During the second quarter, it earned an adjusted $0.07 per share on revenue of $502 million -- up 61% year-over-year, and above the previously forecast range of $470 million to $485 million.
Yet during the period, Twitter added just 2 million new core users -- a figure that interim CEO Jack Dorsey called “unacceptable” on a Tuesday earnings call.
“In order to realize Twitter’s full potential, we must improve in three key areas: ensure more disciplined execution, simplify our service to deliver Twitter's value faster, and better communicate that value,” Dorsey said on Tuesday.
Predictably, Twitter’s stock declined rapidly in after-hours trading.
“It’s not shocking to see the street reacting negatively when a major tech company has instability in leadership and competition is heating up from other brands like Snapchat and Instagram,” said Andy Amendola, director of digital strategy at The Community.
The vast majority of monthly active users added in the second quarter on a sequential basis came from “SMS Fast Followers.” Excluding that subset, MAUs were 304 million for the second quarter -- up only 12% year-over-year.
Also of note, mobile MAUs represented approximately 80% of total MAUs.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, Twitter is projecting revenue to be in the range of $545 million to $560 million, while adjusted EBITDA is projected to be in the range of $110 million to $115 million.
For the full year, Twitter is projecting revenue to be in the range of $2.20 billion to $2.27 billion, while adjusted EBITDA is projected to be in the range of $520 million to $540 million.