Snap sets Q4 revenue guidance and shifts to monthly active users metric

UPDATE - follow-up to Snap shares fall over 10% on third-quarter revenue miss: Snap announced Q4 revenue guidance of $1.95‑$1.99 billion and said it will shift to monthly active users as its primary audience metric in early 2027. Third‑quarter sales rose 14% year‑over‑year, but the company missed revenue and daily active‑user expectations, prompting the earlier share drop. Net income turned positive at $56 million, reversing a $104 million loss a year earlier. Adjusted earnings of $383 million beat the $337 million analysts had forecast. For the fourth quarter, Snap expects revenue between $1.95 billion and $1.99 billion, a midpoint slightly above Wall Street’s $1.95 billion estimate. Adjusted earnings are projected at $490 million to $525 million, close to the $498 million consensus. The company will use globally monthly active users (MAU) as its primary audience metric starting in Q1 2027, reporting 977 million MAU for the quarter. Snap’s investor letter said it will not chase daily engagement at the cost of long‑term community value. Chief commercial officer Ronan Harris said weaker spending by consumer packaged‑goods firms, hit by macro pressures in the United States and the Middle East, hurt Q3 sales. He added that financial‑services advertisers are showing strong growth, and Snap is shifting focus to diversify beyond CPG. The guidance and metric shift signal the firm’s plan to balance short‑term revenue with sustainable user growth.

Context

Snap is one of the few social‑media firms still reporting strong user growth despite competition from TikTok and Meta. Monthly active users measure the total number of people who open the app each month, a broader gauge than daily active users. Shifting to MAU aligns Snap’s reporting with its long‑term strategy to deepen user engagement.