Snap's `Eye Popping' Revenue Blindsides Bears Who Piled In

(Bloomberg) -- Snap Inc.’s good quarter was bad news for short sellers who steadily added to positions over the past month.

Bearish wagers represented about 23 percent of shares available to trade before Snap reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat the highest analyst estimate, according to Markit data. That’s up from 16 percent at the start of the year.

“This eye popping top-line beat was a shocker,” GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives said in a note highlighting the “overwhelming bear sentiment” ahead of the report.

Snap gained 22 percent in after-hours trading to $17.10 as of 7:13 p.m. in New York, rising above the March 2017 initial public offering price of $17 for the first time since July. Even with the gains, the stock is still about 37 percent below its March 3 record closing price of $27.09.

“This quarter was a major step in the right direction for the company and will be a tough pill to swallow for all the naysayers,” said Ives, who rates the shares “attractive.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net, Vivek Shankar, Rebecca Jones

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