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Snap, the company behind Snapchat, took Wall Street by surprise this week by beating Q2 2020 earnings expectations. The company’s revenue increased to $454 million in the quarter, beating analyst estimates of $438 million.

Much of Snap’s revenue jump can be attributed to a rebound in advertising revenue, which could be due an ongoing boycott of Facebook’s ads business due to inaction around hate speech, per The Information. Snap believes this rebound could also mark the end of an ad revenue slump caused by the coronavirus. Snap CFO Derek Anderson stated, “While we are cautiously optimistic that these trends could sustain over time, we are also conscious that operating conditions may remain volatile, and that economic conditions could further deteriorate,”

Snap also Snapchat users opened the app 30 times a day on average last quarter. This heavy usage of the social media platform could be spurred by increased freetime among the platform’s users, who tend to be younger (in the U.S. Snapchat’s platform reaches 90 percent of 13-24 year olds), as typical summer activities are placed on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meet Snap's executive team

Lets meet the team driving Snap’s rebound.

Sean Mills heads up Snap’s orginal content, including Shows, which have spiked in popularity during COVID-19, as users increased their watch time of Shows content by 45% year-on-year in Q2 2020. Under his guidance, Snapchat has produced original shows that are resonating with its audience. For instance, 28 million viewers tuned into the finale of Snapchat’s sleeper hit Endless Summer. While other Snapchat shows, like Dead Girls and Deep Creek, have garnered 14 million and 18 million views, respectively.

Peter Sellis is Snap’s Director of Revenue Product, which means he oversee’s most of the company’s advertising offerings. This includes the app's sponsored content like face lenses and geofilters as well as Snap Ads videos. Sellis will remain a central figure in Snap's ad products, as the company recently launched Dynamic Ads globally and in an earnings presentation that, “advertisers are already seeing early success with this new ad format.”

Another crucial member of Snap’s team is Oona King, the company’s Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion. King, a former Google exec, has had the important role of guiding the company through a tumultuous period of protests and activism in response to racial injustice in the US. In June 2020, King apologized for the distribution of a Juneteeth filter that many users found offensive. As the company moves forward, King’s input will be especially important to avoid additional gaffs which could set back the hard won progress the company has made.

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