Snap CFO Tim Stone quits after eight months. The stock drops 8%
Snap Inc. Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone is resigning after eight months on the job, the social media company announced Tuesday, sending its stock tumbling in after-hours trading.
Stone’s departure isn’t related to any disagreement on the company’s accounting, strategy or financial or other practices, Snap — which makes disappearing-message app Snapchat — said Tuesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It said Stone will remain in the role until a replacement is named and can take over his duties.
Snap shares, which have fallen more than 50% in the last year, slid more than 8% in after-hours trading after the news broke.
Stone, who came to Snap from Amazon.com Inc. in May, was seen as an important veteran executive hire after a lot of tumult. Since the company’s March 2017 initial public offering, most of Snap’s top executives have defected, including the heads of legal, strategy, product, engineering and sales. In August, Snap provided a revenue forecast for the first time, which analysts attributed to Stone improving transparency.
Alongside the announcement of Stone’s departure, the Santa Monica company said it expects to report quarterly results for sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization that are “slightly favorable to the top end” of previously reported forecasts. In October, Snap projected fourth-quarter revenue of $355 million to $380 million.
When Snap reports earnings Feb. 5, analysts will be paying attention to a different number: daily users. Snapchat’s user base has been on the decline for two straight quarters, as people were turned off by a redesign of the app and as competition mounted with Facebook Inc.’s Instagram.
The company’s shares rose 3.7% in regular trading Tuesday to close at $6.54 before Stone’s departure was announced. The stock has rebounded a bit since closing at a record low of $4.99 in December — 71% below the IPO price of $17 a share.
