Snap Shares Slip Below IPO Price as Analysts Downgrade Stock

Snap debuted on the New York Stock Exchange to much fanfare earlier this year. But since going public, the tech company hasn’t had the best run.

Shares in Snap have steadily declined over the last month, recently tumbling below the company’s IPO price of $17 for the first time. And we’re not certain the trend will reverse soon.

Part of the reason for the stock’s most recent decline hails from Morgan Stanley’s decision to downgrade the company. The financial firm dramatically cut Snap’s price target from $28 per share to just $16.

Morgan Stanley, like most other analyst firms, believes that Facebook poses a major threat to Snap’s business. Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, has been able to successfully replicate most of Snapchat’s main features across its own lineup, severely diminishing the novel advantages Snap once held over other social networks. As a result, Snapchat’s user growth has slowed tremendously.

Still, Snapchat has been adding new features recently in order to stay ahead of potential competition.