Latest news with #MyAI
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Down 90% From Its Record High, Can Snap Stock Snap Back in 2025?
Snap is the parent company of Snapchat, a popular social media platform with 460 million daily active users. Snap's innovation engine is producing unique tools powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. The stock is near the cheapest level in its history, so this looks like a great time to take a long-term position. 10 stocks we like better than Snap › Snap (NYSE: SNAP) is the parent company of the popular Snapchat social media platform. Its stock reached a peak of $83 during the tech frenzy in 2021, but it has since plunged by 90% as it couldn't sustain the extremely high valuation it held at the time. Snap's revenue and profits have also been relatively lumpy over the last couple of years, but some of its innovations in advertising technology, augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) are starting to bear fruit. The stock is now trading near the cheapest level in its history, making this an ideal time to buy ahead of a potential long-term recovery. Snap generates the majority of its revenue by selling advertising slots on Snapchat. In 2021, Apple changed its privacy rules, making it harder for social media platforms to track their users' activity across the internet, so they could no longer offer highly targeted ads to businesses. This is a key reason Snap stock is down so sharply over the last few years. But Snap has worked hard to build a new advertising engine powered by machine learning (ML), which targets users more effectively on behalf of advertisers. In the first quarter of 2025, brands that ran app-install campaigns on Snapchat saw a 30% increase in conversions from Apple devices compared to the prior-year period, so the company's ML technology appears to be working. In addition, Snap built an automated bidding system to help advertisers allocate their spending more efficiently, which lowers their cost-per-action (whether it be a product purchase, a link click, or an app download). During the first quarter, the company said early adopters of this tool saw an average drop of 32% in their cost-per-action while increasing their return on advertising spend by 16%. Snap also continues to improve its AR technology, which is a big differentiator for advertisers. Businesses can create a "Lens" that allows users to try on clothing and accessories virtually through their smartphone camera, which makes them more likely to buy the product. In April, Snap launched Sponsored AI Lenses, which can autonomously insert users' likenesses into digital backgrounds created by businesses, making them at one with the brand. This is a great way for brands to increase engagement and create viral moments on Snapchat. Speaking of AI, Snap continues to improve its My AI chatbot. It features multimodal capabilities powered by Alphabet's Gemini models, which means it can respond to text prompts, images, and videos. The integration with Gemini -- which happened in Sept. 2024 -- is driving a surge in activity on My AI. During the first quarter of 2025 alone, Snap said the chatbot's daily active users soared 55% year over year. In the first quarter, Snap's revenue rose 14% year over year to $1.36 billion -- a record amount for the first three months of the year. As I mentioned earlier, most of Snap's revenue comes from advertising, but it's trying to diversify its business to reduce risk and produce steadier growth rates. The company launched a subscription service in 2022 called Snapchat+. For $3.99 per month, it gives users early access to new features, custom app icons, and more ways to interact with their friends. Snapchat+ had almost 15 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter, up 59% from the year-ago period, and revenue soared a whopping 75% to $152 million. Here's the best part: Because it's a subscription product with monthly or annual renewals, Snapchat+ produces recurring revenue, which adds some predictability to the company's financial results. Based on the current number of users, the service is at a $600 million annualized run rate, and that figure is growing. Snap also made progress at the bottom line during the first quarter by carefully managing its operating expenses, which only increased by 2%. It still lost $139.6 million on a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis, but that was a 54% reduction from its $305.1 million net loss from the same period last year. But Snap was profitable based on an adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). This is management's preferred metric because it excludes one-off and non-cash expenses. In Q1, adjusted EBITDA soared 137% year over year to $108.4 million, but it was down compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, which tends to be Snap's strongest period of the year. When Snap stock peaked in 2021, its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio soared to around 40, which was an unsustainable level. But the 90% decline in the stock since then, combined with the company's consistent revenue growth, has pushed its P/S ratio down to just 2.5. That is near the cheapest level in Snap's history as a public company. But besides its valuation, there is another very compelling reason to buy Snap stock now. During the first quarter, Snapchat averaged a record 460 million daily active users, and that figure has been consistently climbing. As long as a growing number of people are flocking to the platform, it's will remain an attractive place for advertisers. If the innovations in Snap's advertising platform continue to build momentum and its user base continues to grow, then the company's financial results will keep improving. Therefore, investors might want to take advantage of Snap's cheap valuation and add the stock to their portfolio now. Before you buy stock in Snap, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Snap wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 173% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Down 90% From Its Record High, Can Snap Stock Snap Back in 2025? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
CNET
05-05-2025
- CNET
How to Get Rid of the Pushy Snapchat My AI Feature
