Hot Mic Hilarity Ensues When $SNAP CEO Evan Spiegel Gives Retarded Answer During Earnings Call

While Snap, Inc. ($SNAP) shares bleed out following a huge miss – currently down over 11 percent, a hilarious hot-mic moment happened during their earnings call.

When pressed by Wall St. analyst Rich Greenfield of BTIG for more details on their push notification policy, CEO Evan Spiegel gave a convoluted and snarky answer – dodging the question and then telling the analyst to “go for a google” resulting in BTIG’s Brandon Ross exclaiming (loudly) “I didn’t even understand his response!”

Full exchange here: 

Listen to $SNAP co-founder Evan Spiegel answer our question on whether @Snapchat is "growth hacking" from Q2 call https://t.co/v0dTsunCGW

— Rich Greenfield (@RichBTIG) August 11, 2017

Reactions: 

Definitely the best thing for CEOs to do when shares are falling 17% is to sound annoyed that people don't "understand" his company. https://t.co/N9yS2VkFey

— Shira Ovide (@ShiraOvide) August 10, 2017

Same arrogant approach to IR out of $SNAP as last Q. No commentary in the letter, and prob no media calls either. https://t.co/aVqJ0ZBarn

— Jim Prosser ? (@jimprosser) August 10, 2017

Transcript of the exchange:

More vague answers

The hot-mic exchange was just one part of an overall frustrating call for analysts and investors looking for answers.

Via CNBC:

While the exchange was certainly one of the more heated during the quarterly call, there were several instances where analysts asked for more guidance on new products like Snap Maps or advertising tools, only to be met with vague responses that it was still “early days.“

The disconnect between Snap and Wall Street made it into Friday’s analyst coverage.

“Snap’s unwillingness to provide Street guidance will continue to be a disservice to shareholders as estimates continue to fluctuate wildly and it introduces unneeded uncertainty into results,” Jefferies analyst Brian Fitzgerald wrote in a note.

The disjunction between Snap and Wall Street comes in spite of Snap’s so-called secret weapon, Khan, a former star analyst and investment banker. The finance veteran helped lead Alibaba’s massive IPO — subject to its own skepticism from investors at the time— and was one of the first analysts to become an authoritative commentator on internet media businesses like Facebook.

Snap, like many competitive tech start-ups, has been secretive about its products and operations. But some commentators perceived Spiegel’s response as arrogant.

Spiegel, if he has any game, was certainly not on it during the call.

An inflatable raft carrying dozens of African migrants landed on the shores of Cadiz in southern Spain after making the journey across the straight of Gibraltar. Upon hitting the beach, occupants can be seen leaping out of the raft and running up the beach.

The Daily Mail reports

Carlos Sanz, who shot the video while on vacation in Cadiz, said the group quickly vanished and police only arrived some time later.

Spanish officials couldn’t immediately be reached after office hours.

The incident comes as the International Organization for Migration warned on Thursday that Spain could overtake Greece this year in the number of migrants arriving by sea, using boats and even jet-skis.

According to the IOM’s latest figures, until August 6, close to 8,200 migrants had arrived in Spain so far this year.

That is more than triple the number who reached Spain at the same time last year, according to Joel Millman, a senior IOM spokesman, and already more than the total arrivals in 2016.

Competing Invasions

While just 8,200 migrants have arrived in Spain so far this year, and 11,713 are recorded for Greece, Italy takes the cake – letting more than 96,000 mostly North Africans into the country.

Millman shed some light on various strategies for rescue:

‘In Libya there ‘appears to be a very deliberate strategy to put people out there, in overloaded boats that begin to take on water almost immediately and then it’s a race to see how quickly the people on the boat can summon aid,’ he said.

‘Whereas in Spain, the strategy is smaller craft hoping to come in undetected, and undoubtedly some do.’

Take a look at the lads! 

Stocks across Asia tumbled early Friday with Europe following suit – extending a multi-day selloff in the face of rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

After booking their worst week since March, indices from Hong Kong to London followed the S&P 500 into the meat grinder while the VIX spiked over 40 percent – the most since May.

South Korean stocks dropped along with the Won after President Trump tripled down on his warning to North Korea over their threat to fire four ICBMs at Guam, hitting it with ‘enveloping fire.’

In response to increased tensions, gold hit a nine week high, Treasuries strengthened, and the yen pushed through 109.

