Twitter Inc. reported on Thursday a growth of users and advertising revenue Weaker-than-expected quarterly quarterly earnings and forecast revenue below targets for wall streetwhich indicates that a change of course plan has not yet borne fruit for the social network.
Still, Twitter said it had made “significant progress” toward its goal of reaching 315 million users and $7.5 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2023 and that user growth should accelerate in the near future. U.S and internationally this year.
Twitter has been carrying out big projects, like audio chat rooms and newsletters, to break a long stagnation and attract new users and advertisers. But the quarterly results cast doubt on the company’s plan, as analysts expected faster signs of progress.
Monetizable daily active users, or users who watch ads, grew 13% to 217 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, below consensus estimates of 218.5 million, according to Refinitiv data. This figure is higher than the 211 million users in the previous quarter.
Twitter also announced a new program of share repurchase worth $4 billion, on top of the $2 billion in buybacks it approved in 2020.
Shares of the company rose 4% in premarket trading.
“Twitter’s share buyback plan is helping investors overlook the company’s relatively weak results and outlook,” he said. Jesse Cohenprincipal analyst at Investing.com.
“Twitter will need to maintain similar momentum in 2022, but the way forward is clear,” he said. Jasmine Enbergprincipal analyst at Insider Intelligence.
Fourth-quarter ad revenue grew 22% year-over-year to $1.41 billion, below analyst estimates of $1.43 billion.
The company forecasts total revenue for the first quarter of between $1.17 billion and $1.27 billion. The midpoint of that range is below Wall Street’s median target of $1.26 billion.