The Snap Inc. company that owns the popular Snapchat application has seen a valuation drop of 94% compared to the $83 all-time high in 2021.
On 24 February 2026 was trading at about $4.93, down 4.2 % in the last session, as the market continued to be volatile.
Privacy policy enforcement that altered its structure, in particular the 2021 crackdown by Apple, which removed a good part of targeted advertising, provided Snap with the status of operational re-evaluation as its competitors like Meta readjusted promptly.
However, the platform has maintained 474 million daily active users (DAUs) following a fairly small but consecutive decrease of DAUs in Q4 in 2025, and the phenomenon of user attachment is strong among the Generation Z cohorts.
Smart Ads Fuel Growth
The advertising infrastructure of Snap is in full operation. Evan Spiegel said:
“Our Q4 results began to reflect the impact of our strategic pivot toward profitable growth, translating into revenue diversification and meaningful margin expansion”.“This progress reflects our commitment to building a more financially efficient and profitable business while continuing to invest in the future of augmented reality and the consumer launch of Specs.”
Snapchat has more than 25 million paid subscribers. Snap announced today that its subscriber base increased 71 % year on year in Q4 2025.
Rocky Road, Bright Horizon
The apparent dip in the DAU is found partly due to the decreased expenditure on marketing and the prohibitions in the Russian and Australian markets, which alters the beholders of advertisers with the aim of reaching the masses.
Analysts theorize that the prospects of augmented reality, and subscription momentum of Snap can have long-term benefits, but state that the number of users need to be stable to be successful over time.
In the case of 2026, analysts are optimistic of the potentially unstable phase, but synergy between smart advertisement solutions and subscriptions has Snap in a position of earning something should DAUs make a comeback. Future long-term investors should start the positions on a low scale.