Upcoming events and market movers [via Bloomberg]

• Friday’s CPI data in the U.S. will get close attention following an unexpected drop in wholesale prices in July. New York Fed President William Dudley cautioned that it will “take some time” for inflation to reach the central bank’s 2 percent target, the latest official warning that price pressures remain muted. The producer-price index fell 0.1 percent last month, the first decrease in almost a year.
• Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe gave a testimony before the House of Representatives Economics Committee on Friday and said interest rates are more likely to rise, though not for a while.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.3 percent as of 2:40 p.m. in Sydney. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong tumbled 1.9 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.6 percent.
• South Korea’s Kospi index lost 1.6 percent and volatility on the Kospi 200 surged as much as 27 percent.
• Contracts on the S&P 500 Index lost less than 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.3 percent. The S&P 500 declined 1.5 percent on Thursday for its steepest slide since May 17 and the lowest close since July 11.
• The VIX rose 44 percent to 16.04, it’s highest closing price of Trump’s presidency.

Currencies

• The won weakened 0.5 percent against the dollar, set for the worst weekly decline since March.
• The yen rose 0.2 percent to 108.98, advancing to the strongest in eight weeks.

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed after falling 0.1 percent on Thursday.
• The euro was at $1.1776 after climbing 0.1 percent in the previous session.
• The Aussie slid 0.4 percent to 78.47 U.S. cents.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 2.20 percent on Thursday, with trading limited until London opens due to the Japan holiday.
• Australian 10-year government notes saw yields drop eight basis points to 2.58 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.9 percent to $48.15 a barrel in early Friday trading after falling 2 percent Thursday.
• Gold traded at $1,285.82 an ounce and is up 2.2 percent this week.

Chinese state-run news agency Global Times says that if North Korea launches an attack that threatens the United States, President Trump can turn Pyongyang into a parking lot. If, however, the U.S. launches a preemptive strike against N. Korea, China “will stop them,” according to the report.

Via Retuers

The widely read state-run Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, wrote in an editorial that Beijing is not able to persuade either Washington or Pyongyang to back down.

“It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardize China’s interests, China will respond with a firm hand,” said the paper, which does not represent government policy.

“China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten U.S. soil first and the U.S. retaliates, China will stay neutral,” it added.

“If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.”

As North Korea’s largest ally and trading partner, questions about whether or not China would defend them, remain neutral, or even join U.S. forces have been looming.

Last month the Wall St. Journal reported that China was beefing up defenses along its 880 mile border with N. Korea in order to stop refugees from entering the country.

Although technically allied to Pyongyang, Beijing wouldn’t necessarily defend its regime, but is determined to prevent a flood of North Koreans from entering northeastern China and to protect the population there, U.S. and Chinese experts say.

Recent measures include establishing a new border defense brigade, 24-hour video surveillance of the mountainous frontier backed by aerial drones, and bunkers to protect against nuclear and chemical blasts, according to the websites.

China has also been conducting live-fire drills along the border with special forces and other units in the area, including airborne troops which could be sent into North Korea at a moment’s notice. In June, the Chinese military held exercises with helicopter gunships, and in July an armored infantry unit was transferred near the border and equipped with new weapons.

Geared towards defense, border security, and swift action

While Chinese authorities have been preparing for trouble over North Korea – including the establishment of contingency plans for nuclear contamination, economic collapse, or conventional warfare, the country’s recent changes in force structure, training, and equipment are linked to a nationwide effort to replace old Soviet-modeled command structures and out of date hardware.

China’s contingency preparations “go well beyond just seizing a buffer zone in the North and border security” said Mark Cozad, a former senior U.S. defense intelligence official for East Asia, now at the Rand Corp.

“Once you start talking about efforts from outside powers, in particular the United States and South Korea, to stabilize the North, to seize nuclear weapons or WMD, in those cases then I think you’re starting to look at a much more robust Chinese response,” he said. “If you’re going to make me place bets on where I think the U.S. and China would first get into a conflict, it’s not Taiwan, the South China Sea or the East China Sea: I think it’s the Korean Peninsula.” -WSJ

With a preemptive strike seemingly off the table (or at least much more perilous to conduct) – as Dirty Harry used to say: “Go ahead, make my day” 

What even?

Former Vice President Al Gore told BBC 4’s Radio Today that President Trump ‘inherited a very dangerous situation’ with North Korea – an admission at direct odds with the blame heaped the President by the MSM for rising tensions between the two nations.

The Washington Examiner reports that “Gore believes President Trump should be praised for his handling of escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea, lauding the U.N. Security Council’s unanimous vote to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang.”

Gore added that while Trump’s “fire and fury” warning didn’t help the situation, the sanctions levied against N. Korea were an “achievement for his diplomacy.”

The former VP went on to say “Donald Trump inherited a very dangerous situation that has been building for some time,” adding “This crisis has been building since long before Donald Trump entered the White House.”

Listen here: 

Meanwhile

People are all over Twitter pointing out how former President Bill Clinton not only threatened North Korea over their nuclear ambitions – he tried to sell them two nuclear reactors!

