Snap hype cools off as bubble bursts for now

The Snap IPO caught a few people off guard as prices surged to $24 after the first day of trading, but as the price declines, late-comers to the party are looking a little bit screwed.

Despite numerous industry commentators noting the limitations of Snap as a business, the industry reacting with enthusiasm in the first few days Snap operated as a publicly traded company. Snap was chasing $17 per share, which would have valued the company in the region of $25 billion, however a 40% boost to $24 by the end of day one saw overall value exceed $33 billion.

Over the remainder of the week, eagerness continued as shares jumped another 18% to roughly $28 as party latecomers tried to cash in, however it would now appear to be slightly misjudged. The winners here are clear; founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy must be laughing, as will those who managed to get involved on the first day of trading. The late comers however would have seen their investments slide to $21 a share, a decrease of 24% over the course of this week.

A decline in share price is hardly a surprise, it is common for the market to get a bit over-excited and swept up in the euphoria, pushing up the price before a decline. The same trend can be seen with Facebook, Twitter and Alibaba, however after the initial decline, two of these organizations have recovered healthily (we’ll let you guess which two). In fact, Facebook’s share price is now 259% higher than the initial slump.

Explaining the hype is a tricky one, but it is worth noting the IPO market has been relatively barren for a while so maybe the traders were just a little trigger happy. Regardless of the reasoning, the tricky task starts now as Snap needs to prove its more than a one trick pony. The launch of Spectacles takes it into new markets, as does create a positive vibe around the potential for VR, however there needs to be more creative thinking such as this.

Mark Zuckerberg diversified Facebook incredibly well and look what happened. Twitter didn’t and now CEO Jack Dorsey is overseeing less than flattering user figures, even less flattering revenues, as well as a slowly declining share price. Evan, are you more of a Mark or a Jack?