Monitoring Desk<\/p>\n
Snapchat owner Snap Inc rode a wave of euphoria in its Wall Street debut Thursday as investors sent shares of the popular messaging app soaring.
\nSnap jumped 44 percent to close at $24.48 in its inaugural trading day, after raising $3.4 billion in the richest US tech company listing since Facebook in 2012.
\nThe California startup known for its disappearing photo messages priced its offering Wednesday at $17 to give it a market value of $24 billion.
\nThe strong debut lifted its value to $28 billion, or more than double that of social media rival Twitter, which went public in 2013.
\nAnalysts have offered mixed views on the future of Snap, debating whether it can mimic the success of Facebook or end up in the tech junkyard.
\nDebra Williamson of the research firm eMarketer said Snapchat inspires the same kind excitement as Facebook in its early stages.
\n“This is a company that is fundamentally changing communication,” she said.
\n“This makes Snapchat as exciting a property as Facebook when it launched. And it has a lock on the youth market which is critically important for new technologies.”
\nSnapchat has more than 158 million daily active users creating 2.5 billion “snaps” a day in 20 different languages. It expects $936 million in revenues in 2017, and has partnerships with major brands and publishers.
\nWhile most of its users are under 30, it has been gaining traction with older smartphone users as it expands its offerings of content from its media partners.
\nSome analysts are skeptical about Snap, however, pointing to the example of Twitter, which has seen only modest increases in its user base since its 2013 IPO, and now trades well below its offering price.
\nIt remains unclear if Snap can expand beyond its core base of young users or how it will fare in many international markets in a competitive social media landscape.
\nValue questions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Monitoring Desk Snapchat owner Snap Inc rode a wave of euphoria in its Wall Street debut Thursday as investors sent shares of the popular messaging app soaring. Snap jumped 44 percent to close at $24.48 in its inaugural trading day, after raising $3.4 billion in the richest US tech company listing since Facebook in 2012. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n