Snap (SNAP) Earnings Say Snapchat Will Report Monthly Users, Not Daily
Snap said on November 4 that it will stop reporting how many people use Snapchat each day and will lead with monthly users instead from 2027. Its reports show 92 million daily users in North America, down 6% from a year earlier, the eighth quarter in a row with a yearly drop.
The short answer. Snap is changing the main number it uses to show how big Snapchat is. People have watched the daily count for years to see whether the app is growing. Once the regional counts stop, the public will no longer see whether Snapchat gains or loses daily users in North America and Europe. Worldwide the daily count rose 4%. North America, which brings in 59% of Snap's revenue, has had eight straight quarters of yearly drops, and Europe also fell. Snap also made a profit, opened a pop-up where people can try its Specs glasses, and saw its shares fall 9% after the market closed.
Show the data
| Category | North America | Europe | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2021 | 93M | 77M | |
| Q2 2021 | 95M | 78M | |
| Q3 2021 | 96M | 80M | |
| Q4 2021 | 97M | 82M | |
| Q1 2022 | 98M | 84M | |
| Q2 2022 | 99M | 86M | |
| Q3 2022 | 100M | 88M | |
| Q4 2022 | 100M | 92M | |
| Q1 2023 | 100M | 93M | |
| Q2 2023 | 101M | 94M | |
| Q3 2023 | 101M | 95M | North America at its peak, 101 million |
| Q4 2023 | 100M | 96M | |
| Q1 2024 | 100M | 96M | |
| Q2 2024 | 100M | 97M | |
| Q3 2024 | 100M | 99M | |
| Q4 2024 | 100M | 99M | North America down 1% on a year earlier, first of eight yearly drops |
| Q1 2025 | 99M | 99M | |
| Q2 2025 | 98M | 100M | |
| Q3 2025 | 98M | 100M | |
| Q4 2025 | 94M | 98M | |
| Q1 2026 | 92M | 97M | |
| Q2 2026 | 92M | 98M | |
| Q3 2026 | 92M | 98M |
Snap third quarter 2026 at a glance
Every company reporting the same week, with its date and time, is in StockTitan's Earnings Calendar for the Week of November 2, 2026.
On this page
Snap earnings come with a plan to stop reporting daily Snapchat users
From early 2027, Snap will stop telling investors how many people open Snapchat each day. It will lead with how many use it each month instead, 977 million in the third quarter of 2026.
Snap put the change in a note inside its results, released after the market closed on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. It starts with its report for the first quarter of 2027.
Snap counts a daily active user as a signed-in person who opens Snapchat at least once in a day. A monthly active user opens it at least once in 30 days. Until now the daily count has led every report, split into North America, Europe and the rest of the world.
That ends. Monthly users worldwide become the main audience figure. The regional daily counts stop. So does revenue per daily user by region, a figure Snap calls ARPU, short for average revenue per user. The note names no other place where a daily count will appear.
Snap gave its reason in the release. "While DAU remains an important measure of engagement, we no longer believe it is the best primary measure of long-term value," it said. DAU is its short name for daily active users.
It went on: "Daily engagement has historically been stable as a percentage of monthly engagement, but we do not intend to optimize Snapchat around daily use at the expense of long-term value for our community." Snap says lasting value for its users matters more than getting people to open the app every day.
Daily users have been about half of monthly users in each of the six quarters Snap lists, between 50.1% and 50.8%. Under Snap's plan, the counts by region end, and the worldwide daily count stops leading the report.
Chief financial officer Doug Hott made the case for the monthly figure in his prepared remarks. "Snapchat is approaching one billion people each month, and we believe MAU provides the most complete view of the community we serve and our revenue opportunity over time," he wrote. MAU means monthly active users.
The monthly count itself also changes in 2027. It will count people active in the last 30 days of each quarter. Today it averages three counts, one at each month end. It will also count people who use Snapchat on an Apple Watch. Snap said the new method would have moved its third quarter 2026 monthly count by less than 1%.
| Measure | Through Q4 2026 | From Q1 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Main audience figure | Global daily active users (DAU) | Global monthly active users (MAU) |
| Daily users by region | North America, Europe, Rest of World | No longer reported |
| Main money per user figure | ARPU, revenue divided by average DAU | ARPU, revenue divided by global MAU |
| ARPU by region | Reported | No longer reported |
| How MAU is measured | Average of the MAU at each month end in the quarter | Activity in the last 30 days of the quarter, Apple Watch users included |
Source: Snap Inc. third quarter 2026 results release, Note Regarding User Metrics and Other Data, November 4, 2026.
What the regional daily counts show
Fewer people use Snapchat each day in North America and Europe than a year ago. North America had 92 million daily users, down 6%. Europe also slipped, and all the growth came from the rest of the world.
The North American count peaked at 101 million in the second and third quarters of 2023, as Snap's fourth quarter 2023 results show. It is the highest in Snap's tables, which go back to the third quarter of 2020. The count is 9 million lower now.