NKorea Flashback: Bill Clinton on his deal with North Korea "The world will be safer." Whoops. pic.twitter.com/HDf86yqbEq

— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) August 8, 2017

Former President Bill Clinton threatens North Korea over Nuclear Weapons. When @POTUS threatens NK & defends USA, MSM calls him unfit.?? pic.twitter.com/rKTjL5B2bU

— USA Association (@USAAssociation) August 9, 2017

Bonus Gorka:

Gasp! Really?

YUUP!#SebastianGorka Blames #Clinton & @BarackObama For the Rise Of #NorthKorea.https://t.co/OKpEGXKtzY#RealityCheck ???

— Cal Cowboy (@RightWingLawman) August 11, 2017

CNN has fired resident conservative and long time Trump defender Jeffrey Lord, after the pundit called Media Matters president Angelo Carusone a grammar nazi over Twitter – tweeting “Sieg Heil” in response to being corrected for improper spelling.

Many on the right feel that CNN caved to pressure from the Brock-founded / Soros-funded Media Matters in its decision.

Per CNN:

“Nazi salutes are indefensible,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement. “Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”

Lord said his tweet was misunderstood. He said he was mocking fascists, not acting like one.

“I love CNN, but I feel they are caving to bullies here,” he said in a telephone interview shortly after the network’s decision was announced.

The MSM purge of conservative voices continues…

Reactions: 

There is something wrong in a world in which CNN fires Jeffrey Lord but retains diva @ananavarro who is literally dumber than dog shit

— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) August 10, 2017

CNN just fired Jeffrey Lord for calling someone a grammar Nazi. The purge of Conservatives in media continues.

— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) August 10, 2017

CNN fired Trump-supporter Jeffrey Lord for his tweets but not Rashard Elijah for his https://t.co/iGoGJ4Inu9 pic.twitter.com/1E8K68UUdy

— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) August 10, 2017

Media smears Jeffrey Lord for making "Nazi gesture" when he was clearly satirizing the left. https://t.co/Du3w9a7m3l

— Mike Cernovich ?? (@Cernovich) August 10, 2017

Indeud

Poor Snap, Inc. ($SNAP)

• Revenue: $181.7 million vs. $189 million expected.
• Earnings per share (adjusted): Net loss of $0.16 vs. $0.15 expected
• Daily active users: 173 million, down from 175 million expected.

Looks like competition from Facebook is cramping their style, as the company dove to new lows after announcing a huge miss on growth vs. estimates. The Los Angeles photo and video sharing company has fallen a cliff in recent weeks after the expiration of the employee IPO lockup period, as well as a disappointing rejection from the S&P 500 index due to new rules which exclude companies with multiple share classes.

Shares hit as low as $11.31 after hours, a 33% decline from their March 1 IPO, and are currently trading at $11.50 / sh.

On the bright side, revenue per user jumped to $1.05 vs. $0.50 year over year, an increase of 109%.

Per Bloomberg:

Since its public debut in March, the maker of the Snapchat mobile application for sending disappearing photo and video has said its app would become more popular as the company innovates and adds features. In the second quarter, Snap added a maps function for users to see where friends are, as well as a search section. Yet rival Facebook has been successfully copying some of Snap’s key features on its larger social-media properties, drawing users that may otherwise have downloaded Snapchat — but now see less use for the standalone app.

Facebook is also exerting pressure in the mobile advertising market. Snap said quarterly revenue was $181.7 million, missing the $185.8 average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. While Snap has been updating its offerings to give advertisers more sophisticated options, the company has been struggling to prove it can secure its position in a market dominated by Facebook and Alphabet’s Google Inc.

What’s next?

Reactions

SNAP's revenue grew by 153%
SNAP's loss grew by 282%

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 10, 2017

People buying up $SNAP before earnings be like: pic.twitter.com/Eg7gSD4Cyr

— José Antonio Márquez (@joseeight) August 9, 2017

$SNAP falling like a rock, down 12% after hours. Here's your earnings tl;dr: pic.twitter.com/9Uu2IDackr

— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) August 10, 2017

Live look at $SNAP earnings – oh, the humanity pic.twitter.com/HV8IwfJwvb

— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) August 10, 2017

Mark Zuckerberg waiting for Snap earnings like#CheddarLIVE $SNAP pic.twitter.com/Cq3Gri0xJc

— Cheddar (@cheddar) August 10, 2017

Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to President Trump, sat down on the “Seth and Chris Show” to discuss the latest on tensions between the U.S. and North Korea; including what caused it, sanctions, and the international consensus needed before military action is taken. (audio below)

Where are we now in regards to North Korea? 

Gorka: “I think it’s very clear that we did something quite historic over the weekend. You have not only the 10 temporary rotating members of the UN Security Council, but also the five permanent members, which includes Russia and China, agree in a 15-to-0 vote to impose the most stringent sanctions package ever on North Korea, with the expectation that North Korea would now finally realize that they had painted themselves into a corner, and that they have to deescalate.

