Twitter Inc (TWTR) Executive Departures Send Share Price Lower; Jack Dorsey Announces Remaining Execs Will Take On More Work

Twitter Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey just can’t seem to catch a break. The announcement that four Twitter Inc. vice presidents are leaving the beleaguered microblogging site sent the company’s share price plunging on Monday. Dorsey confirmed the departures Sunday and said he and his remaining C-suiters would take over more responsibilities to fill the vacuum.

Twitter shares were lately down 4.3 percent at $17.08 Monday.

Twitter’s stock price has languished below its initial-public-offering price of $26 since mid-November and touched its all-time low last Wednesday amid a larger selloff in global stocks. Twitter stock has lost about a quarter of its value since the start of the year, well below the S&P’s 7.3 percent plunge in the same period. The company’s shares hit a closing-day high of $69 on Jan. 3, 2014, nearly two months after its IPO.

The executives leaving the company are Alex Roetter, senior vice president of engineering; Skip Schipper, SVP human resources; Katie Stanton, head of global media, and Kevin Weil, who has been in charge of product development and product strategy for Twitter's advertising platform. The popular tech site Re/code.com first reported the departures of Stanton and Weil over the weekend.

“In the past, unlike other companies, it [Twitter] has sometimes been publicly rough on those leaving, such as communications head Gabriel Stricker and Ali Rowghani,” Re/code said Sunday.

The social media company has been struggling with lackluster subscriber growth and challenges in monetizing its hugely popular services. Unexpected executive departures are typically frowned upon by investors as they suggest the company is struggling to retain talent amid challenges.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) will report fourth-quarter 2015 and full-year earnings on Feb. 10 before markets open in New York. A poll of analysts conducted by Thomson Reuters predicted the company will report an unadjusted loss of $118.8 million, or 17 cents per share, in the three months ending in December, up from a loss of $125.4 million, or 20 cents per share in the same quarter the previous year.