Twitter disappoints the market once again. Yesterday on Wall Street, the title of the microblogging site ended the session up 3,5%, but at the closing of the Stock Exchange the group published its accounts and in the after-market the shares collapsed by 13,58%, to 15 39 dollars per share (against the 26 dollars of the IPO price in November 2013 and the peak of 74,73 dollars reached in December of the same year).
In the first three months of 2016, Twitter reported nearly $595 million in revenue, up 36% from $435,9 million in the same period last year, when the jump was 74%. The figure is in the lower part of the forecasts provided by the group, which amounted to 595-610 million. Analyst estimates averaged $607,8 million.
Excluding currency fluctuations, sales would have risen 39%. Most of the turnover is related to advertising revenues (531 million, +37% annually), of which 88% was generated by mobile devices, but the market expected more. The revenues achieved in the USA amounted to 390 million (+35%) while the international ones reached 204 million (+39%).
In addition, the group led by Jack Dorsey reported a loss of nearly $80 million (12 cents per share), halving the loss of $162,4 million (25 cents per share) for the same quarter in 2015. Net of exceptional items , Twitter saw profits jump to 15 cents from 7 cents a share, more than the 10 cents expected by the market.
Also in the first quarter, users who used social media at least once a month totaled 310 million, up 3% over the same period in 2015 and up from 305 million in the previous quarter. Analysts were expecting a figure of 308 million. 83% of monthly active users connected via mobile devices.
While the microblogging site has halted the decline in its user numbers seen in the last quarter of 2015, the feeble recovery demonstrates the challenges cofounder Dorsey faces. For the current quarter, Twitter expects sales of 590-610 million dollars, less than the 678 million calculated by the market. Adjusted Ebitda is forecast at 145-155 million. For the full fiscal year, capital expenditures are expected at 300-425 million.
