Twitter, the globally recognized social media platform, has been plagued with financial difficulties stretching into the second quarter of 2017. The main concern lies in the fact that there has been no significant rise in the number of its active users compared to the last financial quarter. Additionally, Twitter’s share value and revenue have been on a downward slope year after year. Such a scenario paints a rather gloomy picture for the company’s financial well-being, deviating significantly from the optimistic projections made earlier.
Reflecting the impact this stagnancy has imparted, the company’s shares plummeted by nearly 13 percent earlier this week. This dramatic slide in stock trading occurred post reports announcing that Twitter’s userbase remained static at 328 million – unchanged from the previous quarter. Compared to rival social media giant Facebook, which gained over 70 million active users within the same period, Twitter’s failings become more apparent. Compounding the issue, the company’s advertising revenue also experienced an approximately 8% dip. The numbers plunged from $535 million in the same quarter last year to $489 million.
Highlighting the disparity between expectations and actual results are the following figures:
* Earnings Per Share (non-GAAP): The actual value recorded was $0.12, compared to the expected $0.05 by Thomson Reuters.
* Revenue: Twitter revealed a revenue figure of $574 million, versus the anticipated $536.7 million, as predicted by Thomson Reuters.
* Monthly Active Users: Active users were pegged at 328 million whereas analysts on StreetAccount expected the number to be 329 million.
The net loss for the quarter reflected on the GAAP was $116 million, corresponding to a GAAP diluted EPS of -$0.16.
Despite the second quarter’s disappointing outcome, Twitter began the year on a high note, reporting 9 million more monthly active users than anticipated in the first quarter. However, the subsequent stagnation in user growth has become a serious concern for stock investors who are clamoring for consistent progress.
In an effort to curb this decline, Twitter launched a less data-intensive version of its service, known as ‘Twitter Lite’, in April of this year. The social media leader hoped that exploiting the limited data capabilities prevalent in countries such as India would attract new users. However, slow operational speeds reportedly discouraged users from adopting this new offering.
According to Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO, the corporation still has a long road ahead to revitalize the platform by attracting a larger, more active user base. Efforts are being made to reengineer the company’s revenue growth strategy, thereby aligning it with user growth.
In recent years, the platform has seen a significant user exodus owing to a slew of abusive online behavior cases, thereby frightening potential investors. In a move to rebuild trust, Twitter claims to have taken stringent measures against over 25 percent of the reported abusive accounts, boosting its preventive actions by ten folds compared to the previous year.
In line with Dorsey’s vision and efforts for damage control, Twitter is aiming to ensure a safer environment for its users and regain investor confidence – crucial catalysts to bolster user and revenue growth simultaneously.
This article was updated in 2025 to reflect modern realities.