Jack Dorsey creator, co-founder, and Chairman of Twitter and co-founder & CEO of Square arrives on stage at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention, a crypto-currency conference held at the Mana Convention Center in Wynwood on June 04, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Twitter shares rose as much as 9% in extended trading on Thursday after the social media company announced second-quarter earnings that came in stronger than analysts had anticipated.
Here’s what Twitter reported versus Wall Street’s estimates:
- Earnings: 20 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 7 cents as expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.
- Revenue: $1.19 billion vs. $1.07 billion as expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.
- Monetizable daily active users (mDAUs): 206 million vs. 206.2 million as expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount.
Twitter’s revenue grew 74% year over year in the quarter, according to a shareholder letter, with the company citing “a broad increase in advertiser demand.” In the prior quarter, revenue had risen 28%. Growth accelerated as the company lapped a quarter when revenue declined by almost 19%, resulting in the strongest growth since 2014.
The number of monetizable daily active users, or Twitter users who view advertising on the site, grew by 11%, Twitter said.
In the quarter Twitter introduced its first subscription service, which gives users access to an Undo Tweet button and other features. The company also released its Spaces audio-chat feature on mobile devices for all users with at least 600 followers. And it announced a Tip Jar feature that will enable users to send money to others on the site.
The impact from changes in Apple’s iOS 14.5 release associated with tracking were lower than expected, Twitter said in its shareholder letter.
With respect to guidance, Twitter said it sees $1.22 billion to $1.30 billion in third-quarter revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected $1.17 billion in revenue.
For all of 2021, Twitter said that it expects headcount and total expenses to go up at least 30% and that revenue will grow faster than expenses.
Notwithstanding the after-hours move, Twitter shares are up about 29% since the start of 2021, while the S&P 500 index has gone up 16% over the same period.
Executives will discuss the results on a conference call starting at 6 p.m. ET.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
