Twitter Gets Lift From Uptick In User Numbers

Twitter shares surged Wednesday after its quarterly update showed improving growth in user numbers, offsetting concerns over a decline in revenue and another net loss for the social network.

The first quarter results came in better than most forecasts for Twitter, which has struggled to keep pace in the fast-moving world of social media.

The closely watched metric of monthly active users grew nine percent from the same period a year ago to 328 million. Twitter said daily active usage rose 14 percent without offering a specific figure.

Net loss narrowed to $62 million from $80 million a year earlier for Twitter, which has never reported a profit.

Revenues meanwhile fell eight percent to $548 million — which would normally be troubling for a social media group, but the figure was not as bad as feared.

“This past quarter has given us a lot of confidence in our focus and execution and excitement for our path ahead,” Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey told a conference call.

Dorsey said Twitter remains “focused on making progress” toward achieving profitability, but offered no specific goal.

“We’re delivering on our goal to build a service that people love to use, every day, and we’re encouraged by the audience growth momentum we saw in the first quarter,” he said in the earnings release.

Twitter shares rallied 7.8 percent to close at $15.82, the highest level since February, suggesting an easing of fears about the path forward for the micro-blogging service.

Source: Guardian