Twitter turns a profit, but problems remain
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter says it had first quarterly profit in history and returned to revenue growth in the fourth quarter.
Shares of Twitter surged more than 20% in pre-market trading Thursday.
For the fourth quarter, Twitter reported revenue of $732 million, up 2% year-over-year. Net income was $91 million, compared to a loss of $167 million a year ago.
Twitter’s monthly active user based remained flat at 330 million users, but its daily active users grew 12%.
Though the results beat Wall Street’s cautious expectations, they don’t solve the company’s broader problems.
It’s been dealing with abuse, fake accounts and attempts by Russian agents to spread misinformation. The troubles have been compounded by stagnant user growth.
And with a prominent executive leaving shortly, and the CEO splitting its time with another company, Twitter’s now facing questions about just who is minding the store.
Twitter has said it’s dealing with the problems. The company has introduced a slew of new measures to weed out abusive accounts. Still, critics say the company is playing whack-a-mole with its problems, with often inadequate responses.
