Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) stock surges 50.86% (As on Feb 4, 12:12:55 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted better than expected results for the fourth quarter of FY 21. The company has announced its first quarterly net profit after strong growth in user numbers and said its advertising revenues had recovered faster than expected from changes to Apple’s privacy settings. The social media company posted net income of US$23 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with a loss of US$113 million in the same period in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA has almost doubled to US$327 million. Daily active users grew by 20% to 319 million, above market forecasts of 316.9 million. In North America, DAU grew by 5 million or 6% year over year to reach 97 million. In Europe, DAU grew by 8 million or 11% year over year to reach 82 million. In rest of world, DAU grew by 40 million or 41% year over year to reach 140 million.

Meanwhile, in 2021, the company made substantial investments in over 10 markets outside of North America that represent a combined digital ad market of over $270 billion. At its core, are three investment principles: first, the company is investing in markets, where Snapchat reaches more than 70% of 13- to 34-year-olds, and they are a large and established digital ad markets. These are the markets where the company sees an opportunity to grow our share of budgets internationally over time. Second, the incremental resources will improve local and regional decision-making authority.

SNAP in the fourth quarter of FY 21 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 22 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 6 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 42 percent to $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 21, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $1.2 billion. Free cash flow for Q4 was positive $161 million or a $230 million improvement versus the prior year.

For the first quarter of 2022, the company said it expects revenue in the range US$1.03 billion -US$1.08 billion, higher than the US$1.01 billion predicted by analysts. Adjusted EBITDA is estimated to be breakeven. Daily active users are expected to reach 328 million -330 million in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimates of 327.8 million.