Let's dig into the relative performance of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) and its peers as we unravel the now-completed Q4 social networking earnings season.

Businesses must meet their customers where they are, which over the past decade has come to mean on social networks. In 2020, users spent over 2.5 hours a day on social networks, a figure that has increased every year since measurement began. As a result, businesses continue to shift their advertising and marketing dollars online.

The 5 social networking stocks we track reported a slower Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 1.8%, while next quarter's revenue guidance was 3.7% above consensus. Stocks, especially growth stocks where cash flows further in the future are more important to the story, had a good end of 2023. The beginning of 2024 saw mixed inflation data, however, leading to more volatile stock performance, and social networking stocks have had a rough stretch, with share prices down 9.4% on average since the previous earnings results.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP)

Founded by PayPal alumni Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons, Yelp (NYSE:YELP) is an online platform that helps people discover local businesses through crowd-sourced reviews.

Yelp reported revenues of $342.4 million, up 10.8% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with full-year revenue guidance missing analysts' expectations and slow revenue growth.

“Yelp delivered one of our strongest financial performances ever in 2023,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp’s co-founder and chief executive officer.

The stock is down 10.9% since the results and currently trades at $39.56.

Is now the time to buy Yelp? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Best Q4: Nextdoor (NYSE:KIND)

Helping residents figure out what's happening on their block in real time, Nextdoor (NYSE:KIND) is a social network that connects neighbors with each other and with local businesses.

Nextdoor reported revenues of $55.56 million, up 4.3% year on year, outperforming analyst expectations by 8.6%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with optimistic revenue guidance for the next quarter and an impressive beat of analysts' revenue estimates.

Nextdoor delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat but had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The company reported 41.8 million daily active users, up 4.5% year on year. The stock is down 4.2% since the results and currently trades at $1.96.

Is now the time to buy Nextdoor? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Weakest Q4: Snap (NYSE:SNAP)

Founded by Stanford University students Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown, and Bobby Murphy, and originally called Picaboo, Snapchat (NYSE: SNAP) is an image centric social media network.

Snap reported revenues of $1.36 billion, up 4.7% year on year, falling short of analyst expectations by 1.5%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' revenue estimates and underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.

Snap had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The company reported 414 million daily active users, up 10.4% year on year. The stock is down 41.6% since the results and currently trades at $10.2.

Read our full analysis of Snap's results here.

Meta (NASDAQ:META)

Famously founded by Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard dorm, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) operates a collection of the largest social networks in the world - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, along with its metaverse focused Facebook Reality Labs.

Meta reported revenues of $40.11 billion, up 24.7% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 2.4%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with optimistic revenue guidance for the next quarter and a decent beat of analysts' revenue estimates.

Meta pulled off the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company reported 3.98 billion monthly active users, up 6.4% year on year. The stock is up 27.3% since the results and currently trades at $502.76.

Read our full, actionable report on Meta here, it's free.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS)

Created with the idea of virtually replacing paper catalogues, Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) is an online image and social discovery platform.

Pinterest reported revenues of $981.3 million, up 11.9% year on year, falling short of analyst expectations by 0.9%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' revenue estimates and slow revenue growth.

The company reported 498 million monthly active users, up 10.7% year on year. The stock is down 19% since the results and currently trades at $33.

Read our full, actionable report on Pinterest here, it's free.

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