Kylie Jenner's tweet about dumping Snapchat made one group of investors $163 million (SNAP)

pulse

February 23, 2018 1:48 PM

Snap short sellers made $163 million in a single day after Kylie Jenner tweeted that she didn't use Snapchat anymore, sending the company's shares tumbling.

Shares of Snapchat's parent company fell more than 8% on Thursday after Kylie Jenner tweeted that she didn't use the app anymore.
Short sellers made $163 million in a single day on the stock move.

Though shares of Snapchat's parent company tumbled Thursday after Kylie Jenner tweeted about how she didn't use the app anymore, one group of investors laughed all the way to the bank.

"Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?" she asked her Twitter followers. "Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad." She followed up with another tweet: "Still love you tho snap ... my first love."

Short sellers — or traders betting on a stock decline — made a whopping $163 million in a single day as Snap shares fell as much as 8.5%, according to data compiled by the financial-analytics firm S3 Partners.

It was a nice payday for Snap skeptics who had amassed a nearly $2 billion short position in the company after adding to their wagers since the beginning of the year. Following Thursday's sell-off, Snap short sellers now have made more than $250 million on a mark-to-market basis in 2018.

Here's a breakdown of Snap's short-interest activity, along with a summary of other heavily shorted application-software companies:

The photo-sharing company has seen a boatload of user backlash after redesigning its app. More than 1.2 million people have signed a petition on Change.org called "Remove the new Snapchat Update."

The wave of negativity surrounding the rollout has caused Wall Street firms to downgrade the stock. Raymond James downgraded the stock in January, and just two days ago Citigroup followed suit by lowering its price target to $14 a share.

But Snapchat users who are calling for the old ways are out of luck. In a statement released Wednesday, the company said the new app was here to stay, with some adjustments on the way.

Here's how the company's stock has performed over the past year as well as a look at how short interest has fluctuated:

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