Twitter posts strong sales and forecasts as advertising bounces back
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Twitter added seven million new users in the second quarter from the previous period, bringing its total audience to 206 million daily users, in line with estimates.
PHOTOS: REUTERS
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SAN FRANCISCO • Twitter's second-quarter sales topped estimates while its forecast for the current quarter exceeded expectations amid events, such as the Olympics, that drive advertising.
Shares jumped about 5 per cent in extended trading on Thursday.
Revenue will be from US$1.22 billion (S$1.66 billion) to US$1.3 billion in the period to Sept 30, Twitter said. Analysts projected US$1.17 billion, according to Bloomberg data. Second-quarter sales jumped 74 per cent to US$1.19 billion from a year earlier, compared with analyst estimates of US$1.06 billion.
Twitter added seven million new users in the second quarter from the previous period, bringing its total audience to 206 million daily users, in line with estimates. The United States audience fell by one million users to 37 million during the period ended June 30.
A year ago, Twitter faced one of its most difficult quarters when many advertisers started to pull marketing budgets at the height of the pandemic. Sales fell 19 per cent in the April to June 2020 period.
Twitter then started pushing even more aggressively into direct response advertising - ads that try to drive specific outcomes, like an app install or a website visit.
The numbers suggest the firm is growing after a chaotic year. The stock hit a high of US$76.70 in extended trading after closing at US$69.57 on Thursday. It has increased 28 per cent this year.
The company's brand advertising may also help it avoid any major impact from Apple's new privacy updates, which require that companies obtain user permission to collect certain data about their online activity. Most users are asking apps not to track them, which is hurting targeted advertising, especially on Facebook.
Twitter, though, says it has not been seriously affected.
Twitter gave a forecast for operating income in the current quarter of US$50 million to break even and said full-year expenses are expected to rise 30 per cent from a year ago, compared with a previous estimate of 25 per cent.
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