Shares in Twitter plunge by over 10 per cent in after hours trading as social media site reports
Twitter’s share price dropped by over 11 per cent in after hours trading despite news that revenue increased by 48 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015 as monthly user numbers stayed flat on the previous quarter.
Revenue was up to $710m (£489m) in the three months to 31 December, compared with $479m in the final quarter of 2014. Meanwhile, revenue for the year rose by 58 per cent to $2.2bn.
Total average monthly active users (MAUs) were 320m for the fourth quarter of 2015, up nine per cent year-on-year, but flat on the previous quarter.
The firm's advertising revenue was up by 48 per cent in the quarter, to $641m. The company said growth in advertising revenue "continues to be driven by strong growth in demand for our advertising products, particularly video and website card formats". However, it added that year-on-year growth in the app install advertising format "slowed meaningfully" in the fourth quarter relative to the third quarter.
Looking ahead, Twitter expects revenue for the first quarter of 2016 to be in the range of $595-$610m, which would be an increase from the first quarter of 2015 ($436m).
The social media group has seen its stock tumble in recent months. On Monday, shares fell to fresh lows of below $15 on speculation that the microblogging site would make a major change to the way it works.
And last month, Twitter announced the departures of three of its senior execs: media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, product VP Kevin Weil and engineering head Alex Roetter all departed.
"We spent the last six months structuring the organisation and our leadership team to move with greater agility and focus, reviewing the state of our service and strategy, learning from what we've shipped, and developing a stronger point of view about what we are and what we want to be," the company said in its letter to shareholders. "In January we gathered our global leadership team to align and commit to a strategy for 2016."