Twitter Inc Posts Decisive Earnings Beat, Shares Skyrocket

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Twitter released its latest earnings report before opening bell this morning, posting adjusted earnings of 11 cents per share on $548 million in revenue. Analysts had been looking for earnings of 2 cents per share and $517 million in revenue. In last year’s first quarter, the company posted non-GAAP earnings of 15 cents per share.

Twitter’s losses narrow

Twitter posted GAAP losses of 9 cents per share or $62 million, compared to last year’s loss of 12 cents per share or $80 million. Non-GAAP net income amounted to $82 million, compared to $103 million last year.

The micro-blogging firm said the number of average monthly active users grew 6% year over year from 319 million to 328 million, coming out ahead of consensus at 321 million. Average daily active usage was up 14% year over year, accelerating from the 11% increase in the fourth quarter, 7% in the third, 5% in the second quarter of last year, and 3% in the year-ago quarter.

“We’re delivering on our goal to build a service that people love to use, every day, and we’re encouraged by the audience growth momentum we saw in the first quarter,” Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said in a statement. “While we continue to face revenue headwinds, we believe that executing on our plan and growing our audience should result in positive revenue growth over the long term.”

COO Anthony Noto said their ad partners have provided positive early feedback on their latest products as the return on investment has been rising. Twitter streamed over 800 hours of live premium video to reach 45 million unique viewers in the first quarter, representing a 31% sequential increase.

Twitter provides guidance

For the second quarter, the company expects adjusted EBITDA of $95 million to $115 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 21% to 21.5%. For the full year, Twitter expects non-GAAP expenses to be flat to down 5% year over year.

Shares of Twitter skyrocketed in premarket trading, soaring by as much as 11% to $16.27 after this morning’s earnings release.

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