Welcome to "#SocialStocks," The Fly's weekly recap of Wall Street's reactions to social media stock news.

SNAP INVESTOR DAY: Snap (SNAP) provided commentary and outlook during its first investor day presentation yesterday. Shares of the stock were up as much as 5% after. Snap said it reduced messaging unit costs by at least 25% and that Snapchatters open up the platform 30 times a day on average. The company added that it believes large untapped smartphone opportunities worldwide will help company sustain growth rates. Additionally in the presentation, Snap sees posting revenue growth of 50% or more for several years with gross margins expanding in 2021 with clear path to 60%+ over the medium term. However, the company projects gross margins expanding at slower pace than in 2020. Lastly, Snap said it was committed to sustained adjusted EBITDA profitability and experienced accelerated revenue growth in 2H20. In addition to shares rising after the presentation, analysts from a number of firms raised their price target in the aftermath. Among the largest price target raises was Truist analyst Youssef Squali. He raised the firm's price target on Snap to $84 from $61 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares. The tone of the company's Analyst Day was "even more bullish" than anticipated, with the management forecasting over 50% revenue growth for the next several years, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Given its younger audience, Snap is gradually reaching a "must-buy status" for a growing number of advertisers, Squali added.

SPROUT Q4 EARNINGS: Sprout Social (SPT) experienced a Q4 earnings beat last night, reporting total annual recurring revenue of $158.3M, up 34% year-over-year. The company also provided Q1 and FY21 guidance slightly above analyst estimates as well. "We delivered an emphatic close to the year and are prepared for a fantastic 2021," said Justyn Howard, Sprout Social's CEO and co-founder. "Social has taken center stage in the digital strategy for millions of businesses around the globe. Social is not simply a way to market a brand, it is increasingly becoming the brand; it's helping companies evolve what they make, who they make it for, how they sell it, how they compete, and how they deliver world-class experience. We are perfectly aligned to help our customers thrive into this period of transformation." Shares were up 5% in after-hours trading. Like Snap's investor day, Sprout's Q4 report got the attention of a number of analysts. Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow raised the firm's price target on Sprout Social to $84 from $68 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares. Sprout outperformed Street estimates again in Q4, as social media management continues to become an increasingly important area of focus for brands, Lenschow tells investors in a research note. The analyst says improving enterprise traction as growth in large customers and premium products "were impressive."

FACEBOOK REACHES NEWS AGREEMENT WITH AUSTRALIA: Facebook (FB) will restore news access on its platform in Australia following negotiations, saying in an update to changes made last week: "We're pleased that we've been able to reach an agreement with the Australian government and appreciate the constructive discussions we've had with Treasurer Frydenberg and Minister Fletcher over the past week. We have consistently supported a framework that would encourage innovation and collaboration between online platforms and publishers. After further discussions, we are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them. As a result of these changes, we can now work to further our investment in public interest journalism and restore news on Facebook for Australians in the coming days." The social media giant concluded its update with this: "We hope that in the future the Australian government will recognise the value we already provide and work with us to strengthen, rather than limit, our partnerships with publishers."

TWITTER KEPT TABS ON SHARECHAT: Twitter recently held talks to acquire Indian social media startup ShareChat for $1.1B and had committed an additional investment of $900M, TechCrunch's Manish Singh reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The talks did not materialize into a deal, two sources said, adding that Twitter had expressed interest in taking Moj, a short-form video app that ShareChat owns, to international markets and position it as a rival to TikTok. Singh noted that Twitter struggled to make inroads outside of larger cities and towns in India. Twitter is set to hold its own virtual investor day tomorrow at 12 p.m. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian raised the firm's price target on Twitter to $75 from $65 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The analyst raised his target ahead of the "highly anticipated" virtual analyst day. He said he has increasing confidence in the company's product execution and ability to hit longer-term financial targets.

WHITE HOUSE SEEKS COVID MISINFORMATION MANAGEMENT: The White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google about clamping down on COVID-19 misinformation and getting their help to stop it from going viral, Reuters' Nandita Bose reported, citing a senior administration official. President Joe Biden has made inoculating Americans one of his top priorities and called the move "a wartime effort." But tackling public fear about taking the vaccine has reportedly emerged as a major impediment for the administration. “Disinformation that causes vaccine hesitancy is going to be a huge obstacle to getting everyone vaccinated and there are no larger players in that than the social media platforms,” the source, who has direct knowledge of the White House’s efforts, told Reuters. A Facebook spokeswoman said that the company has reached out to the White House to offer “any assistance we can provide” and recently announced a new policy to remove COVID and vaccine misinformation along with pages, groups, and accounts that repeatedly spread it. A Twitter spokesman said the company is “in regular communication with the White House on a number of critical issues including COVID-19 misinformation.”