(Bloomberg). Snap Inc (NYSE:). Shares have been rising throughout 2021 and the recent falls by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ :)., the largest competitor in social media, have intensified the outperformance.

The parent of Snapchat has gained over 50% this year, more than double Facebook’s nearly 20% advance. Snap has seen a sharp rise of around 2% in the last month as investors believe that it will continue to grow. Facebook has seen its stock drop by more than 10% in the past month, as it struggles to cope with accusations of toxic content being spread through its platform and concerns about tighter regulation.

There are also other stocks in social media. Twitter Inc (NYSE:). grew 17% by 2021. However, Pinterest (NYSE:) Inc. plunged 20% because of concerns over user growth.

“Snap’s growth has really helped it stand apart from its peers, and it is continuing to see strong usage and engagement,” said Mandeep Singh, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “At the same time, Facebook is dealing with trust issues. Because Snap is more about messaging and entertainment than sharing news, it is less tied to concerns over misinformation or corporate governance.”

Recent news about Facebook has not been positive, despite the fact that it is no stranger in controversy. A high-profile whistleblower said the company puts profits over the safety of its users, and one of its earliest investors said Facebook had lost people’s trust “for good reasons.” Facebook’s apps also suffered a lengthy outage earlier this month, during which time use of Snapchat surged more than 20%, according to Sensor Tower data.

Snap’s stock was unchanged on Friday. Facebook lost more than 1% despite posting gains. Snap representatives declined to comment. Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Growth Story 

Snap’s 2021 outperformance can be traced in part to February, when it forecast years of revenue increases above 50%, a target it easily exceeded in subsequent quarterly reports. The company’s third-quarter results will be released on Oct. 21, and Wall Street is looking for growth above 60%.

Snap is smaller than Facebook, which has more than 1.9bn active users per day, while Facebook’s latest quarter saw 293m. The company’s revenues are expected to reach $30 billion in this quarter, as opposed with Snap’s $1.1 billion. 

Investors expect revenue to rise by more than 35%, despite its larger size. However, the company throughout 2021 has warned that changes in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:).’s privacy policy will be a drag. 

Diminished Data

The revisions — which restrict data collection on iPhones, diminishing Facebook’s ability to sell targeted ads — contributed to the stock falling after its most recent report in July. Facebook posted a September blog posting acknowledging that advertisers had suffered more than anticipated.

In a note dated Oct. 11, Evercore ISI wrote that Apple’s change had diminished Facebook’s competitive advantage over peers in the digital-advertising space. “This ‘leveling of the playing field’ could be a benefit to alternative direct-response ad platforms like Snap and TikTok, because their relatively lower ad prices, due to less precise targeting and measurement, may now make more economic sense for advertisers,” wrote analyst Mark Mahaney.

On Friday, Mahaney added Facebook to the firm’s tactical underperform list, writing that among its peers, it is facing “some of the greatest risk to Street estimates this quarter,” in part because of Apple’s policy.

Wall Street analysts seem to be equally enthusiastic about the stocks. Facebook’s consensus rating — a proxy for its ratio of buy, hold, and sell ratings — is 4.48 out of five, compared with Snap’s consensus rating of 4.55. But, an average analyst price target of Facebook indicates that the stock could see gains close to 30%. Snap has a return potential of less than 50%, with a mere 14%.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.