Snap began commercial operations in 2011 and has historically experienced net losses and negative cash flows from operations. As of September 30, 2023, Snap has accumulated losses of $11.3 billion. They need a lot to break right and virtually nothing to go wrong if they are going to change that trend. 

Snap listed 41 different operating risk factors in their 10-Q. If any one of these go badly this company’s viability will come into serious question. Below is the headline for each of the risk factors as written in the report. A longer discussion is available in the 10-Q.

1. Our ecosystem of users, advertisers, and partners depends on the engagement of our user base. Our user base growth rate has declined in the past and it may do so again in the future. If we fail to retain current users or add new users, or if our users engage less with Snapchat, our business would be seriously harmed. 
2. Snapchat depends on effectively operating with mobile operating systems, hardware, networks, regulations, and standards that we do not control. Changes in our products or to those mobile operating systems, hardware, networks, regulations, or standards may seriously harm our user retention, growth, and engagement. 
3. Snapchat relies on Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services, or AWS, for the vast majority of our computing, storage, bandwidth, and other services. Any disruption of or interference with our use of either platform would negatively affect our operations and seriously harm our business. 
4. We generate substantially all of our revenue from advertising. The failure to attract new advertisers, the loss of advertisers, or a reduction in how much they spend could seriously harm our business. 
5. Our two co-founders have control over all stockholder decisions because they control a substantial majority of our voting stock
6. Macroeconomic uncertainties, including labor shortages and disruptions, supply chain disruptions, banking instability, inflation, and recession risks, have in the past and may continue to adversely impact our business.
7. Exposure to geo-political conflicts and events, including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, could put our employees and partners at substantial risk, interrupt our operations, increase costs, create additional regulatory burdens, and have significant negative macroeconomic effects, any of which could seriously harm our business. 
8. If we do not develop successful new products or improve existing ones, our business will suffer. We may also invest in new lines of business that could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue.
9. Our business is highly competitive. We face significant competition that we anticipate will continue to intensify. If we are not able to maintain or improve our market share, our business could suffer.  
10. We have incurred operating losses in the past, and may not be able to attain and sustain profitability
11. The loss of one or more of our key personnel, or our failure to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could seriously harm our business. 
12. We have a continually evolving business model, which makes it difficult to evaluate our prospects and future financial results and increases the risk that we will not be successful. 
13. If the security of our information technology systems or data is compromised or if our platform is subjected to attacks that frustrate or thwart our users’ ability to access our products and services, our users, advertisers, and partners may cut back on or stop using our products and services altogether, which could seriously harm our business. 
14. Our user metrics and other estimates are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and real or perceived inaccuracies in those metrics may seriously harm and negatively affect our reputation and our business. 
15. Improper or illegal use of Snapchat could seriously harm our business and reputation
16. Because we store, process, and use data, some of which contains personal data, we are subject to complex and evolving federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations, executive actions, rules, contractual obligations, policies, and other obligations regarding privacy, data protection, content, the use of artificial intelligence, and other matters. Many of these obligations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could result in investigations, claims, changes to our business practices, increased cost of operations, and declines in user growth, retention, or engagement, or other adverse consequences, any of which could seriously harm our business. 
17. Our financial condition and results of operations will fluctuate from quarter to quarter, which makes them difficult to predict
18. If we are unable to continue to maintain or successfully grow our user base and further monetize our products, our business will suffer.
19. We cannot assure you that we will effectively manage our growth or changes to our business.
20. Our costs may increase faster than our revenue, which could seriously harm our business or increase our losses. 
21. Our business depends on our ability to maintain and scale our technology infrastructure. Any significant disruption to our service could damage our reputation, result in a potential loss of users and decrease in user engagement, and seriously harm our business. 
22. Our business emphasizes rapid innovation and prioritizes long-term user engagement over short-term financial conditions or results of operations. That strategy may yield results that sometimes don’t align with the market’s expectations. If that happens, our stock price may be negatively affected. 
23. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be seriously harmed. If we need to license or acquire new intellectual property, we may incur substantial costs. 
24. Some of our software and systems contain open source software, which may pose particular risks to our proprietary applications. 
25. If our users do not continue to contribute content or their contributions are not perceived as valuable to other users, we may experience a decline in user growth, retention, and engagement on Snapchat, which could result in the loss of advertisers and revenue.
26. Differing government initiatives and restrictions in regions in which our products and services are offered could seriously harm our business. 
27. Our users may increasingly engage directly with our partners and advertisers instead of through Snapchat, which may negatively affect our revenue and seriously harm our business. 
28. If events occur that damage our brand or reputation, our business may be seriously harmed. 
29. Expanding and operating in international markets requires significant resources and management attention. If we are not successful in expanding and operating our business in international markets, we may incur significant costs, damage our brand, or need to lay off team members in those markets, any of which may seriously harm our business. 
30. Our products are highly technical and may contain undetected software bugs or hardware errors, which could manifest in ways that could seriously harm our reputation and our business. 
31. We have been, are currently, and may in the future be subject to regulatory inquiries, investigations, and proceedings which could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a way that could seriously harm our business. 
32. We are currently, and expect to be in the future, party to patent lawsuits and other intellectual property claims that are expensive and time-consuming. If resolved adversely, these lawsuits and claims could seriously harm our business. 
33. From time to time, we are involved in class-action lawsuits and other litigation matters that are expensive and time-consuming and could seriously harm our business. 
34. We may face lawsuits, incur liability, or need to seek licenses based on information posted to our products. 
35. We plan to continue expanding our international operations where we have limited operating experience and may be subject to increased business and economic risks that could seriously harm our business. 
36. Exposure to United Kingdom political developments, including the effect of its withdrawal from the European Union, could be costly and difficult to comply with and could harm our business. .
37. We plan to continue to make acquisitions and strategic investments in other companies, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute our stockholders, and seriously harm our business. 
38. If our goodwill or intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings, which could seriously harm our business. 
39. If our goodwill or intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings, which could seriously harm our business. 
40. Some of our products are in regulated industries. Clearances to market regulated products can be costly and time-consuming, and we may not be able to obtain these clearances or approvals on a timely basis, or at all, for future products
41. We have faced inventory risk with respect to our physical products. 

Conclusion

If you believe any of these risks might happen, SNAP is probably not the right investment for you.