Twitter Q4 Profit Tops View; But User Growth Stalls

(RTTNews) - Micro-blogging site Twitter Inc. (TWTR), Tuesday reported a smaller loss for the fourth quarter, as revenues surged 48 percent reflecting growth in its advertising business despite a stagnating user growth. The company detailed a weak revenue outlook for the first quarter.

Investors are concerned about q'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 320 million in the fourth quarter, flat with the previous quarter, and up 9 percent from last year. Analysts expected Twitter to report 325 million users.

Commenting on the slowing user growth, Twitter, in a statement said, "We saw a decline in monthly active usage in Q4, but we've already seen January monthly actives bounce back to Q3 levels. We're confident that, with disciplined execution, this growth trend will continue over time."

Twitter's fourth-quarter loss narrowed to $90.2 million or $0.13 per share from last year's loss of $125.4 million or $0.20 per share.

On an adjusted basis, earnings for the quarter were $114.6 million or $0.16 per share. On average, 37 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.12 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter surged to $710.5 million from $479.1 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $709.94 million.

Looking forward to the first quarter, Twitter expects revenues of $595 million to $610 million. Analyst polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect revenues of $629.25 million.

TWTR closed Wednesday's trading at $14.98, up $0.58 or 4.03%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $0.28 or 1.87% in the after-hours trading.