Pinterest Leads Drop in Social Media Stocks as Snap Disappoints

Companies that rely on digital advertising tumbled in postmarket trading, after Snap Inc. reported its slowest quarterly sales growth on record.

Pinterest Inc. lead the declines with a slump of as much as 9.4%. (Reuters)

Companies that rely on digital advertising tumbled in postmarket trading Thursday, after Snap Inc. reported its slowest quarterly sales growth on record.

Pinterest Inc. lead the declines with a slump of as much as 9.4% and Meta Platforms fell 5.2% after the Snapchat parent said third-quarter sales increased a mere 6% and added that platform policy changes, macroeconomic headwinds and increased competition led to a decline in advertising spending.

Trade Desk Inc. tumbled 5.9% and Roku Inc. fell 3.6%, while Google's Alphabet Inc. lost about 3%. Twitter Inc., which is being acquired by Elon Musk, slipped 0.3%.

Social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram have had to work around privacy rules that Apple Inc. introduced last year that have made it more difficult to serve up ads to customers based on their online activity.

Snap's quarterly results were the first from big internet companies that depend on advertising, setting the stage for what investors can expect when larger players like Alphabet and Meta Platforms report next week. The stock has slumped 77% this year through Thursday's close. It has gone from being valued at more than $100 billion in market capitalization last year to about $18 billion.