Snap has reported a yearly drop in North America for eight quarters in a row, starting at the end of 2024. The drop was 1% then, as its fourth quarter 2024 results show. It reached 7% in the first two quarters of 2026, then eased to 6%.
Europe slipped from 100 million in the middle of 2025 to 98 million. Its count was below the year before in each of the last four quarters.
The rest of the world grew to 305 million daily users, up 9% from a year earlier. That kept the worldwide total rising, to 495 million, up 4%.
Snap took in more revenue in North America even with fewer daily users there. Snap's ARPU there rose 20% to $11.07 in the quarter. North American revenue grew 13% to $1.01 billion.
That makes North America far more important than its size. It had 19% of Snapchat's daily users in the quarter and brought in 59% of Snap's revenue. Snap will stop reporting the daily user side of this split in 2027.
Show the data
| Item | Share of daily users | Share of revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 19% | 59% | +40 pts |
| Europe | 20% | 21% | +1 pts |
| Rest of World | 62% | 20% | -42 pts |
Show the data
| Daily active users, millions | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 98 | 98 | 94 | 92 | 92 | 92 |
| North America, change from a year earlier | −2% | −3% | −5% | −7% | −7% | −6% |
| Europe | 100 | 100 | 98 | 97 | 98 | 98 |
| Europe, change from a year earlier | +3% | +1% | −1% | −2% | −2% | −1% |
| Rest of World | 271 | 280 | 282 | 294 | 303 | 305 |
| Rest of World, change from a year earlier | +15% | +15% | +11% | +12% | +12% | +9% |
| Worldwide | 469 | 477 | 474 | 483 | 493 | 495 |
| Monthly active users, worldwide | 932 | 943 | 946 | 956 | 971 | 977 |
Source: Snap Inc. third quarter 2026 results release, Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics, November 4, 2026.
What Snap said about its Specs glasses and the app
Snap's chief executive named the launch of Specs, its augmented reality glasses, in the results. People can try them at a pop-up in Los Angeles.
Augmented reality means digital images laid over the real world a person sees. Snap runs the glasses through Specs Inc., a company it fully owns.
"We continue to strengthen our business while investing in our long-term vision for augmented reality with the launch of SPECS," said Evan Spiegel, the co-founder and chief executive.
In his prepared remarks, Spiegel said the glasses pair see-through augmented reality with AI. He gave two examples. A golfer can get tips on a swing from a Lens, an augmented reality effect, built with input from PGA Professionals. A worker can edit documents on a virtual screen.
A SPECS First Look pop-up is open at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. The results give no price and no sales figure for the glasses. Snap said its fourth quarter outlook includes its planned spending on Specs. It paces that spending "against product, ecosystem, and economic milestones."
Inside the app, average daily messages sent rose 8% from a year earlier. The number of people posting to Spotlight, Snapchat's feed of short videos, grew 130%. Snap also passed 30 million paid subscribers across Snapchat+, Memories Storage and Lens+.
Snap also repeated a warning. It said rules in the United States and abroad, including "increased regulatory scrutiny on youth-related issues," could force big changes to its products and hurt user growth.
| Q3 2026 app figure | Change from Q3 2025 |
|---|---|
| Average daily messages sent | +8% |
| People in two-way communication | +6% |
| People posting to Spotlight | +130% |
| Spotlight daily active viewers | +40% |
| Paid subscribers (Snapchat+, Memories Storage, Lens+) | More than 30 million |
Source: Snap Inc. Q3 2026 prepared remarks, filed with the SEC on November 4, 2026.
Snap's profit and its forecast for the holidays
Snap earned $56 million, after a loss a year earlier. Revenue rose 14%, inside the range it had forecast.
Revenue was $1.72 billion. Snap had forecast $1.70 billion to $1.74 billion for the quarter. The loss a year earlier was $104 million.
The shares fell after the results. Snap stock traded at $5.38 at 4:45 p.m. ET, after the market closed, according to StockTitan real-time Nasdaq data. That was 9% below its $5.90 price at the 4 p.m. bell.
Advertising grew slowly. Advertising revenue rose only 4%, Hott wrote. Other revenue, led by Snapchat+, Memories Storage and Lens+, grew 84%. Spiegel said that "advertising revenue growth remains below our ambitions."
Chief commercial officer Ronan Harris said ads aimed at direct sales grew strongly. He said brand advertising fell from a year earlier, "weighing on our overall growth." Brand ads aim to make people know a name.
Costs barely moved. Hott said Snap's total cost structure grew just 1%. The company had 4,540 full-time employees, down 13% from a year earlier.
Snap recorded $128.5 million of restructuring charges, the cost of cutting jobs and reorganizing, in the first nine months of 2026.
Snap also reports adjusted EBITDA, its own profit figure adjusted to leave out interest, taxes, stock pay and depreciation, the cost of equipment wearing out. It rose to $383 million from $182 million.
For the fourth quarter, Snap expects revenue of $1.950 billion to $1.985 billion. It expects adjusted EBITDA of $490 million to $525 million.
