Snapchat IPO: Snap, Inc. Officially Files, Seek To Raise $3 Billion

After much speculation, Snapchat parent company Snap, Inc. officially filed for initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday. The company’s public debut is expected to be one of the largest in recent years.

The filing has been made available through the United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), though the details on the IPO itself remain sparse. Snapchat didn’t provide details of its public listing, which will place the company on the New York Stock Exchange, but it is expected that the company will be valued at $25 billion. The company is seeking to raise $3 billion from the IPO.

Potential investors can get their first look at the company’s financials thanks to the SEC filing, which shows the company reported $404.5 million in revenue and a loss of $514.6 million for 2016. In 2015, Snapchat brought in revenue of $57.7 million while losing $372.9 million.

While the Wall Street Journal reports Snapchat is in line to generate more than $1 billion in 2017, the company’s filing warns, “we have incurred operating losses in the past, expect to incur operating losses in the future, and may never achieve or maintain profitability.”

Snapchat revealed it has 158 million daily active users on average during its most recent quarter. Earlier this year, it was reported the photo sharing app had surpassed Twitter in daily active users with it topped the 150 million mark. Its users are also quite engaged, averaging between 25 to 30 minutes on the app each day.

It still trails well behind Facebook, which reported 1.23 billion daily active users and has been encroaching on Snapchat’s territory with features that mirror the popular app.

In gearing up for the IPO, which has been expected for months, Snapchat parent company Snap, Inc. has focused heavily on expanding the app's appeal to advertisers. Earlier this year, the company introduced new ways for advertisers to target tailored ads to users, including starting a partnership with third-party data broker Oracle Data Cloud.

The information provided by the broker to advertisers includes offline purchasing information gathered from credit cards and frequent shopper programs and provides ad makers the ability to direct ads at users based on 100 different demographic details.

The company also updated its content guidelines for publishers on its Discover platform. The new rules implemented were designed to crack down on clickbait content and sexually explicit images, and was viewed as an effort to improve the app’s image and increase its appeal to a broad set of users and advertisers.