Twitter Shares Way Up After Strong Q3 Revenue Report

Twitter (TWTR) took a hit on the stock market after the outlook presented by its Q2 earnings report in July, but investors responded differently to Thursday’s Q3 earnings report. The microblogging social network recorded better-than-expected revenue for the quarter, resulting in a stock price surge in pre-market and early market trading.

Twitter’s share price saw a 15 percent increase in pre-market trading. It shot up by as much as 17 percent in the hours after markets opened on Thursday.

Twitter reported $758 million in revenue, a 29 percent year-over-year increase. The site saw the same percentage increase for advertising revenue. Twitter is not a digital advertising titan on the same level as Facebook or Google, but its ad business brought in $650 million last quarter.

Twitter’s earnings per share and revenue numbers were higher than pre-earnings projections, according to CNBC. One metric it missed on was monthly active users; Twitter’s reported 326 million monthly users fell below earlier projections.

The site had the same problem in its last earnings report, which sent shares plummeting over the summer. Twitter instituted new policies in July that purged millions of accounts from the site for spam activity. Investors were initially not happy with it, but Twitter maintains it was the right thing to do.

“This quarter's strong results prove we can prioritize the long-term health of Twitter while growing the number of people who participate in public conversation,” CEO Jack Dorsey said, per CNBC.

Even though Twitter still recorded lower-than-expected monthly active user numbers, the site’s strong earnings and revenue growth were enough to please investors on Thursday.

Twitter has avoided some of the social media scandals that have plagued Facebook this year but still has concerns going forward. The site was recently warned by the European Union to comply with new regulations by the end of 2018 or face sanctions.