Twitter’s first earnings numbers are in, and the Street didn’t like what it saw.
Despite beating analysts’ revenue and earnings expectations, Twitter’s user growth numbers are slouching. Shares fell off a cliff in after-hours, trading down 12 percent at about $58.70.
The company is doing well selling ads. Ad revenue per user is up. And more than 75 percent of the company’s revenue comes from mobile devices. These are all good things.
Bad news is, Twitter is having a heck of a time adding new users to its platform. It only added 9 million new users last quarter, and has significant retention problems.
Which is important. If Twitter effectively stays a “niche” service that’s hard for the mainstream to understand, then it’s hard to believe the pitch that it’s the perfect “second-screen” TV experience.
Take a look at my live-blogged notes from the company’s first earnings call earlier Wednesday afternoon, below.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via