrangeGummyMoon]

People still use snapchat?

[@xanZion1]

It's funny watching all of these media outlets try and discuss something that people have been warning about with regard to the entirety of the stock market for the past year and a half. The crash is in progress and those stuck in their routine cycles will lose everything.

[@Silentbet1of]

And it’s only getting worse bc they lost touch with what the clients want which isn’t to be sold ad every 15 seconds so yes I hope they fail

[@user-os2jf3fw4u]

Bubble pop! The party end.

[@Sharemarketscreeners]

Privacy policy kills

[@waverache8296]

Unsubscribing WSJ in response to making fake news for disharming India's Image

[@sandgar1001]

I bought at $12/share

[@JD-qr1cb]

Now is at 8.40

[@AcesizOfficial]

700% 😭

[@pirovanomg]

Yeah but look into the changes they've made within the past few months alone. They are more than primed to become a profit machine.

[@jorgemendez4517]

What changes?

[@giovannip8600]

Everyone went to tiktok or back to ig

[@eggshi]

@@jorgemendez4517 Changes to the core product such as wide angle lens support and the duel reaction camera option

[@pirovanomg]

They're gearing up for hardcore brand partnerships and monetization by way of UGC

[@MrSupernova111]

hahahaha

[@richardshipe4576]

"whaaaat are you doing here??"

[@dilibau]

Basically they never had a core business to begin with…

[@mushroomtits8387]

Gen Z ain't Loyal and tech bubbles come and go for the investing landscape atleast. Shocking to some folks I'm sure of it 🤔

[@phoenix5054]

I'm guessing Tiktok. Edit: Ok. I'm wrong. It's Apple apparently.

[@apolodelsol]

Stop trying to make personalized ads happen, it's not going to happen.

[@Willy.Tanner]

Please advice this girl to ditch that awful posh accent

[@shafeenshahid]

Agreed

[@darealberrygarcia]

Do people still use Snapchat?

[@bigbanknewyork3655]

Teenagers

[@xmatterdaily]

It's simply called pump and dump

[@rightright6582]

Terrible repoeting ,

[@srourfamily]

snap shot snapped!! Apple bit them!!

[@signupisannoying]

When Android starts releasing the same policy as Apple, SNAP stock is going to snap more.

[@jensdevogelaere3291]

That journalist sounds drunk.

[@aranperumal]

Facebook Mark Suckerberg made it. I know..

[@TravelOften]

Oh snap!

[@user-po3my4kk6z]

Use her or lose her

[@benlecluyse]

😆

[@durancoley]

Who uses SNAP?

[@giovannip8600]

No, I can tell you no young person uses it anymore

[@jakedefenbaugh603]

Covid stimulus, all stocks went up then down. But I bet it goes bankrupt either way

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

This app is garbage adware. It takes up all your storage for some reason, even though it's not supposed to store anything. Uninstalled, goodbye Snap.

[@lopezjuan316jl]

I hope that they can make it, they are a cool company

[@mamatheregoesthatwoman]

She looks and sounds high.

[@rangerbeast]

It was a covid ride

[@briantep458]

OK BUT NOW TIKTOK IS GETTING BANNED, TIME TO SNAP TO COME BACK ????

[@topglobal6675]

Only USA use Snapchat

[@wynrick1]

👀

[@ndxs]

Apple will be world's biggest Ad company within a decade i think

[@BabyGangsterIsMe]

married to a model ..that is why he does not have time for the company... that is why the price is down

[@rmfinance1781]

Snap was vastly overpriced to begin with.

[@ramoncapiral6427]

another netscape and friendster

[@pat-orl]

"Analysts. Investors. Myself.." lol who is this woman. Doesn't sound professional.

[@jeep0]

hahsdhahah good

[@nicholassbishop]

Her potato voice is too distracting...

[@kioly_ah]

means her comes from Nordic county? Hahaha

[@AB-ct8dj]

# rubbish newspaper the wall Street