Snap priced its IPO at $17 per share, implying a $23.6 billion market cap.  To put the valuation in perspective, we think Snap could grow revenues by 100% to ~$800 million in 2017 and believe some buy side investors think the number will be closer to $1 billion.  Therefore, Snap is trading at about 29.5x our CY17 revenue expectation and 23.6x the early bullish whisper.  For comparison, Facebook trades at about 10x the Street’s CY17 revenue estimate of $37.8 billion.  There is a vast difference in forward growth that helps justify the difference in multiples: 100%+ y/y growth for Snap this year vs 36% for Facebook.  Snap is obviously at a much different stage in its lifecycle as a company vs Facebook and is actually attacking social networking from a different angle – the camera.

We believe investors will have questions over the next year as to what being a “camera company” means.  Philosophically, we think of it as Snap trying to own the tech stack one step above social.  The camera has already established itself as the future of communication.  Snapchat, Snap’s flagship product, relies on smartphone cameras to enable its service.  Without connected cameras, Snapchat doesn’t exist.  By trying to own, or at least influence, the camera layer itself, Snap evolves beyond a social media app into an enabler of communications.  In that sense, Snap’s focus on the camera is not all that dissimilar from Facebook with its experiments with VR and AR.  The difference is Snap appears to be all in.

Trying to own the camera layer may come through multiple products.  Most obvious is software that uses and enhances current cameras.  Snap already does this with products like Lenses.  We expect the company to continue to develop software that utilizes the camera both in core Snapchat and perhaps outside of it as well.  The second camera product is Spectacles, which we view as the most useable AR glasses on the market today.  There is next to no learning curve because the glasses focus on one simple task: recording video through a camera.  Spectacles aren’t the future of AR, but they are a baby step toward the next phase that will add a little more functionality.   Beyond Spectacles, we believe the company is experimenting with other hardware, which may be other consumer wearables or may be products they look to partner with existing hardware manufacturers.

We don’t know how the stock will react tomorrow or over the next year.  What we do know is that the camera is at the centerpiece of communication already, and if Snap can find a way to own the camera they will be rewarded handsomely.

Disclaimer: We actively write about the themes in which we invest: artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. From time to time, we will write about companies that are in our portfolio.  Content on this site including opinions on specific themes in technology, market estimates, and estimates and commentary regarding publicly traded or private companies is not intended for use in making investment decisions. We hold no obligation to update any of our projections. We express no warranties about any estimates or opinions we make.