With a few taps on her iPhone, Kylie Jenner caused some major share sinkage to Snap Inc., whose flagship platform she’s not a big fan of these days.
The Snapchat parent’s shares sank as much as 7.2% Thursday, wiping out $1.3 billion in market value, after Jenner, the most-followed user on Snapchat, sent a tweet that said she doesn’t open the app anymore.
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“Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad,” she tweeted late Wednesday afternoon.
sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) February 21, 2018
Whether it’s the demands of her newfound motherhood or the recent app redesign, which we already know Jenner isn’t fond of, her testament drew similar replies from her 24.5 million followers.
Jenner’s followers weren’t the only ones to take heed; Wall Street analysts also noticed, citing recent user engagement trends noticed since the platform’s redesign.
Bloomberg reports that Citigroup analyst Mark May downgraded the stock to sell from neutral earlier this week after seeing a “significant jump” in negative reviews of the app’s redesign. He expects the reviews could cause user engagement to fall, hurting financial results.
But as the app takes criticism from Wall Street and Jenner alike, Chief Executive Evan Spiegel may become one of the highest paid execs in the country. After the company’s IPO last March, Spiegel got a $636.6 million stock grant that will be payable through 2020.
It may not be all doom and gloom for Snap Inc., however, as Jenner pledged her loyal allegiance (if not as robust as it once was) to the platform later.
still love you tho snap … my first love
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) February 21, 2018
“Still love you tho snap,” she wrote 20 minutes later. “My first love.”
Jenner shared her discontent for the app’s redesign a few weeks ago, shortly after announcing the arrival of her and Travis Scott’s daughter, Stormi Webster.
“Mm just saw the new Snapchat.. I don’t know how i feel about it! What do you guys think?” she asked her fans.
She’s not the only celebrity to speak out against the photo and video-sharing app’s newest update. Chrissy Teigen agreed with one fan who complained about how hard it was to find the supermodel on Snapchat.
The update almost universally earned negative reviews from users. The app changed the location of some features and added new “Discovery” and “Friends” pages.
Jenner has 103 million followers on Instagram and 24.3 million followers on Twitter. She even apologized to her fans for not giving them updates on her pregnancy.
“Pregnancy has been the most beautiful, empowering, and life changing experience I’ve had in my entire life and I’m actually going to miss it,” Jenner wrote on Instagram. “I appreciate my friends and especially my family for helping me make this special moment as private as we could. My beautiful and healthy baby girl arrived February 1st and I just couldn’t wait to share this blessing. I’ve never felt love and happiness like this I could burst! Thank you for understanding.”