Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), the popular microblogging company reported its first quarter earnings results for the first quarter that beat the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts.
The stock price of the company plummeted more than 11 percent to $37.89 per share during the extended hours trading, around 7:10 P.M. in New York on Tuesday. The significant decline showed that the performance of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) particularly its user growth failed to impress investors.
Financial results
For the first quarter, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) reported a net loss of $132.4 million or $0.23 per share on $250.5 million revenue.
Excluding special items, the microblogging company generated $183 thousand net income or $0.00 EPS compared with the $0.03 loss per share on $241.5 revenue expected by Wall Street analysts.
In a statement, Dick Costolo, chief executive officer of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) said, “We had a very strong first quarter. Revenue growth accelerated on a year over year basis fueled by increased engagement and user growth.”
He added, “We also continue to rapidly increase our reach and scale. With the integration of MoPub, we now reach more than 1 billion iOS and Android users each month, making us one of the largest in-app mobile ad exchanges in the world and the only one at scale to offer native in-app advertising.”
Active users
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) said its average monthly active users (MAUs) increased 25% to 255 million while its mobile MAUS rose 31% to 198 million year-over-year.
Some analysts expected 257 million users for the quarter. Evercore analyst Ken Sena opined, “The user growth showed some continued decelerations. It just happens to be the one thing that investors are looking at.”
Others anticipated that the user base of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) will increase by over 262 million. Shyam Patil, an analyst at Wedbush Securities noted that the company delivered “good monetization,” but its key metrics did not meet expectations due weakness internationally. He said, “This is likely to weigh on the stock.”
The microblogging company said its timelines reached 157 billion during the first quarter, up by 15% year-over-year. Its advertising revenue per thousand timeline views increased 96% to $1.44 during the period.
Outlook
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) forecasted that it will be able to achieve adjusted EBITDA in the range of $25 million to $30 million and revenue between $270 million and $280 million the second quarter.
For the full year 2014, the company estimated that it will be able to generate adjusted EBITDA in the range of $180 million to $205 million and revenue of around $1.2 billion to $1.25 billion.
