Twitter said Thursday that it added 20 million new monetizeable daily active users in the second quarter, an increase of 34% year-over-year — but its ad revenue was down 23% over the same period, due to pandemic-related pullback.
Why it matters: Twitter, like other media companies, is facing coronavirus' double-edged sword. While users flock online because of shelter-in-place orders, advertisers are cutting back their spending.
- The company did note that ad spend had started to recover slightly since the nationwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality kicked off.
By the numbers, per CNBC:
- Loss per share: $1.39, adjusted, which is weighed down by a $1.1 billion loss related to a noncash deferred tax asset, making it difficult to compare to analyst estimates.
- Revenue: $683 million vs. $707 million expected in a Refinitiv survey of analysts.
- Monetizable daily active users (mDAUs): 186 million vs. 172.8 million expected by StreetAccount.
The big picture: The earnings come a week after the tech giant experienced a serious hack, compromising the accounts of dozens of high-profile users.
- Members of Congress are calling on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify alongside his peers in a House antitrust hearing next week, but Twitter hasn't publicly responded to the request.
