Why Is Snap Inc. (SNAP) Stock Soaring Today?
Zacks Investment Research | May 04, 2017 01:34AM ET
Shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) gained more than 5% in morning trading hours Thursday after a new report suggested that the company has several deals in place with major media companies to deliver content for its new live TV concept.
According to The Wall Street Journal , Snap has already inked deals with Comcast’s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) NBCUniversal, Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) ABC, A&E, Discovery, and the NFL. Apparently the social media innovator is also in talks with CBS (NYSE:CBS) and Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) and will soon announce an official deal with Scripps Network Interactive (NASDAQ:SNI) .
Snap is quickly putting together an impressive lineup for its new television-like platform for Snapchat, its popular disappearing-picture messaging application. The new idea will feature three to five minute shows made exclusively for the app.
Snapchat TV puts the company in direct competition with Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) , a social media giant that has not really been considered a threat to Snap thus far. Twitter’s traditional micro-blogging platform is different enough from Snapchat, but the Jack Dorsey-led company is also working on its own TV-style service.
However, it looks like Twitter is trying to focus on 24/7 news programming, while Snap will work to add something new to already-popular TV franchises. Although Twitter’s deal to livestream some NFL games last season was a bit of a dud, the company is rebounding well. Earlier this week, shares of Twitter popped on the news that it was set to partner with Bloomberg to deliver non-stop financial news coverage (also read: Here's Why Twitter Stock Soared Today ).
Of course, Snap’s new plan is probably more of a response to the increased competition from rival Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) . Shortly after Snap’s blockbuster IPO, investors grew concerned about Facebook’s repeated efforts to copy Snapchat’s core platform.
As of today, all of Facebook’s major entities—including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the standard Facebook app—include a feature that mirrors Snapchat’s popular “Stories” section (also read: Facebook Unveils More Snapchat-Inspired Features ).
The prevailing argument from investors focused on a need for Snap to make its Snapchat application unique again. Will Snapchat TV do just that? Well, it’s certainly a new offering, but we’ll have to wait and see whether it resonates with users or not.
Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!
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