Shares in Snapchat owner slump 25% amid slowdown in ad revenue

Snap, which generates more than two-thirds of its revenue in North America, said some advertisers continued to face supply-chain disruptions and labour shortages, and many others were contending with rising costs amid record inflation, which has led to cuts in spending on advertising.

Daily active users on Snapchat rose 18% year-over-year to 347 million, beating consensus estimates of 344 million users.

Investors are expecting the slowest-ever pace of growth for social media ad revenue this year, as rising inflation and other economic woes cause brands to slash their marketing budgets.

Twitter, mired in a legal dispute with would-be suitor Elon Musk, reports results later on Friday.

Tech stocks have been hit this year as rising inflation around the world has combined with interest rate increases from central banks to rattle investors. Advertising has not been the only factor in their decline. Tech stocks, the price of which can be based on expectations of strong future earnings over many decades, can be relatively less appealing than the immediate fixed returns on offer from investments such as bonds, which become more attractive in a higher lending rate environment.

So far this year, shares in Meta have fallen 46%, with Alphabet down by 21%, Apple by 15% and Netflix by 62%.

Snap has been investing heavily in augmented reality technology and ads, which overlays digital images on to photos and videos of the real world.