Twitter is witnessing an impressive growth ahead of issuing an Initial Public offering (IPO). The micro blogging site in a filing yesterday, reported more than 100 percent rise in revenues, for the third quarter, though losses increased.
Loss also increased
Twitter posted third quarter revenue of $168.6 million, an increase over $82.3 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Net loss for the company came in at $64.6 million from $21.6 million. Twitter is prepping up for listing its share on NYSE.
Twitter mentioned about the user base in its filing and declared that more than 230 million users are using the service per month, which is an increase over 215 million. Further, Twitter revealed in the document that it earned greater revenue from mobile devices compared to the previous quarter. Around 70 percent of revenue was contributed from mobile compared to 65 percent in the second quarter.
Other info from the filing
Filing also included a revised list of major shareholders. Entities affiliated with Rizvi Travers (TRAV), which include funds managed by investor Chris Sacca, own 17.9 percent, which is the most number of shares held by any individual or investor. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and affiliates control 10.3 percent. Nextcomesventure-capital firms Spark Capital have 6.8 percent followed by Benchmark with 6.6 percent and Union Square Ventures with 5.9 percent. DST Global, founded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, owns 5 percent.
Twitter is on a hiring spree, recently, adding 300 employees that totals to 2,300 employees in altogether. Further, the company has geared up its spending compared to other Internet companies as a percentage of revenue. The company spent more than half of its revenue on research and development in the third quarter.
Road show possibly in October
Twitter is aiming to raise more than $1 billion through its IPO, and is planning a road show with bankers towards the end of October, according to Bloomberg.
The results provide investors an insight into the financial health of the company ahead of its IPO launch, which has become the most talked about United States Tech IPO after Facebook. Twitter has still to develop its advertising business and tackle stiff competition in social media.
“Near-term you’re going to see this company grow very quickly,” Robert Peck, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey told Bloomberg. Analyst added that the company needs to invest heavily in its infrastructure.
