Twitter Loss Narrows, But Stock Plunges 10% On Revenue And Outlook Miss

(RTTNews) - Micro-blogging site Twitter Inc. (TWTR), Tuesday reported a smaller loss for the first quarter, as revenues surged 36 percent reflecting growth in its advertising business despite a mediocre user growth. Adjusted earnings for the quarter trumped Wall Street expectations, while revenues fell short of estimates.

The company detailed a weak revenue outlook for the second quarter, sending its shares down over 10 percent in the after-hours trading.

The social media company has lost more-than 20 percent of its share value this year as investors are concerned about Twitter's sluggish user growth and the amount of time each user spends on the networking site. The social networking site is struggling to attract new users.

Twitter said monthly active users were 310 million in the first quarter, up 3 percent from last year, and up 1.6 percent from previous quarter.

Twitter's first-quarter loss narrowed to $79.7 million or $0.12 per share from $162.4 million or $0.25 per share last year.

On an adjusted basis, earnings for the quarter were $102.7 million or $0.15 per share, up from $46.5 million or $0.07 per share last year. On average, 37 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.10 per share for the quarter.

Revenues for the quarter grew to $594.5 million from $435.9 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $607.84 million for the quarter.

Looking forward to the second quarter, Twitter expects revenues of $590 million to $610 million. Analyst polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect revenues of $677.57 million.

TWTR closed Tuesday's trading at $17.75, up $0.66 or 3.86%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further dropped $1.95 or 10.99% in the after-hours trading.