Twitter has reported both good and bad news: the social media company made better-than-expected earnings in the last quarter, but is still set to drop hundreds of staff.
During the third quarter of 2016, Twitter made $616m, while earnings per share were $0.13; analysts had expected $0.09, reports The Guardian. Meanwhile, the site’s monthly active users grew in number to 317 million; that compares to 313 million in the quarter before.
While Twitter’s stock has fallen by over 25% in 2016, it saw just a slight recovery in pre-market trading. Twitter had announced its quarterly results at, unusually, 4am California time.
About 9% of the firm’s global employee base is getting the chop, CEO Jack Dorsey told shareholders in a letter. As that workforce is approximately 3,900, about 351 of these workers are affected. Advertising salespeople will be hit by the layoffs, chief financial officer Anthony Noto indicated.
While it might be too early to assess whether Twitter has turned a corner, Dorsey pledged that updates in the approaching weeks would “make Twitter safer for everyone”. Twitter-based conversations in reaction to the US presidential debates also boosted user engagement, he noted.
