Twitter Shows Signs of Life With Renewed Sales and User Growth

Twitter beat sales estimates and added more monthly users, indicating signs of life at the social network that has struggled to attract new consumers and advertisers, according to Bloomberg. The shares surged 7.4 percent.

The company reported that monthly active users gained 4 percent to 330 million in the third quarter, a positive sign for investors who view audience size as a measure of Twitter’s long-term health. Daily active users increased 14 percent, the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, the company said in a statement.

Twitter reported its net loss narrowed to $21.1 million, or 3 cents a share, in the quarter. Profit excluding certain costs was 10 cents a share, compared with analyst estimates of 7 cents. Revenue declined 4.3 percent to $589.6 million. The company said the better-than-expected sales were driven by its video advertising and data-licensing platforms.

Sales in the U.S., Twitter’s most important advertising market, fell 11 percent from the same period a year earlier. The company has failed to capture more than a tiny fraction of the digital advertising market, which is dominated by Google and Facebook. Total revenue growth was driven by international sales, which grew 6 percent from a year earlier.

The company gave a fourth-quarter outlook for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $220 million to $240 million. Analysts projected $200 million. The company hasn’t made a quarterly profit on that basis since going public in November 2013.

Twitter said it had adjusted the number of monthly active users back to the fourth quarter of 2014 after determining it had incorrectly counted users of a service for third-party apps as active participants on the platform. After the change, the company said it had 326 million users in the second quarter, rather than 328 million.