Snap beats Q2 revenue estimates but falls short on user growth

• Snap reported its Q2 2020 earnings Tuesday, showing better-than-expected revenue but falling just short on growth of daily active users.
• The company generated $454.2 million in second-quarter revenue and 238 million DAUs.
• Digital advertising has seen substantial negative impact from the coronavirus pandemic, and Snap results could be a barometer for the future of the industry.

Snap reported better-than-expected Q2 revenue but fell just short of analysts' estimates for daily active users.

In its second-quarter earnings report Tuesday, Snap said it generated $454.2 million in revenue, a 17% year-on-year increase, beating analysts' average estimated revenue of $441.6 million.

As one of the earliest tech companies to report their second-quarter earnings, Silicon Valley and Wall Street are watching Snap's results closely to gauge the health of the digital advertising industry.

In after-hours trading, Snap's stock was down about 6%.

Here are the key numbers, as well as the average analyst estimates, via Bloomberg:

• Revenue: $454.2 million, up 17% year-on-year (vs $441.6 million estimate)
• Daily Active Users: 238 million, up 17% year-on-year (vs 239.1 million estimate)
• Earnings Per Share (adjusted): Loss of 9 cents (vs estimated loss of 10 cents)

Snap's second-quarter jump in revenue of 17% is much smaller than the company's 44% YoY climb in revenue in this year's first quarter. In Snap's conference call Tuesday with investors, CEO Evan Spiegel said the company's revenue growth rate "continues to be impacted by ongoing market disruptions" caused by the pandemic.

Snap's number of daily active users rose 17% globally in the second three months of 2020, clocking in at 238 million. But the number represents a slowdown in the user base's year-on-year growth, which increased by 20% in Q1 2020.

Snap also shared that Snapchat users opened the app an average of 30 times a day in the second quarter — and increased their watch time of Shows by 45% year-on-year.

Analysts were anticipating growth in user engagement and daily active users in Q2 on the back of a better-than-expected first quarter for the social media company. Digital platforms have continued to see upticks in use through the first half of 2020, and analysts are expecting second-quarter results to show digital ad revenue slowly starting to recover.

Prior to Tuesday's earnings announcement, Snap's stock price has risen 55% in 2020, bucking the trend of a recession many on Wall Street are seeing.

Snap declined to provide expectations for revenue in Q3 "given the uncertainties related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly shifting macro conditions."