Snapchat ended the quarter with 280 million daily average users, compared with 265 million in the prior quarter and 229 million a year earlier. The user growth was stronger than analysts had predicted.

North America remained the company’s largest and fastest-growing revenue base. Meanwhile, its daily-active-user base is expanding faster beyond the U.S. and Europe, in the latest quarter growing 57% year-over-year to 111 million users.

“We are optimistic about the engagement trends we are seeing as the world is beginning to open up,” Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel said in prepared remarks. The company expects engagement activity to pick up as economies reopen and people continue to use social media to chat with friends and share real-life details.

Shares of Snap rose nearly 1.7% in after-hours trading. The stock has risen roughly 235% in the past 12 months.

Social-media platforms have largely performed well during the pandemic as communication largely went virtual. In that time, the company has launched products and functionalities, such as ones that let users try on clothes or see how a particular nail polish might look on them.

Snap saw high engagement with Snap Maps and early momentum with Spotlight, a Tik-Tok-like feature that allows users to spread videos from around the Snapchat community.

“It is in the early days of monetizing those assets,” said Ronald Josey, an analyst at JMP Securities. “When you look out over the next several years, that’s really the opportunity for continued overall revenue growth,” he said.

The company expects second-quarter revenue in the range of $820 million to $840 million. Analysts had forecast $826 million.

In the first quarter, Snap narrowed its losses to $286.9 million from $305.9 million in the same period last year. It posted a per-share loss of 19 cents, compared with 21 cents a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company broke even. Analysts expected an adjusted loss of 5 cents a share.

The company noted that it ended the quarter with positive free cash flow, a first since going public in March 2017. It reported free cash flow of $126 million.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com