Strong results from Pinterest, Snap spur turnaround in clobbered social media stocks

[February 04, 2022]  (Reuters) - Shares of Snap and Pinterest surged in extended trading on Thursday following strong quarterly reports, and Twitter also jumped, marking a massive reversal from a wipeout in those social media stocks earlier in the day following a dismal forecast from Meta Platforms.

Snap rocketed 62% higher after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter user growth and provided an outlook that surpassed analyst estimates.

Also after the bell, Pinterest soared 25% after its quarterly revenue beat estimates as retailers splurged on advertising during the holiday quarter.

Both of those late-day rallies more than made up for double-digit percentage losses in the stocks Thursday's trading session.

Shares of Twitter, which reports its quarterly results on Feb. 10, jumped 10% following the reports from Snap and Pinterest. It had lost 5.6% during Thursday's session.

Meta Platforms' shares bounced back 1.6% after the social media heavyweight plunged 26% during the day's trading session.

People are seen on Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

"All the people who sold Facebook ... where do you go with that money? You go to similar companies that haven't reported the same type of problem," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

Fidelity's online retail brokerage customers were net buyers of Snap shares earlier on Thursday ahead of the company's report, according to data on the company's website.

Adding more positive sentiment to the U.S. stock market following Thursday's 3.7% slump in the Nasdaq, Amazon surged 16% after reporting quarterly profits above analysts' expectations. That added about $245 billion the Amazon's stock market value.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.