It seems as if that is not the case. You saw the recent statement made by the regime and, as such, the president, and I’m not going to go into any operational details, the president and his team are taking all necessary measures to protect the United States and her interests regionally.”

How did we get here? 

Chris Buskirk: How did we get here? I know the history. There’s been a, I guess, we would say that the U.S. policy towards North Korea, if we didn’t have a feckless policy towards them, we wouldn’t have had any policy at all over the past sort of 20 years, and now, the Trump administration is left to clean up the mess.

Gorka: This didn’t happen overnight. This isn’t something that we arrived on January the 20th, then suddenly, there’s problems – these decades and decades of mismanagement and the wrong strategies being chosen. First, it was the Clinton White House expecting some kind of concessions from the North Korean regime and got into various arrangements so basically facilitated their program, the point of which, the Obama White House did exactly the same. The way to think about this is blackmail. It is North Korea, which is a dictatorial regime. It is more Stalinistic than Stalin Soviet Union, constantly using saber rattling, constantly using escalatory measures such as ballistic missiles testing and nuclear testing, to try and squeeze constant, more increasing levels of concessions out of the Western community, and that has just stopped. 

Iran

Buskirk asked Dr. Gorka about Iran and their relationship with North Korea.

Gorka: [It’s] dictatorial regimes, even if their ideologies differ, that tends to stick together. That’s why we see the various geopolitical linkages that we see in the world today. The club of dictatorships is shrinking, but even if they don’t share the same ideology, they do scratch each other’s back for obvious reasons and, therefore, you will find operational linkages between even the strangest of bedfellows.

Listen to the entire interview below:

Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of payroll processor ADP, likened activist investor Bill Ackman to a “spoiled brat” who wants a schoolteacher to give him an extension, adding “I’m directly saying he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Sitting down with CNBC’s David Faber, Rodriguez started off discussing multiple extensions Ackman has requested for board nominations, after Pershing Square took an 8 percent stake in ADP. “It kind of reminds me a little bit of a spoiled brat in school asking the teacher for an extension for homework,” Rodriguez told Faber.

The CEO went on to describe Ackman’s two-faced lies; initially telling Rodriguez he had to be replaced, before changing his tune and telling him he had done a good job saving the company, while privately emailing people to say Rodriguez had to go.

Faber: Did Ackman make it clear to you that he thought you should be replaced?

Rodriguez: He did. The first time I spoke with him, he was actually quite cordial and mentioned to me that he thought I needed to be replaced. He gave me a series of reasons why.

Frankly it was a bit of a surreal experience.

I think now he’s changed his story multiple times.

“What it feels like, is I’m negotiating with someone about buying a used car. And this is not a used car, this is a company that has 58,000 employees, $50 billion market cap, and a lot of shareholders that we have a responsibility toward” said Rodriguez.

Last week, Omega Advisors CEO and Chairman Leon Cooperman – who served on the board of ADP for nearly two decades until 2012, told Ackman not to interfere with operations.

Via CNBC:

“This is a quality management that has done a great job over many years for the shareholders,” wrote Cooperman in an email to Ackman. The email was obtained by CNBC’s Scott Wapner. “The idea that you can tell these guys how to run their business doesn’t strike me as intelligent or appropriate.”

Watch the exchange below: 

Bonus: Ackman negotiates with terrorists:

Less than two months after their IPO, Blue Apron Holding Inc.’s ($APRN) shares have been cut in half to just above $5, following a tepid earnings report and horrendous guidance. The stock fell to $5.03 in early trade, right around -20%, before regaining some ground.

For those who are unfamiliar, Blue Apron sells ingredients to make meals which you simply throw together and cook using recipe cards. Basically it takes the measuring, chopping, and planning out of cooking.

Unfortunately, they didn’t raise as much during their IPO as hoped for – cutting deeply into their marketing budget. As a result, the company lost customers during the quarter.

It gets worse

While sales beat at $238.1 million vs. analyst estimates of $235.8 million, that’s where the good news ends.

Amid a decrease in marketing expenditures of 43 percent over the first quarter, Blue Apron lost around 9 percent of their customers. On top of that, executives warned in today’s conference call that the second half will be even worse, as the company will be spending heavily on automating its fulfillment centers.

“These complexities have arisen within the last month,” said CFO Brad Dickerson, adding that they’re having trouble attracting new customers. “Because of these factors, we’ll be reducing our marketing spend in the back half of the year, an obvious additional impact to the business’s top-line growth.”

Sales in the second half are expected to come in at $380 – $400 million, falling far short of the $1 billion milestone many had expected.

That reminds me, I have to throw together an Amazon Fresh order for more organic groceries I don’t have to leave the house for, and an Amazon restaurants order for dinner that I don’t have to prepare and throw in a fucking oven myself.