Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Huffington Post
- Snap shares are seesawing Friday after Kylie Jenner’s tweet wiped out $1.3 billion of market value on Thursday.
- Jenner is one of the apps biggest influencers, so her presence is important for Snap.
- The up-and-down trading Friday caps off a rough week for the stock.
Snap investors are indecisive after Kylie Jenner’s tweet about how she doesn’t use the Snapchat app anymore wiped out $1.3 billion of the stock’s market value on Thursday. Shares have swung between gains and losses early Friday, trading down as much as 0.5% and up as much as 2%.
“Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?” she asked her Twitter followers. “Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.” She followed up with another tweet: “Still love you tho snap … my first love.”
The photo-sharing company has seen a boatload of user backlash in the wake of the rollout of its redesigned app. More than 1.2 million people have signed a petition on Change.org called “Remove the new Snapchat Update.”
The wave of negativity surrounding the rollout has caused Wall Street firms to downgrade the stock. In January, Raymond James downgraded the stock and just two days ago Citigroup followed suit by lowering their price target to $14 a share.
“While the recent redesign of [Snap’s] flagship app could produce positive long-term benefits, [there is a] significant jump in negative app reviews since the redesign was pushed out a few weeks, which could result in a decline in users and user engagement, and could negatively impact financial results,” Citigroup analysts Mark May and Hao Yan wrote on Tuesday.
The recent backlash has contributed to Snap shares falling more than 12% since last Friday. They had gained more than 50% since the beginning of February, boosted by encouraging revenue growth.
The stock is up 18% this year.
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