That Snapchat Update You Hate Caused a Stock Plunge and Lost Snap Inc. $4 Billion

Yeesh.

Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel will probably rue the day his ‘disappearing photo’ app launched its exceptionally, hilariously unpopular redesign. You could say, he’ll even be haunted by it.

Yesterday, Snap Inc.—which makes Snapchat—released their first-quarter earnings report, and yikes.

That infamous redesign has reportedly caused users and advertisers (including Chrissy Teigen, Rihanna and Kylie Jenner) to lose confidence in the social media platform. As a result, the company could only report a growth of two per cent for "daily active users", compared to five per cent in the previous quarter. They also warned that their year-over-year revenue growth rate will "decelerate substantially".

So, investors have begun fleeing.

In fact, with the release of their shocking earnings report, shares in Snap Inc. initially dropped by 22 per cent, according to Reuters. That means, in one day, Snap lost one-fifth of its value, or, in terms cold-hard cash, approximately $US4 billion ($US5.32 billion).

Spiegel, meanwhile, saw his personal worth drop by $US700 million (that’s $AUD931 million to his Aussie wife Miranda Kerr).

Meanwhile, Facebook’s stocks rose slightly this week, following their announcement of the addition of video chat to Instagram.

Is it truly time to say R.I.P. Snapchat?

Photo: Snapchat & iStock.com/yayayoyo