Reddit Falls 17% After Hours as Weak Q4 Guidance Overshadows a Q3 Beat on $895M Revenue

Reddit (RDDT) beat third-quarter estimates, with revenue of $895 million, up 53% from a year earlier and above the $874.9 million analysts expected, and EPS of $1.40 versus $1.33. Shares still fell about 17% after hours, to about $107 from a $129.60 close, because fourth-quarter guidance came in below Wall Street's forecast and the U.S. audience shrank. The stock was down about 44% this year before the report.

The quarter against expectations

Revenue growth has slowed in steps, from 61% in the second quarter to 53% in the third, and the fourth-quarter guide implies roughly 40%. Revenue topped the high end of Reddit's own guidance by about $25 million, by our calculation. Reddit has beaten estimates for several quarters in a row, with an average EPS surprise of about 49% and a revenue surprise of about 9% over the last four.

The audience is the concern

U.S. daily active uniques were about 50.7 million, down from a year ago, according to reported figures, after growing 6% to 53.2 million in the second quarter. Reddit's international audience is growing faster, at 28% in the second quarter, but U.S. users are the most valuable, with U.S. revenue per user nearly double the global average. In the second quarter, CEO Steve Huffman said search referrals were choppy and traffic more volatile later in the quarter. Reddit is also dropping its separate logged-in and logged-out user counts in favor of a single total figure. For another platform punished for user trends, see our Roblox earnings article.

Guidance and what analysts expect

The fourth-quarter outlook of about $1.02 billion in revenue at the midpoint trails the $1.04 billion consensus, and the EBITDA midpoint trails by about 3%. Wall Street expects fourth-quarter EPS of $1.84, full-year 2026 EPS of $5.40 on $3.39 billion of revenue, and 2027 EPS of $7.14 on $4.49 billion, before updating for the report.

What it means

Reddit's business is still compounding quickly: revenue is up more than 50%, margins keep widening and trailing 12-month revenue now exceeds $3 billion. The market is focused on durability. A stock at a multiple of roughly 16 times forward earnings, near a one-year low, had little room for a slower guide or a smaller U.S. audience, and the after-hours drop shows investors now reward user growth as much as ad growth.

Sources: Reddit's second-quarter 2026 earnings release (SEC filing) and Reddit investor relations materials; third-quarter results, guidance, estimates and after-hours moves are from market data. This is informational, not a recommendation to buy or sell.