Neil DennisTwitter shares fell sharply in pre-market trading on Wall Street after the social media website issued forward guidance that failed impress the markets.
Reporting on its first quarter, the company announced revenues of $1.04bn - up 28% from $807.6m in the same quarter a year ago - narrowly beating expectations of $1.03bn.
The company, founded and led by Jack Dorsey, reported net income of $68m after a loss of $8.4bn in the same period of 2020. This equated to adjusted earnings per share of 16 cents, beating forecasts of 14 cents a share.
Like rivals Facebook and Google, which both reported soaring profits this week, Twitter has benefitted from a cultural shift to online channels during the COVID-19 pandemic and advertising revenue climbed 32% to $899m in the first quarter.
Tepid guidance
The company's costs to engage its customers in its advertising, however, are rising. Cost per engagement (CPE) rose 19% year-on-year in the first quarter.
Twitter said it expected total revenue in the second quarter to be between $980m and $1.08bn. The top end of this guidance would exceed Wall Street forecasts of $1.06, but investors felt the lower end was a little soft.
In after-hours trade on Thursday and pre-market trade on Friday, the shares were down 11.5% at $65.09.
