Skip to main content

Snap loses $1.3B in market value as reality TV star Kylie Jenner says she no longer uses Snapchat

Snapchat owner Snap saw $1.3B wiped from its market value after reality TV star Kylie Jenner tweeted that she had stopped opening the app.

Jenner has 24.5M followers on Twitter, and was (and may still be) the most viewed person on Snapchat, but the tweet was likely only the indirect cause of the stock market plunge …

Jenner was giving high-profile voice to a view shared by more than a million users of the app: that they hate the redesign and want the old Snapchat back.

A petition to revert to the old design quickly hit more than a million signatories, and is now over 1.2M. Additionally, a hoax tweet saying the company would switch back to the original layout if enough people retweeted it has been retweeted almost 1.5M times.

Snap has so far dismissed the calls, saying that users just needed time to get used to the change. CEO Evan Spiegel later went further, bizarrely arguing that objections to the change actually served to validate it.

At close of trading yesterday, Snap’s share price had dropped by more than 6%, and was at one point $1.5B down on the day’s opening price. Fortune reports that an investment note from MoffettNathanson added fuel to the fire,

“Snap and Twitter have likely run too much on already stretched multiples,” the note read. “As the market, fresh from all-time highs, recovers from a massive correction, we think the premium placed on owning strong businesses increases, while the risk of owning those with zero valuation support becomes even more pronounced.”

The fall comes at a particularly embarrassing time for Spiegel, as his 2017 salary and stock awards were revealed to total $638M, the third-highest CEO payout ever recorded.

It will be interesting to see whether the stock market response gives the company pause; so far, the signs have been that it is determined to maintain the redesign no matter what.

Photo: Justin Lane


Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


Ben Lovejoy's favorite gear

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications