TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S. has spurred new users and advertisers to look at Snapchat as a viable backup plan, according to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel.
The 34-year-old chief executive, speaking on the company’s Q4 earnings call on Tuesday, said the “overall environment of uncertainty” around TikTok is “benefiting our business.” He said Snapchat received some “engagement lift” during the 14-hour period when TikTok was unavailable in the U.S., between Jan. 18 and 19, but also said he didn’t want to “draw too many conclusions” from that brief stretch.
TikTok was set to be banned from Apple and Google’s app stores on Jan.19, in accordance with a federal law signed by President Joe Biden last year. The popular app — which has 170 million American users — went briefly offline last month, but President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in the White House, giving the Chinese-owned app a 75-day extension to negotiate a sale (TikTok is still unavailable on Apple and Google’s app stores, but the app works for those who already had it installed).
Spiegel said the legal limbo TikTok finds itself in has benefited Snapchat.
“Advertisers are very focused on contingency planning and diversifying their spend,” he said on Tuesday. “I think the same goes for creators who are really thinking hard about how they can build the most diversified engagement with their fanbase across various platforms, including Snapchat. So a big priority for us is really just helping make sure we support advertisers and creators during this period of uncertainty.”
Snap on Tuesday reported Snapchat gained 10 million daily active users during the fourth quarter of 2024 — pushing the app to 463 million daily users globally.
Most of Snapchat’s user gains have come from outside the U.S. in recent years. The company reported Snapchat had 100 million daily users in the U.S. at the end of 2024, which is the same amount of American daily users it had at the end of Q3 2022.
Snap reported $1.56 billion in Q4 sales, up 14% year-over-year. Wall Street did not seem too impressed with that growth, though, with Snap’s stock dropping 7% to $10.80 per share on Wednesday morning.
