Instagram Stories Hits 100 Million Users As Snapchat Preps For 2017 IPO

Two months ago, Facebook Inc's FB Instagram poached one of Snapchat's most popular features, its Story function, and put it on its own platform.

The move was met with some criticism and some speculation that it wouldn't catch on. That isn't the case, as Instagram Stories just passed 100 million daily active users.

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Benefiting from its large active user base and prime real estate, the Stories function is prominently displayed at the top of the app; Snapchat has 150 million daily active users. Interestingly, many of Instagram's stories users aren't even on Snapchat.

The move may have hurt Snapchat's (Snap Inc) valuation, which is preparing for a potential IPO in March of 2017. According to a Dow Jones report Thursday, "Snap Inc. is working on an IPO, possibly valued at $25 billion."

Snap has guided revenue in the $250-350 million range, and expecting to hit $1 billion in revenue in 2017.