What happened
Shares of Snap Inc. (SNAP +2.29%) fell 23.1% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after one analyst downgraded the stock and another lowered his price target for the stock.
So what
The first bit of bad news came as Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju lowered his price target from $30 to $25 toward the beginning of the month. Ju said he was concerned with the company's volatile growth, as well as with the fact that Snap insiders would be able to unload some of their shares after a lock-up period expired at the end of July. (When insiders sell shares after a lockup, it can sometimes drive a company's share price down.)
Image source: Snap.
That news was followed by a downgrade from Snap's IPO underwriter, Morgan Stanley, from overweight to equal weight. Analyst Brian Nowak cut Snap's price target from $28 to $16. and the two bits of bad news were enough to send Snap's shares down 10% in just two days.
Now what
Snap's shares have lost 45% of their value since the company's IPO back in March, and investors are looking to the company's second-quarter results -- which will be released in just a few days -- to see if Snap is still growing at a healthy clip. With so much doubt about Snap coming from Wall Street and investors, the company will need some impressive results if it's going to put a dent in the negative sentiment.
