InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
The photos of Miranda Kerr’s May wedding to Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) CEO Evan Spiegel finally arrived in the latest issue of Vogue magazine July 16. The CEO took time out from his social media battle with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Snapchat’s other social media competitors to get married to the love of his life.
Source: Shutterstock
Mazel Tov!
However, from a business perspective, I have to wonder about their decision to put the photos on Instagram — one of the social media apps that could put Snap out of business, ultimately sending SNAP investors scrambling to buy FB stock, if they already haven’t.
Now before I get a bunch of emails reminding me that Miranda Kerr’s Instagram account promotes her brand — something I applaud — it does put a spotlight on the incredibly difficult hill Snapchat is trying to climb.
Facebook’s Dominance Continues
SNAP stock is about 12% lower than its March IPO price, and about 40% from its first day of trading. Meanwhile, FB stock is up 16% in the same period. Millennials — big buyers of Snap’s shares — are getting a big lesson in investing, which is that products or services that are popular don’t always translate into money making stocks.
It’s possible we naysayers will be proven wrong, but the odds are very long indeed.
Two recent articles by InvestorPlace contributors Chris Lau and James Brumley hammer home the enormous gap that exists between the two companies. First, Chris Lau:
“Instagram Stories now has 250 million daily users. Nearly a year after adding the Stories feature, usage is growing sharply,” Lau wrote July 17. “Facebook will invariably benefit from the strong numbers. It could even take Snap and Twitter customers away, thanks to the strong traffic numbers.”
Let’s be clear: Lau is talking about Snap advertisers in the second part of the above paragraph, not users.
While I understand that Kerr and company want her 11.4 million followers to see her wedding photos, is there not another way to quickly disseminate them without resorting to Facebook-owned Instagram?
If the answer to that is no, the jig is already up for Snapchat. It truly is, as some in the media have begun calling it a “dead stock walking” because with Instagram Stories passing Snapchat in daily users — 250 million to 166 million — it’s only a matter of time before advertisers begin defecting.