Dec 22, 2020 - Economy

Snapchat had its best year amid the pandemic

Sara Fischer

Illustration: Axios Visuals

Snapchat had its best year in 2020, adding 31 million daily active users and increasing its stock price from roughly $16 in January to more than $52 today. It also avoided most of the drama and regulatory scrutiny that its competitors faced around things like content moderation, bias, and privacy.

The big picture: The pandemic accelerated underlying trends favorable to Snap.

The app, which is designed to connect users with their closest friends, saw boosts in engagement while many teens and college students were forced to stay home from school.
With stores closed and e-commerce surging, Snapchat's advertising efforts around augmented reality and e-commerce proved fruitful.
Quarterly revenue last quarter was up 52% year-over-year to $679 million.

Meanwhile, other tech rivals like Facebook and Google were slapped with several new regulatory investigations. Axios' tech policy team ranks the 5 new lawsuits: Facebook stands to lose the most, but Google is more likely to lose.

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Snapchat had its best year amid the pandemic

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