Snap shares plummet as investors mark down first earnings report

San Francisco

SNAP Inc shares plunged on Wednesday after the owner of Snapchat reported slowing user growth and revenue in its first earnings report as a public company, missing Wall Street's estimates as it competes with copycat messaging apps.

Snap's revenue jumped nearly four-fold year-over-year to US$149.6 million but fell short of the average analyst forecast of US$158 million, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue was also down from the fourth quarter of 2016, a seasonally stronger period for ad sales, when it was US$166 million.