While playing around with artificial intelligence chatbots can be amusing and sometimes even helpful, it's less so when AI is pushed in your face -- or on your face, in the case of Snapchat. Its chatbot, My AI, lets you ask questions, seek advice and carry on a conversation. It's powered by GPT models from ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Google's Gemini. The social media photo-messaging app is mainly used to send funny photos, connect with people far away and flirt. There's no reason for AI to sneak into your chats or cheeky pics, if you don't want it there. While it's fun to test AI's capabilities and confusion, if you're all too conscious of it sitting in your chats and stories, here are some steps you can take to ease your mind. How to block Snapchat's My AI from Stories Open the Snapchat app, and tap on your avatar in the top left corner. Then tap the gear icon for Settings. Snapchat / Screenshot by CNET Scroll down to View My Story and tap that. Snapchat / Screenshot by CNET Then tap Custom, which allows you to select who to block from seeing new Snaps you add to your Story. Your friends are listed alphabetically, so scroll down to the M section and select My AI and hit Block. Otherwise, by default it's automatically granted access to your Stories. Snapchat / Screenshot by CNET Sneaky. It doesn't "conveniently" sit up at the top, like it does in the Chat section. You can also go to the Chat section, and tap the My AI chat at the top. Snapchat / Screenshot by CNET Tap on its avatar and tap the three dots in the right top corner. Snapchat / Screenshot by CNET Then hit Privacy Settings and toggle off access to My Story. Snapchat / Screenshot by CNET How to delete your data from My AI Now that it's out of your Stories, delete your data from My AI. Again, the default setting is to save your conversations, so you have to turn it off. To delete all historical data, go to Settings again, then hit Clear My AI Data. Hit Confirm. Snapchat / Screenshot by CNET Easy peasy. How to delete Snapchat's My AI altogether If you're a Snapchat Plus subscriber – which is $1 for the first month, then $4 per month after that – you can delete My AI altogether or unpin it. Simply hold down My AI in Chat, click on Chat Settings, then Clear from Chat Feed. To unpin it, tap on the Snapchat Plus banner in your Profile and toggle My AI from Pinned to Unpinned. See also: I Tried Snap's New Standalone AR Glasses, Which Do Mixed Reality and AI and Work Outdoors However, if you like AI features, you can access exclusive subscriber-only benefits such as the ability to edit and enhance Snaps using generative AI tools and to generate unlimited AI replies and captions. As we see more AI integrations within social media platforms, some of you will adopt it while others will boycott tools that force it in your face. Platforms like Snapchat are capitalizing on this annoyance, making no-AI features part of the paid membership, while others like on Instagram can't be turned off. AI will continue to transform the social media landscape, and we'll have to compromise cost or convenience. But as we've seen with Snapchat, there are workarounds to still enjoy these tools, if you don't want to pay or use the AI. What can Snapchat's My AI do? It's easy to accidentally click on My AI because it sits at the top of your chats. Users have been getting snappy about the AI tool since it rolled out in April 2023, because you have to be a paying user to disable it. The AI bot popping up midchat with a friend is annoying and alarming. However, updates in September last year included more promising AI features for Snapchatters, as the app started to feel more like Google Lens and the new Apple Visual Intelligence. For example, you can use it to snap a selfie to see what you might look like in old age, translate menus from foreign languages, interpret confusing parking signs and identify a type of plant. I tried the plant test myself. It thought my money tree was sushi. See also: How to Stop Snapchat's My Selfie Feature From Using Your Face in Ads
Express Tribune
01-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Snapchat reworks app again after failed redesign trial
Listen to article Snap has scrapped its simplified three-tab redesign for Snapchat after receiving negative feedback from users, particularly its core base. The change was confirmed in the company's Q1 2025 earnings report, which also outlined steady revenue growth and a rise in global user numbers. The streamlined version, which removed the Snap Map and Stories tabs in favour of a focus on Chat, Camera, and Spotlight, was found to be unpopular among long-time users. CEO Evan Spiegel acknowledged that the new design created friction for those who heavily relied on the removed features. 'We found it difficult, especially for power users, to adopt the three-tab design,' Spiegel said. The redesign, tested for seven months, has now been abandoned. Snap is shifting gears by trialling a refined five-tab layout. This updated interface retains key features like Snap Map and Stories while enhancing the visibility of Spotlight, Snapchat's short-form video hub. The company says the new design blends familiar navigation with improved content discovery. In the same earnings call, Snap reported a 14% year-on-year revenue increase, reaching $1.36 billion for Q1 2025. This growth was attributed to better ad tools and a rise in Snapchat+ subscriptions. Snap also highlighted strong engagement with its AI tools, with My AI usage in the US growing over 55% year-on-year. It teased additional AI and augmented reality features set to launch later in the year. While global daily active users rose to 460 million, the platform saw a 1 million decline in North America, bringing regional DAUs to 99 million. Monthly active users now exceed 900 million.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Snapchat abandons plans for a simplified version of its app
