Snap (NYSE:SNAP) stock was down more than 11% at the open on Wednesday after the company announced that its chief financial officer is stepping down from the position less than one year after taking the job. Eventually, SNAP stock ended Jan. 16 down 13.4%.
Snap shared the news in an SEC filing released Tuesday. The messaging app maker said that the resignation of CFO Tim Stone “is not related to any disagreement with us on any matter relating to our accounting, strategy, management, operations, policies, regulatory matters, or practices (financial or otherwise).”
Stone’s departure adds to a growing exodus of key executives from Snap. In just the past year, the embattled company has lost chief strategy officer Imran Khan, VP of communications Marry Ritti, VP of monetization engineering Stuart Bowers and Stone’s predecessor, Andrew Vollero.
Stone brought nearly 20 years of experience at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) to Snap. He joined in May, when SNAP stock was down roughly 36.5% from its IPO price.
At the time of his hiring, Stone was considered a solid addition for Snap, which desperately needed a focused financial head to take control of its books and put the company on the path to profitability. Wedbush Securities analysts wrote that the hiring of Stone and other key employees suggested “increased focus on shareholder value.”
Nevertheless, Snap has struggled to generate positive momentum with Stone at the helm of its finances. Snapchat stock continued to make all-time lows throughout the second half of 2018, and the struggling stock has shed about 50% of its value in the past six months.
Bottom Line on SNAP Stock
To many investors, Stone’s departure will represent another bump in what has proven to be a treacherous road for SNAP stock since its IPO in 2017. However, the picture sharing pioneer did include one silver lining in Tuesday’s SEC filing.
Snap mentioned that its quarterly results are expected to be “slightly favorable” to the high end of its guidance range when it reports early next month. The company previously predicted revenue in the range of $355 million to $380 million for the period.
This updated guidance could improve revenue and earnings estimates ahead of Snap’s upcoming report. According to our current Zacks Consensus Estimates, analysts expect Snap to report an adjusted loss of 8 cents per share, which would represent a year-over-year improvement of 38.5%. This would put the company on track for a full-year loss of 53 cents per share, up about 13%.
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