“Hey, look at Snap. Who would’ve thought? Not me…” - literally everyone today… 

Snap has been left for dead more times than Bed Bath & Beyond… and yet, it’s suddenly the belle of the meme stock ball again. Shares ripped 12% today as buyout rumors, record-breaking volume, and product launches has retail traders horned up over the rotting social app for washed-up influencers who can’t make it on TikTok.

(Source: Giphy) 

Keep in mind, this is a BFD for Snap considering it was trading mid-$6s in January and had been mostly written off. However, the same  $13.7B market cap that once looked like a tombstone suddenly looks like bait. Why? For starters, we have the buyout chatter. Starting last Thursday, there have been whispers of big tech circling. Apple, Google, Meta, maybe even some surprise Asian bidder who wants to own America’s last Gen Z watering hole. With that said, the details are still uncertain. 

(Source: Rolling Out) 

Additionally, the product hype train hit Snap as they launched the OS 2.0 for its Spectacles. A.k.a, the AR glasses nobody will wear in public. But hey, at least the demos looked good enough to keep analysts from laughing out loud. Add to the fact that D.C. still hasn’t decided if TikTok gets banned, neutered, or sold, and Snap is the sloppy rebound everyone pretends they’re actually into. 

All in all, this perfect storm led to over 400M shares traded in the last two trading days. You can practically smell the retail FOMO on the chart. However, let’s all be adults here and understand what’s notably absent from Snap’s “back from the dead” narrative. First off, Snap’s profitability is a joke. “BuT tHeY hAVe 400m DAiLy UsERs”. Yes, that’s true, but that’s not Snap’s problem… the problem is turning those clicks into cash. It’s bleeding cash left, right, and twice on Sunday… while the moat is basically: Instagram steals their features, while TikTok steals their users. What’s more is that the only strategy for AR beyond “AR is the future” is kind of non-existent. 

(Source: Giphy) 

But alas, here we are… which is exactly why a buyout makes sense… especially for the big players. For Apple, it’s AR hardware distribution. For Google, it’s another way to strangle ad dollars. For Meta, it’s just putting a pillow over Snap’s face and finishing the job. The irony though, is that Snap is one of the most expensive free apps ever built. Billions sunk into AR and disappearing messages, and the real exit ramp might just be Zuckerberg buying them out ten years late. 

So yes, Snap is doing Snap things… but the difference this time is there’s actually something behind it in the name of M&A smoke. Plus, if TikTok keeps taking political shrapnel, Snap becomes the next-best thing. Regardless though, the momentum is there. And if you were short this morning? Congrats, you just got run over by the horny teenager app. Until next time, friends…

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Apple, Meta, Google, and Snap as mentioned in the article.