Snapchat Expands Further Into Twitter & Facebook's World

Over the last few weeks, Snapchat has continued to expanding into direct response advertising, third-party measurement, and strong content partnerships. Moreover, the company has raised another $1.8 billion of financing. These factors create “a potentially very powerful player in the social media ecosystem,” SunTrust Robinson Humphrey’s Robert S. Peck commented in a report.

The analyst added that although Snapchat was still relatively small in terms of revenues, its growth and potential impact would need to be monitored by public investors in Twitter Inc TWTR and Facebook Inc FB.

Snapchat Rolls Out DR Ads

Snapchat has initiated DR ads with companies like 20th Century Fox and Lancome. “We think this is particularly interesting in the light of Twitter recently abandoning the Buy button and the departure of their commerce lead, Nathan Hubbard,” Peck wrote.

Media Partners Marketing Snapchat

Peck noted that the Wall Street Journal’s Twitter page was pushing users to its Discover page on Snapchat, which could become a “concerning trend for Twitter.” Moreover, media companies continued to create high quality content specifically for Snapchat for free.

Another Leg Of Financing

The recent financing makes Snapchat “a formidable player in social,” Peck stated. He added that this round of financing allowed the company to boost its speed of hiring and buildout of products, which investors should closely monitor “as this acceleration could impact the use and monetization of platforms like Twitter and Instagram.”

Peck has a Buy rating for both Facebook and Twitter, with price targets at $135 and $18, respectively.