Snap Paid Subscriptions Top 30 Million as Third-Quarter Revenue Rises 14%
Key Facts
Snap had more than 30 million paid subscribers in the third quarter of 2026, alongside 84% year-over-year growth in other, non-advertising revenue, according to the company’s investor update. The figure includes subscribers to Snapchat+, Memories storage and Lens+, with no breakdown disclosed by service. In the same period, total revenue rose 14% to 1.722 billion dollars, compared with 1.507 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2025, according to the company’s results. CEO Evan Spiegel said revenue grew 14% and the company recorded positive net income, which he said reflected progress toward building a more profitable business. He added that AI “has become an important advantage for our teams and our advertising platform.”
Snap reported net income of 56 million dollars in the third quarter, compared with a net loss of 104 million dollars in the same period a year earlier, according to its earnings release. Adjusted EBITDA was 383 million dollars, compared with 182 million dollars a year earlier, according to Investing.com. Free cash flow also reached 164 million dollars, up 76% from 93 million dollars in the third quarter of 2025. The figures show improved profitability and cash flow alongside revenue growth, while some key metrics remained below market expectations. Adjusted earnings per share were 0.03 dollars, above analysts’ estimate of 0.01 dollars.
The company generated revenue of 1.722 billion dollars, below the average estimate of 1.73 billion dollars, according to Investing.com. Average daily active users were 495 million, up 3.8% year over year, but below analysts’ estimate of 499.31 million. By contrast, average monthly active users reached 977 million in the third quarter, compared with 932 million in the same period of 2025, according to the company’s results table. The metrics paint a mixed picture of the period: year-over-year growth in revenue and monthly users, while revenue and daily users fell short of expectations. B. Riley analysts said the quarter’s results were mixed, with revenue slightly below consensus and adjusted EBITDA clearly ahead of expectations, benefiting from operating leverage.
Snap shares fell 12% after the results were announced, after the company missed estimates for user growth and advertising revenue, according to TechCrunch. In premarket trading on Thursday, November 5, shares fell more than 10%, according to Investing.com. B. Riley analysts said the shift to reporting based on monthly active users was reasonable, but noted that reduced regional visibility was an additional negative. In its investor update, Snap linked the monthly user metric to the size of its community, and engagement and monetization metrics to the depth and value of its service. The company said it did not want to optimize the app for daily use at the expense of long-term value.
Snap forecast fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of between 1.95 billion and 1.99 billion dollars and adjusted EBITDA of between 490 million and 525 million dollars, according to Investing.com. The company also announced that it would make monthly active users its primary audience metric beginning in the first quarter of 2027, replacing daily active users. Snap says the monthly metric reflects the size of its community, while engagement and monetization indicators measure the depth and value of its service. The company had scheduled its third-quarter earnings call for November 4, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, according to its announcement. The upcoming change will put a new metric at the forefront of audience reporting beginning in the first quarter of 2027, while engagement and monetization indicators will remain among the measures the company says reflect the value of its service.