New York, Feb 17, 2026, 08:17 EST — Premarket
- Snap shares ticked up roughly 0.3% in premarket trading, barely budging after last week’s slide.
- Broader U.S. index futures edged lower, with investors grappling with renewed concerns about disruption linked to AI.
- Next up: traders are eyeing Wednesday’s Fed minutes, then Friday’s PCE inflation data for direction.
Snap Inc shares edged up 0.3% to $4.83 in premarket trade Tuesday, moving alongside a hesitant mood in U.S. stock futures as investors weighed just how quickly artificial intelligence might disrupt existing 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. 1
U.S. equities are back in action following the Washington’s Birthday break, and traders are zeroed in on rates again. High-beta tech stocks tend to feel yield swings most sharply. 2
Shares of Snap finished Friday at $4.83. 3
Earlier this month, the Snapchat parent posted a 10% jump in quarterly revenue, hitting $1.72 billion, but projected first-quarter revenue at $1.50 billion to $1.53 billion—shy of what analysts had penciled in. The number of active advertisers climbed 28% in Q4, and Snapchat+ subscriptions surged 71% to 24 million. But CFO Derek Andersen pointed to ongoing pressure in the company’s North America large-customer segment. As Emarketer’s Max Willens put it, Snap’s ad tech “still has a long way to go in attracting big budgets from enterprise advertisers.” 4
Snap is rolling out a fresh stock buyback, with its board signing off on a plan to repurchase up to $500 million worth of shares over the next year, according to a regulatory filing featuring CEO Evan Spiegel’s remarks. “Our Q4 results began to reflect the impact of our strategic pivot toward profitable growth,” Spiegel said. 5
Chief Technology Officer Robert C. Murphy unloaded 1 million shares on Feb. 6, then moved another 1 million on Feb. 10, according to a Form 4. The filing also disclosed share donations to charity. All transactions took place through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, which permit scheduled insider sales. 6
Even with the buyback, there’s no promise Snap’s stock will hold up. The company is still vulnerable if advertisers dial back budgets—whether the economy hits a rough patch or brands favor larger platforms. Competition for those ad dollars has only heated up as rivals keep pushing out fresh tools and ad formats.
Coming up, the Federal Reserve will put out minutes from its late-January meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET on Feb. 18. Two days later, the Commerce Department drops its personal income and outlays data at 8:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 20. That includes the PCE price index — the inflation benchmark the Fed watches closest. 7
