Snapchat users up 8% in a year to 203 million

The number of Snapchat users has increased 8% since this time last year – to 203 million, the company announced in its second quarter earnings on Tuesday, sending shares surging in after hours trading, Trend reports citing Guardian.

Revenue increased 48% in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2018, to $388m. The report comes after Snap predicted record earnings for quarter two in its first quarter earnings report in April. At the time, the company said it expected revenue to be between $335m and $360m, growing between 28% and 37% compared with the second quarter of 2018.

The company added 13 million users in the second quarter, well above a prediction from analysts of 2 million. The number of snap posts created each day increased to 3.5bn in the second quarter of 2019.

Snapchat’s viral selfie filters, including its "gender swap” feature, increased its user interaction in the second quarter. More than 200 million people used the feature within the first two weeks of its launch.

"The growth in our community, engagement, and revenue is the result of several transitions we completed over the past 18 months,” said the company’s CEO, Evan Spiegel. "We look forward to building on our momentum and making significant ongoing progress in each of these areas.”

The company has also been working to address government concerns about app safety and added new Android app features to increase its use.

Snap Inc’s shares were up more than 12% in after hours trading following the report, near $16.60.