Snap’s stock closed below its IPO price for the first time

A sinking feeling.
A sinking feeling.
Image: AP Photo/Richard Drew
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Snap popped, and now it seems to be crackling.

After jumping 40% over its $17 IPO price on the first day it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, March 2, Snap’s stock has fallen back to earth. The company’s stock fell just below its initial pricing today (July 10), closing the day at $16.99. Snap’s stock has been relatively volatile in the Snapchat-maker’s short time as a public company: its market capitalization after its second day of trading was over $31 billion, according to FactSet, and today, that figure stands at about $20 billion. That means in just a few months it lost nearly the equivalent of Twitter’s entire market capitalization.

Snap has faced a rocky start as a public company after a less-than-stellar first earnings report, as well as analyst reports suggesting the company may struggle to succeed in an advertising market dominated by Google and Facebook—the latter of which has also essentially copied everything Snapchat has ever built.

But even with stiff competition, Snap is still rolling out new products, such as Snap Map—a way for Snapchat users to see what their friends, other users, and potentially brands, are snapping around the world—that aim to boost user engagement. The company is also still slowly growing, and has yet to monetize most of its users outside of North America, so it’s too early to call Snap “the next Twitter.” And at least its stock didn’t sink below its IPO price nearly as quickly as another much-hyped unicorn’s just did: Blue Apron’s stock closed below its IPO after just two days.