Snap (NYSE:SNAP) shares surged more than 8% in U.S. pre-market trading after the social media company reported second-quarter 2026 revenue ahead of Wall Street expectations and issued an upbeat sales outlook for the current quarter.
The stronger performance was driven by solid advertising growth, improving user engagement and continued progress on cost reduction initiatives.
Revenue Beats Forecasts as Loss Narrows
The Santa Monica-based company reported a quarterly loss of $0.10 per share, improving from the same period last year.
Revenue increased to $1.60 billion, comfortably exceeding analyst expectations of approximately $1.54 billion.
Snap also benefited from ongoing cost-cutting measures. The company, which continues to expand the use of artificial intelligence across its business, previously announced plans to reduce its full-time workforce by around 16% to improve efficiency.
Advertising Business Continues to Strengthen
Advertising revenue rose 9% year over year to $1.28 billion during the quarter.
The increase was supported by stronger marketing spending linked to the FIFA World Cup, which generated exceptionally high levels of audience engagement. According to FIFA, the tournament had already attracted 20 billion video views across its platforms by the quarter-final stage.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel said the company continued to see improving momentum across its advertising business.
“After several quarters of improving our ad products and go-to-market approach, we saw better momentum with large advertisers in North America and stronger revenue growth internationally. World Cup-related spending contributed during the quarter, alongside continued strength among small and medium-sized businesses,” he said.
Subscription Revenue and User Growth Improve
Snap’s other revenue streams, including its premium subscription offering, increased 85% year over year to $316 million.
Daily active users rose to 493 million during the second quarter, compared with 483 million in the previous quarter.
Monthly active users also continued to expand, increasing from 956 million to 971 million over the same period.
Third-Quarter Outlook Meets or Exceeds Expectations
Looking ahead, Snap expects third-quarter revenue of between $1.70 billion and $1.74 billion.
The lower end of the range matches the current analyst consensus, while the upper end points to stronger potential growth.
The company also forecast adjusted EBITDA of between $300 million and $350 million for the third quarter.
Analysts at Vital Knowledge said the latest results reflected improving operational performance.
“Overall, this report demonstrates that mgmt. is making progress on its cost/cash initiatives while growing the top line,” the firm said in a research note.
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