Twitter stock to fly higher after second quarter beats expectations

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares are indicated to start Friday’s trading higher after the social media platform beat revenue targets for its second quarter. Revenue amounted to US$1.19bn, representing a 74% increase year-over-year and beating expectations of US$1.07bn, whilst at 20 cents per share earnings beat analyst forecasts of 7 cents. The group, which had started testing a 'dislike' option on its app as well as the 'like' button, reported a profit of US$65.6mln versus a US$1.38bn loss a year ago. “We delivered a better-than-expected performance across all major products and geographies while growing our audience,” said chief financial officer Ned Segal. “We continued to make significant progress on our direct response and brand products with updated ad formats, improved measurement, and better prediction. We are driving more value for advertisers with our strong push into performance-based advertising and expanded offerings for small and medium-sized businesses.” It was the financials that outperformed as monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) were measured at 206mln against expectations of 206.2mln. This represented an 11% improvement from the same period a year ago. Ahead of Friday’s open in New York, Twitter stock was up US$3.58 or 5.15% indicated at US$73.15 per share.