What Should Snap Stock Holders Take From Its Third-Quarter Report? Trefis Team Tue, November 10, 2026 at 7:44 PM EST 3 min read SNAP -0.99% ^GSPC -0.38% META +0.66% GOOG +0.32% PINS -0.68% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
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Snap (SNAP) stock fell 14.0% in the session after the company reported its Q3 FY2026 results on November 4, 2026, while the S&P 500 lost 4.4%. Earnings per share beat analysts' estimates, but revenue fell short, and revenue is the line shareholders should look at first. So where did Snap's sales come up short?
Snap's Sales Shortfall Was In Advertising
Advertising accounts for most of what Snap sells, and those sales grew just 4% from a year earlier in Q3 FY2026, management said on the November 4 call. Other revenue grew 84%, led by the Snapchat+, Memories Storage and Lens+ subscriptions. Total revenue came to $1.72 billion, landing 2.4% below the analysts' consensus, though inside the range management had guided. Earnings per share were $0.19, against a consensus of $0.16. That figure is on a different measure from the reported profit given below. Daily active users grew to 495 million, which also fell short of analysts' estimates.
Inside the advertising business, the two kinds of ads diverged. Management said direct response ads, which are aimed at purchases, grew strongly, while brand advertising, which is aimed at awareness, declined year-over-year and weighed on Snap's overall growth. Snap's shares fell further than its peers in the same session: Pinterest lost 6.7% and Meta Platforms lost 4.0%.
Is Snap's Revenue Growth Slowing?
Snap's revenue growth slowed from the quarter before, but stayed above its pace of a year earlier. Revenue rose 14.3% from a year earlier in Q3 FY2026, against 9.8% growth in Q3 FY2025. Growth had reached 18.9% in Q2 FY2026. Management said that earlier quarter benefited from easier comparisons on World Cup-related spending.
For Q4 FY2026, management guided revenue to a range of $1.950 billion to $1.985 billion. That would be 13.6% to 15.7% more than Snap reported for the same quarter a year earlier. The growth range includes Snap's Q3 growth rate, so management expects growth to stay near its Q3 pace rather than return to the Q2 rate.
Snap's profit improved even as growth slowed. The company earned $56.5 million in Q3 FY2026, against a loss of $104 million a year earlier, and management said its total cost structure grew just 1% year-over-year. Over the past twelve months, Snap still lost $151 million.
What Did Snap's Management Say About Brand Ads?
Management said brand advertising declined mainly because of lower spending by consumer packaged goods companies, driven by macro pressures in the U.S. and the Middle East. Management pointed to growth from other industries, such as financial services in the U.S., and said it was seeing a bit of acceleration on the ad side in Q4 FY2026.
Management also said direct response ads keep growing as a share of Snap's business, which it expects to continue in the short term, and that improvements in its brand products and sales approach should kick in as Snap moves into 2027. Both are management's expectations, not results yet.
Snap's quarter showed its profit improving while its advertising barely grew. Advertising revenue growth is the figure to watch when Snap reports its Q4 FY2026 results, expected in February 2027.
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