By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – Snap’s stock (NYSE:) soared 45% in premarket trading Friday after it posted a surprise quarterly profit when many expected to it to be weighed down by changes to Apple’s (NASDAQ:) privacy rules.

As revenue rose 42%, net profit reached $23million. This was its first public appearance since March 2018.

Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:) disclosure of a first-ever quarterly loss of subscribers in its history has weighed on stocks of social media platforms like Snap and Pinterest (NYSE:). The Facebook-owner blamed changes to Apple’s privacy rules that have made it tougher for apps to track users and sell targeted ads for its below-par performance.

Many people wondered whether these changes would impact the entire industry. For Snap, this wasn’t the case as it grew its subscriber base and got more money from each subscriber, on average. Snap ended the year with 319million daily active users. This includes 13 million additional users during the third quarter. In the same period, average revenue per user rose by 18%. In the same quarter, positive free cash flow was also recorded by the company. 

Current-quarter revenues are expected to reach $1.06 trillion. The firm also projects a breakeven of operating income at an adjusted level, making it the third consecutive such quarter.