The global pandemic and U.S. protests are forcing a pullback by advertisers on Twitter, but it's also led to an unprecedented surge of users.
But the company took a huge tax hit to earnings, posting a net loss of $1.2 billion, or $1.56 per share, in the April-June period, compared with profit of $1.1 billion, or $1.43 per share, a year earlier.
Twitter's advertising business was hit harder than its larger rivals Google and Facebook, and analysts had expected the bleeding to continue in the second quarter. The company said ad revenue made a "gradual, moderate recovery" relative to levels in March but many brands then slowed or paused their spending in late May to mid-June, following the outbreak of Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S.
Ad revenue fell 15% in the last three weeks of June, which was better than the 27% decline in the final three weeks of March, with advertiser demand returning as the protests subsided, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal said in the earnings call. "Twitter's strength as a news and entertainment source has helped buoy engagement during the pandemic as housebound consumers use the platform for real-time news and information," said eMarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg. But she does not expect this to continue as stay-at-home restrictions begin to lift and people start returning to more normal routines.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Twitter misses ad sales estimates despite surge in usageTwitter has struggled to build out its ad offerings, leaving it reliant on a suite of promotional tools geared toward advertising around big events and product launches
Read more »
Taylor Swift will drop a surprise new album tonightTaylor Swift is releasing a new album this week, one she wrote and recorded entirely in isolation.
Read more »
U.S. labs buckle amid testing surge; world coronavirus cases top 15MLaboratories across the U.S. are buckling under a surge of coronavirus tests, creating long processing delays that experts say are actually undercutting the pandemic response. The testing lags in the U.S. come as the number of people confirmed to be infected globally passed a staggering 15 million on Wednesday.
Read more »
Almost 1,000 in isolation after COVID-19 exposures at Kelowna eventsProvincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry reminded the public to choose quieter parks, beaches and lakes and to keep personal bubbles small
Read more »