For the second quarter in a row, Snap, Inc. exceeded expectations on its topline numbers. The parent company of Snapchat enjoyed a stock market bump after sharing its Q4 2024 earnings report, which pegged its quarterly revenue at $1.56 billion — slightly higher than projections.
Snap also outpaced Wall Street estimates in terms of its daily active users. It was projected to reach 451.1 million DAUs, but it soared all the way up to 453 million DAUs, which was good for a 9% year-over-year increase.
The growth of Snapchat’s user base has been underpinned by its parent company’s continued investment in creators. The Snap Star revenue program, which pays influencers who post on the platform, is resulting in an increase in total uploads. Snap’s Q4 2024 report noted that the number of creators posting on Snapchat is up 40% year-over-year.
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As TikTok has struggled to contend with U.S. regulations, Snap has used its expanding creator ecosystem as a means of attracting displaced TikTokers. It touted content from stars like Avani Gregg and Loren Gray in a campaign that ran during the lead-up to the currently-stayed TikTok ban.
In the earnings report, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said that disruptions to TikTok’s business could bode well for his company. “I think some of the changes with TikTok, they’ve sort of been an imperfect experiment, so we’re not trying to draw too many conclusions from some of the engagement lift we saw when the app went dark for that brief period of time, I would say that the overall environment of uncertainty is benefiting our business,” he explained. “I mean, certainly advertisers are very focused on contingency planning and diversifying their spend, and I think the same goes for creators who are really thinking hard about how they can build the most diversified engagement with their fan base across various platforms, including Snapchat. So a big priority for us is really just helping make sure we support advertisers and creators during this period of uncertainty.”
Even if TikTok is able to salvage its U.S. operations, Snap will still enter 2025 in a much better place than where its 2024 began. By investing in a “simplified version of Snapchat,” the app has now produced strong results for consecutive quarters. Add it all up, and Snap expects to reach 459 million daily active users by the end of Q1 2025.
