Snap slips as traders ready for next week's lock-up expiration (SNAP)

SNAP IPO 19

Snap is slipping as traders look ahead to the expiry of the next lockup period.

The company shares fell ahead of the first lock-up expiration, where company insiders are able to sell their shares for the first time after the initial public offering, and look to be continuing the trend heading into the second expiration.

On August 14, another 182 million shares, this time from employees, will be available to sell for the first time. The first lock-up expired July 29, and 400 million shares were released at that time. In all, 1.2 billion shares will be released by the end of August.

The stock began to make gains last week after Business Insider reported that an acquisition offer from Google for $30 billion may still be on the table. Shares were up as much as 9.82% after the report was published, but those gains have now largely been erased, according to data from Bloomberg.

One Wall Street investing firm, Stifel, runs against the grain, and sees the lock-up expirations as a signal to buy when the price is low.

Snap has fallen 23.5% since its IPO at $17 in March.