Twitter posts annual revenue growth, quarterly results miss analysts’ expectations

Social media giant Twitter has posted a growth in revenue for its annual results but its quarterly results have come in lower than analysts’ expectations.

For its annual results, its revenue was at US$5.08 billion, an increase of 37 percent year over year.

For its quarterly results, the social media company reported a revenue of US$1.56 billion, an increase of 22 percent but lower than analysts’ expectations.

Its quarterly costs and expenses came in altogether at US$1.40 billion, an increase of 35 percent year over year. This resulted in operating income of US$167 million and 11 percent operating margin, compared to operating income of $252 million and 20 percent operating margin in the same period of the previous year.

Average monthly daily active users for Q4 came it at 217 million, a jump compared to 192 million in the same period of the previous year and compared to 211 million in the previous quarter. These results have subsided whispers that the company was struggling to draw in its users as it competes with the likes of Tiktok for people’s attention.

Parag Agrawal, CEO at Twitter said the company’s strong 2021 performance positions them to improve execution and deliver on its 2023 goals to attract 100 million new users and double its revenue.

“We are more focused and better organised to deliver improved personalisation and selection for our audience, partners, and advertisers,” he said.

Ned Segal, Twitter CFO said, “Twitter had a solid fourth quarter to finish 2021, with over $5 billion in annual revenue, up 37 percent for the year.”

Segal said there will be no changes to its goals of 315 million average monthly daily active users in Q4 2023 and US$7.5 billion or more revenue in 2023.

He said, “Our increased focus on performance ads and the SMB opportunity after the sale of MoPub positions us even better for 2022 and beyond.”