“Twitter Inc. failed to attract more monthly users in the second quarter, spooking investors looking for evidence that the company is on a sustainable long-term growth path,” Sarah Frier reports for Bloomberg. “The shares tumbled the most in nine months, even as quarterly revenue topped analysts’ projections.”
“A long-term turnaround depends on Twitter expanding its audience. That number stands at 328 million monthly active users — the same as in the prior quarter, the San Francisco-based company said in a statement Thursday,” Frier reports. “Revenue fell 4.7 percent and the company’s net loss also widened, affected by a $55 million writedown of the value of its investment in SoundCloud, the German music streaming service.”
“The shares fell as much as 14 percent percent to $16.85. It was the biggest intraday drop since October. They were up 6.3 percent in the 12 months through Wednesday,” Frier reports. “Twitter reported a net loss of $116.5 million, or 16 cents a share. Revenue dropped to $573.9 million, though that beat analysts’ average estimate of $537.2 million as the company drew more money from video advertising and its business selling data to third parties.”
“Twitter’s business troubles contrast with its increased profile in the political world, as U.S. President Donald Trump frequently uses the platform to reach the public in an unfiltered manner. Despite his daily fusillade of tweets, Trump hasn’t helped Twitter’s growth in its home country,” Frier reports. “Monthly active users in the U.S., Twitter’s most important advertising market, declined to 68 million from 70 million in the prior quarter. Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto said Twitter doesn’t know why U.S. monthly active users slipped. ‘We don’t have data that will explain a causal impact’ of that shift, he said on a conference call.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last September:
Twitter is one of the very best places, if not the best, for breaking news. It’s got many other problems, of course (organization, priority, conversation coherence, rampant inanity, etc.), but it is good for breaking news… We’d love to see what Apple could do with Twitter in terms of usability. A vast, ready-made social network might be just the thing to teach Apple all they need to know about the subject, which isn’t much (see Ping and Connect, for two examples).
And, as we wrote back in February 2016:
Twitter should focus on TRENDS. Twitter Trends are the best place to get breaking news on earth. Twitter needs to tell everyone interested in news about Twitter Trends. Bang the everlasting sheet out of that one point. Users will discover what Twitter is on their own if you simply get them there via Trends.
SEE ALSO:
President Trump’s iPhone has only one third-party app: Twitter – May 25, 2017
Apple unveils three new TV ads in Twitter-themed ad campaign for iPad Pro – March 31, 2017
Apple debuts two new TV ads in their Twitter-themed ad campaign for iPad Pro – March 3, 2017
Apple debuts new Twitter-themed ad campaign for iPad Pro – February 17, 2017
Beleaguered Twitter axes 9% of workforce, kills Vine video app – October 27, 2016
Twitter shares tumble as last suitor Salesforce rules out bid – October 14, 2016
Twitter moves closer to sale, suitors said to include Google and Salesforce – September 23, 2016
Twitter suspends 235,000 more accounts over extremism – August 18, 2016
Twitter in talks with Apple to launch Apple TV app for NFL Thursday Night Football live streaming – August 15, 2016
Former Apple PR exec Natalie Kerris leaves Twitter after only six months – August 2, 2016
Twitter users now trust social media influencers nearly as much as their friends – May 11, 2016
So far, Apple Support on Twitter has responded to nearly 100 tweets per hour – March 4, 2016
Twitter shares plunge on user decline – February 10, 2016
Twitter is a very different type of Social Media from Facebook and it is being mismanaged badly. It almost seems like Eddie Cue is doing consulting or something. Maybe he has a twin.
Twitter is aggressively against its user base and acts as a political/political correctness policeman with ways how and when it bans or not, and whom it “verifies” or not (imagine that they did “verify” a fake pro-war, pro-regime-change, pro-Al-Qaeda-“rebels”-funding propaganda account of “7 year old girl Bana of Syria”, but did not “verify” Julian Assange).
With such attitude they did not earn any growth.
If Twitter ever fails or disappears, I will be the happiest person in the world, it is a worthless, garbage POS distraction that causes more harm than good.
Never been Twitterized, never cared to be. Only so much social media is good for you, which is to say as little as possible.
I tend to agree. Even as a news source, Tweets are just insufficient for relaying information with clarity, it seems to generate more misunderstandings than anything. This could be said of all social networks to an extent.
Twitter is all in how you use it. It can be the greatest news filter ever. You simply need to choose what you follow wisely. If you follow nothing but tech, science, Apple stuff, that’s what you will get. If you follow politics you will get people being horrendously rude to one another.
I am so tempted… But I promised myself not to initiate political blowbacks around here. 😉
Where is the fun in that. It is like shooting GOP fish in a barrel.
Eve was tempted. If you break your promise to yourself, you will have only yourself to blame.
Yet what is lost, really, in such a betrayal? It may be a lost opportunity of a lifetime to fashion an intoxicating bouquet of words that resonate in a future leader’s mind, and thereby influence generations to come. Our wildest thoughts can harness Energy and Time; old gods float dead in the brimming ocean of science; we have naught to fear but ourselves. (Mary Shelley)
Twitter is being mismanaged. Their ads should be “Get breaking news straight from the source – without the spin”. Then rotate through photos of famous people posting on twitter holding their iPhones – presidents, past presidents, musicians etc. Instead the idiots running Twitter ignore their greatest assets which are right in front of their faces. Seems like they don’t want to make a profit and grow the company.
Twitter. Facebook. Snapchat and on and on. Put the damn phones down for an afternoon, play with ur kids, or go to lunch with friends and not the ones on ur phone. More and more I see life filled with zombies staring down at there phones all day. If a person is to truly be honest most of the social crap they do on the phone all day could be done in half an hour at end of day, like I’m doing now. Sad
Maybe it’s just me.
If twitter shut down tonight id never notice and if my phone ever beeped to tell me what a Kardashian or American president was saying, I’d smash the damn thing.
It’s not you. It’s a damn epidemic. Sad that our society has come to this.
Twitters’ problems are many: 140 characters is too little, everyone just blocks the Ads, users are commonly misinformed and shallow but, worse, it’s a nasty battleground of abuse and vile trolls (especially on the political threads).
No wonder they’re losing users.
I joined Twitter just so I can keep up with the maniac that is Donald J. Trump.
He’s like heroin, really bad for you but quite more-ish!!