Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. (SNAP) initiated their public offering on Thursday amid a flurry of interest in their stock. According to their IPO documents filed Thursday, Snapchat lost roughly $514 million dollars in fiscal year 2016.

Company Founder and CEO, Evan Spiegel, indicated that it is possible that they “may never achieve or maintain profitability,” due to the financial effort involved in re-investing in their business.

In their filing, SNAP indicated that “We began commercial operations in 2011 and for all of our history we have experienced net losses and negative cash flows from operations. If our revenue does not grow at a greater rate than our expenses, we will not be able to achieve and maintain profitability.”

The loss of $514 million in 2016 comes against revenues of roughly $400 million. So they are still losing FAR more than they are bringing in on an annual basis. Despite increasing revenues from $58 million in 2015 (compared to a net loss of $372 million), their losses continue to widen.

By comparison, when Facebook launched their IPO in 2012, the company was already profitable, to the tune of $1 billion a year (against a $100 billion+ valuation for it’s IPO).

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About Robert Henderson and Lansdowne Wealth Management

Robert Henderson is the President of Lansdowne Wealth Management, an independent, fee-only advisory firm in Mystic, CT. His firm specializes in financial planning and investment management for retirement, with a special focus on the particular needs of women that are divorced or widowed. He is an Accredited Asset Management Specialist and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. Mr. Henderson can be reached at 860-245-5078 or bhenderson@lwmwealth.com. You can also view his personal finance blog, The Retirement Workshop at http://lwmwealth.com/blog and the firm’s website at http://www.lwmwealth.com.

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