Investors generally liked what they heard about Snap's (NYSE: SNAP) "partner summit" that took place on Tuesday, as the company's news inspired a nearly 3% increase in its stock price the day after. That performance was strong enough to beat the benchmark S&P 500, which landed in negative territory by closing 0.3% lower.
Partner summit reactions
Additionally, several analysts took the opportunity to issue fresh research notes on Snap. One of these pundits, Deutsche Bank's Benjamin Black, also provided something of a digest of the event.
Black pointed out that Snap announced several app feature updates. Among these are Simple Snapchat, which as the name implies is an attempt at faster and -- hopefully -- more meaningful engagement with the social media company's core offering. The analyst also said that the company is making efforts to unify the recommendation models behind the Stories and Spotlight features. Ideally, this will increase views and monetization opportunities for them.
In his note, Black opined that "Bigger picture, the simplified architecture now embeds advertising opportunities across all of Snaps' consumer surfaces. Perhaps most importantly, the messaging surface now will feature stories, sponsored snaps, and promoted places, thereby monetizing surfaces that until recently were highly utilized, but under-monetized."
The Deutsche Bank analyst is a Snap bull. He recommends the stock as a buy at a price target of $140 per share.
Walking the walk
Social media companies are eager to push the benefits of the latest updates and enhancements to their key features. These usually stir interest in the market and improve sentiment, however talk is cheap and such companies are expected to deliver on their promises. Compared to top peers, Snap has been something of an underperformer; investors will be hoping that these latest innovations will help change that dynamic.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
