All it took was one post and the social media influencer sent company’s market value down by $1.3 billion.
Snap shares went into a freefall at the end of last week when Kylie Jenner tweeted that she hasn’t been using Snapchat recently. A brief mention of the lack of use of the application on the micro-blogging site and the bottom fell out of the company’s stock.
Kylie Jenner is a critical social media influencer and her word can change the future of entire brands.
When Jenner mentioned that she hadn’t used the Snapchat app in quite some time, Wall Street didn’t fail to take notice. The Snap shares dropped by 6.1 percent on that one day, erasing $1.3 billion from its market value. The tweet stated that Jenner simply didn’t open the app anymore, though she didn’t say why and didn’t specifically mention any distaste for the application.
She may easily have been making reference to her new lifestyle as a mother and that she merely didn’t have time to use Snapchat as she once did. Equally, she could have been suggesting that she didn’t like the recent redesign the company made to the mobile app.
The tweet that sent Snap shares downward generated a spectrum of similar replies from Jenner’s followers.
As the celebrity has 24.5 million followers on her Twitter account, it made sense that Wall street analysts would pay attention when the social media influencer declared that Snapchat was no longer a priority to her. Still, analysts stated that the tweet wasn’t the only reason the market value for the company fell. They stated that Jenner’s tweet was only one part of a widening trend they’d been watching since the platform was redesigned.
The tweet from @KylieJenner read “sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.” She did later tweet “Still love you tho snap” but the second mention didn’t have the same impact.
Jenner’s tweet wasn’t the only one that has questioned Snapchat’s relevance recently. Late on Thursday, Maybelline New York’s official Twitter account addressed its followers, asking whether or not it should keep up its Snapchat presence. The popular beauty product brand, owned by L’Oreal SA from Paris. It pointed out that “Snapchat views have dropped dramatically,” but said it still wanted to be able to connect with those followers.
When the Snap shares fell as they did, analyst Mark May from Citigroup downgraded the stock. It had been neutral earlier in the week, but was brought down to sell.