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,722 million | $1,507 million | +14% |
| Operating income (loss) | $77 million | $(128) million | |
| Net income (loss) | $56 million | $(104) million | |
| Diluted earnings (loss) per share | $0.03 | $(0.06) | |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) | $383 million | $182 million | +110% |
| Operating cash flow | $210 million | $146 million | +44% |
| Free cash flow (non-GAAP) | $164 million | $93 million | +76% |
| Full-time employees | 4,540 | 5,194 | −13% |
| Q4 2026 revenue forecast | $1.950 billion to $1.985 billion | ||
| Q4 2026 adjusted EBITDA forecast | $490 million to $525 million | ||
Source: Snap Inc. third quarter 2026 results release and Q3 2026 prepared remarks, November 4, 2026.
Cash, buybacks, debt and shares
Snap held about $2.77 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of September. Snap did not declare a dividend in these results.
Snap carried $3.38 billion of long-term debt and $106 million of short-term debt on September 30.
Snap spent $601 million buying back its own shares in the first nine months of 2026, and none in the third quarter. It expects to finish its current buyback program in the fourth quarter.
After that, Snap plans a multi-year effort to offset new shares it hands out as pay. Its goal is a stable fully diluted share count in 2027, meaning the total of its shares and the shares promised to staff would stop rising.
That total was 1.93 billion at the end of September, up 3.8% from a year earlier. Common shares outstanding were 1.72 billion. If the total stops rising, each share an owner holds stops shrinking as a slice of the company.
| September 30, 2026 | Value |
|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | $1,019 million |
| Marketable securities | $1,751 million |
| Long-term debt, net | $3,380 million |
| Short-term debt, net | $106 million |
| Common shares outstanding | 1,718 million |
| Common shares plus shares underlying stock-based awards | 1,932 million |
| Class A share repurchases, first nine months of 2026 | $601 million |
Source: Snap Inc. third quarter 2026 results release, balance sheet and cash flow statement, November 4, 2026.
What to watch
- Whether Snap gives any user figure by region once the daily counts stop. Snap's Form 10-Q, its quarterly report to the SEC, for the first quarter of 2027 will show it.
Our numbers
These figures are our calculations from the sources linked in this article. Snap rounds each region's count to the nearest million, so a small change can show as the same number.
- Eight quarters in a row of yearly drops in North America: the yearly change Snap reported for each quarter from late 2024 to the third quarter of 2026, read in its results for the fourth quarter of 2024, the second quarter of 2026 and the third quarter of 2026.
- A peak of 101 million daily users in North America, 9 million above today's 92 million: the highest count in the six Snap results linked here, which go back to the third quarter of 2020.
- 19% of daily users and 59% of revenue in North America: 92 million of 495 million users, and $1,014.3 million of $1,722.5 million of revenue, from Snap's third quarter 2026 results.
- 62% of users and 20% of revenue in the rest of the world: 305 million users and $345.3 million of revenue.
- 20% of users and 21% of revenue in Europe: 98 million users and $362.9 million of revenue.
- A 9% fall in the shares after the market closed: $5.38 at 4:45 p.m. ET against $5.90 at the 4 p.m. bell, in StockTitan real-time Nasdaq data.
- Daily users at 50.1% to 50.8% of monthly users: each quarter's daily users divided by its monthly users, for the six quarters Snap lists.
Frequently asked questions
Is Snapchat losing users?
Worldwide daily users rose 4% to 495 million in the third quarter of 2026, while North America and Europe fell. North America dropped 6% to 92 million, down from a peak of 101 million in 2023, and Europe dropped 1% to 98 million. Snapchat also had 977 million monthly users.
Why is Snap switching from daily to monthly active users?
Snap said it no longer believes daily users are "the best primary measure of long-term value." It said it does "not intend to optimize Snapchat around daily use at the expense of long-term value for our community." Snap did not link the change to its user numbers in any region.
When will Snap stop reporting daily active users?
The change starts with Snap's report for the first quarter of 2027. From then, monthly users worldwide become its main audience figure, and it stops reporting daily users and revenue per user by region.
Did Snap make a profit in Q3 2026?
Yes. Net income was $56 million, against a loss of $104 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 14% to $1.72 billion.
What is Snap's Q4 2026 guidance?
Snap expects fourth quarter revenue of $1.950 billion to $1.985 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $490 million to $525 million.
What are Snap Specs?
Specs are augmented reality glasses that lay digital images and AI help over what the wearer sees. They are made by Specs Inc., a company Snap fully owns, and people can try them at a pop-up at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles.
Sources
- Snap Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results (StockTitan)
- Snap Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results (StockTitan)
- Snap Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results (StockTitan)
- Snap Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results (StockTitan)
- Snap Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results (StockTitan)
- Snap Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results (StockTitan)
- Snap stock overview (StockTitan)
- Snap Inc. third quarter 2026 results, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 (SEC)
- Snap Inc. Q3 2026 prepared remarks, Form 8-K exhibit 99.2 (SEC)
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