Media

Is Twitter Finally Getting Its Act Together?

Chris Lange

Published: October 26, 2017 8:40 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 6:48 am

After spending most of 2017 lagging the broad markets, it seems that Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is finally breaking out after its most recent earnings release. Twitter reported its third-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday, and investors cheered the stock.

The social media giant said that it had $0.10 in earnings per share (EPS) and $590 million in revenue. That compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.07 in EPS on revenue of $586.73 million. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.09 and $615.93 million in revenue.

Average monthly active users (MAU) totaled 330 million for the quarter, up 4% year over year, and compared to 326 million in the previous quarter. Average daily active users (DAU) grew 14%, an increase from 12% growth year over year, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

Twitter also announced an adjustment to its MAU numbers over the past year. The adjustment was at most roughly 2 million downward for a single quarter. Although it’s important that Twitter’s metrics for counting its users wasn’t correct, the overall difference is relatively marginal and investors seemed more thrilled that Twitter actually posted solid earnings.

In terms of the outlook for the fourth quarter, Twitter expects to see Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $220 million and $240 million, adjusted EBITDA margin of 35% and 36% and capital expenditures of no more than $110 million.

The consensus estimates for the fourth quarter call for $0.10 in EPS and $692.18 million in revenue.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO, commented:

This quarter we made progress in three key areas of our business: we grew our audience and engagement, made progress on a return to revenue growth, and achieved record profitability. We’re proud that the improvements we’re making to the product continue to bring people back to Twitter on a daily basis. It’s our job to help people stay informed about what’s happening in the world and what people are talking about, and we’re focused on making our service faster, easier to use, and more relevant to more people every day.

Shares of Twitter closed Wednesday at $17.14, with a consensus analyst price target of $15.80 and a 52-week range of $14.12 to $20.88. Following the announcement, the stock was up about 10% at $18.86 in early trading indications Thursday.