New York, Feb 17, 2026, 08:17 EST — Premarket
- Snap shares were up about 0.3% in premarket trading, little changed after last week’s slide
- Broader U.S. index futures dipped as investors weighed fresh worries over AI-driven disruption
- Traders are looking to Fed minutes on Wednesday and the PCE inflation report on Friday for the next push
Snap Inc shares ticked up 0.3% to $4.83 in premarket trading on Tuesday, tracking a cautious tone across U.S. equity futures as investors grappled with uncertainty over how fast artificial intelligence could upend business models. “AI adoption will be beneficial in the long run, but in the short term there is uncertainty over business models,” Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar said. (Reuters)
U.S. stock markets reopen after the Washington’s Birthday holiday, with rate expectations back in focus and high-beta tech names typically taking the brunt of any shift in yields. (New York Stock Exchange)
Snap last closed at $4.83 on Friday. (Snap Inc.)
The Snapchat parent earlier this month reported a 10% rise in quarterly revenue to $1.72 billion and said first-quarter revenue would be $1.50 billion to $1.53 billion, below analysts’ estimates. Active advertisers on the platform rose 28% in the fourth quarter and Snapchat+ subscribers climbed 71% to 24 million, while CFO Derek Andersen flagged headwinds in its North America large-customer business; Emarketer analyst Max Willens said Snap’s ads platform “still has a long way to go in attracting big budgets from enterprise advertisers.” (Reuters)
Snap’s board has authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $500 million over 12 months, the company said in a regulatory filing that included prepared remarks from CEO Evan Spiegel. “Our Q4 results began to reflect the impact of our strategic pivot toward profitable growth,” Spiegel said. (Cloudfront)
A Form 4 filing showed Chief Technology Officer Robert C. Murphy sold 1 million shares on Feb. 6 and another 1 million on Feb. 10, and also reported charitable gifts of shares. The filing said the sales were made under Rule 10b5-1 plans, which are pre-arranged trading programs that can allow insiders to sell shares on a set schedule. (SEC)
Still, a buyback does not guarantee support for the stock, and Snap remains exposed to any pullback in advertising budgets if the economy slows or if marketers shift spend to bigger platforms. Competition for ad dollars has also intensified as rivals roll out new tools and formats.
The next hard catalysts are macro: the Federal Reserve is due to release minutes from its late-January meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET on Feb. 18, and the Commerce Department’s personal income and outlays report — which includes the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — is scheduled for Feb. 20 at 8:30 a.m. ET. (Federalreserve)
