What happened
Shares of Snap Inc. (SNAP -3.56%) climbed 11.4% on Wednesday after Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju upgraded the social-media company. More specifically, Ju increased his per-share price target on Snap stock from $17 to $20, representing a staggering 39.5% premium from yesterday's close.
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So what
To justify his bullishness, Ju argued that Snap's recent launch of ad products -- including its Snap Publisher tool, which allows advertisers to easily cut vertical ads in just minutes -- "should bolster the incentive to test the platform."
"While we concede that it has taken longer than anticipated," he elaborated, "we submit that Snap is taking the necessary steps in the background to reduce friction against incremental ad budget allocations."
Now what
Snap is also taking additional steps to increase visibility for its advertising platform. Ju hopes to see its momentum building in the third and fourth quarters of this year.
Snap is slated to release third-quarter results early next month, so investors will need to wait until then to see if Ju's optimism is merited. But with shares still trading nearly 50% below their 52-week high and well below Snap's $17 IPO price, it's no surprise to see the stock rebounding today.