As part of its Q1 2025 earnings release, Snap said it's scrapping plans for a simplified version of its app. The news comes seven months after Snapchat began testing a redesigned version of the app without the Snap Map or Stories tabs. The new version consolidated the app's navigation bar around three icons: chat, camera, and Snapchat's TikTok competitor, Spotlight. Instead of continuing to test the simplified version, the social network is now going to begin experimenting with a "refined five-tab interface" that keeps all of the app's existing tabs and makes it easier to access Spotlight. "In terms of the simple Snapchat design, we learned a lot from the redesign, but ultimately found that it was difficult, especially for power users, folks who really love Snapchat the way that it is who use the map and stories all the time, to really adopt the three-tab design, which made it harder to find stories and subscriptions and harder to find the map," Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on a call with investors. "So ultimately, we're taking a bunch of learnings from the three tab simple Snapchat design and evolving the five-tab design with those learnings." The company says it found that a more prominent Spotlight experience and the integration of Friend Stories within chats significantly boosted daily content viewership and total content views, especially among more casual users. "Our most engaged Snapchatters consistently demonstrated a preference for a five-tab layout, favoring the familiarity of tile-based content discovery and a dedicated Map tab," Snap said in its letter to investors. "Informed by these insights, we have begun testing a refined five-tab interface that combines the best of both approaches: bringing more Stories to the messaging experience and adding easier access to Spotlight, now placed directly to the right of the Camera." The reversal comes as Snap shares that it lost 1 million users in North America in Q1 quarter-over-quarter. Snapchat DAUs (daily active users) in North America stood at 99 million, compared to 100 million in the past quarter and 100 million in the prior year, according to Snap's shareholder letter. The company also saw an increase of more than 55% year-over-year in the number of My AI daily active users in the U.S., as Spiegel teased some AI-related announcements to come later this year. "As we look at the areas where we really want to differentiate, it's really around that visual communication," he said. "And so as we look at the way that people are interacting with My AI, by sending snaps and either receiving snaps or a chat response in return. I think that starts to show the way that these multimodal models are going to play a powerful role in people's lives. I think looking even longer term beyond that, the way that people are going to integrate AI into augmented reality, and I think provide a totally new user interface powered by AI is something that we're investing a lot in. We'll have more announcements around that later this year" Snap reported first-quarter revenue of $1.36 billion, a 14% year-over-year increase. The company says the uptick was driven by growth of its Snapchat+ subscription service and progress that it has made with its advertising solutions. Snap also reached a new milestone: more than 900 MAUs (monthly active users) worldwide. In addition, the social network's DUAs grew to 460 million globally, an increase of 38 million year-over-year. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Snapchat abandons plans for a simplified version of its app
As part of its Q1 2025 earnings release, Snap said it's scrapping plans for a simplified version of its app. The news comes seven months after Snapchat began testing a redesigned version of the app without the Snap Map or Stories tabs. The new version consolidated the app's navigation bar around three icons: chat, camera, and Snapchat's TikTok competitor, Spotlight. Instead of continuing to test the simplified version, the social network is now going to begin experimenting with a "refined five-tab interface" that keeps all of the app's existing tabs and makes it easier to access Spotlight. "In terms of the simple Snapchat design, we learned a lot from the redesign, but ultimately found that it was difficult, especially for power users, folks who really love Snapchat the way that it is who use the map and stories all the time, to really adopt the three-tab design, which made it harder to find stories and subscriptions and harder to find the map," Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on a call with investors. "So ultimately, we're taking a bunch of learnings from the three tab simple Snapchat design and evolving the five-tab design with those learnings." The company says it found that a more prominent Spotlight experience and the integration of Friend Stories within chats significantly boosted daily content viewership and total content views, especially among more casual users. "Our most engaged Snapchatters consistently demonstrated a preference for a five-tab layout, favoring the familiarity of tile-based content discovery and a dedicated Map tab," Snap said in its letter to investors. "Informed by these insights, we have begun testing a refined five-tab interface that combines the best of both approaches: bringing more Stories to the messaging experience and adding easier access to Spotlight, now placed directly to the right of the Camera." The reversal comes as Snap shares that it lost 1 million users in North America in Q1 quarter-over-quarter. Snapchat DAUs (daily active users) in North America stood at 99 million, compared to 100 million in the past quarter and 100 million in the prior year, according to Snap's shareholder letter. The company also saw an increase of more than 55% year-over-year in the number of My AI daily active users in the U.S., as Spiegel teased some AI-related announcements to come later this year. "As we look at the areas where we really want to differentiate, it's really around that visual communication," he said. "And so as we look at the way that people are interacting with My AI, by sending snaps and either receiving snaps or a chat response in return. I think that starts to show the way that these multimodal models are going to play a powerful role in people's lives. I think looking even longer term beyond that, the way that people are going to integrate AI into augmented reality, and I think provide a totally new user interface powered by AI is something that we're investing a lot in. We'll have more announcements around that later this year" Snap reported first-quarter revenue of $1.36 billion, a 14% year-over-year increase. The company says the uptick was driven by growth of its Snapchat+ subscription service and progress that it has made with its advertising solutions. Snap also reached a new milestone: more than 900 MAUs (monthly active users) worldwide. In addition, the social network's DUAs grew to 460 million globally, an increase of 38 million year-over-year. Sign in to access your portfolio
