What happened
Shares of Snapchat parent Snap (SNAP 1.93%) have gotten crushed today, down by 8% as of 11:30 a.m. EDT, after getting several bearish notes from Wall Street. BTIG, Jefferies, and Citi had lowered their expectations on Snap.
So what
Analysts at Jefferies and Citi both lowered their respective price targets on Snap, with Citi analyst Mark May dropping his price target from $10 to $8 and Jefferies analyst Brent Thill reducing his price target from $14 to $11. Citi is reiterating a sell rating, worried about recent operational challenges that the company has faced, which reduce the premium that Snap would be acquired at should a hypothetical buyer emerge. Jefferies is keeping the stock at a hold rating, pointing to the recent deterioration in user trends, as Snap posted its first-ever user decline last quarter.
Image source: Snap.
BTIG took things a bit further, downgrading its overall rating to sell and slapping on a $5 price target.
Now what
BTIG has had Snap at neutral ever since the company went public last year, during which time shares were cut in half. Analyst Rich Greenfield tried being patient with Snap, giving it time to hammer out details regarding monetization, but the analyst has run out of patience. Snap's product roadmap has been underwhelming, particularly the controversial redesign that has wrecked its results and dramatically hurt user engagement.
Greenfield also notes that Snap's cash burn is particularly concerning, even as the company has attempted to reduce operating expenses with numerous rounds of layoffs. BTIG believes the stock could get cut in half yet again and does not think "the pain is over."
