More Users Flock To Twitter

Twitter Inc. posted solid user and revenue growth in its latest quarter, signs that investments to improve civility on its social network and show users more relevant content are working.

But, according to The Wall Street Journal,  the adjustments are coming at a cost: Hiring more workers in areas like technical support and sales and spending on content are eating into Twitter’s profit. Excluding special items, Twitter’s second-quarter profit fell 36% from a year ago to $37 million, or 5 cents a share.

Still, Twitter now has been profitable for seven consecutive quarters, a contrast to years of sustained losses that the company had reported after going public in 2013.

Profit in the June quarter ballooned to $1.12 billion, its largest ever, in connection with a more than $1 billion one-time benefit from a deferred tax asset.

Twitter’s revenue rose 18% to $841 million, helped by stronger advertising sales in the U.S., its largest market. The result exceeded analysts’ projections of $829 million, according to FactSet. However, revenue growth for the current quarter is expected to slow from the first half of the year, which Twitter said was due to shutting down some ad formats to focus on other priorities.

Meanwhile, the number of people who use Twitter daily increased by 5 million from the first quarter to a record 139 million.