Twitter beats on profits, profits however misses out on user development expectations

Twitter’s profits and profits grew much faster than Wall Street anticipated in the 3rd quarter, as the United States election and the coronavirus pandemic urged individuals to stay glued to the social media. But the social media didn’t get brand-new users as rapidly as it has in the past.

In the July-September quarter, Twitter published $936.2 million in profits, beating the $777.15 million in profits that experts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipated. The business made 4 cents per share, beating the loss of 10 cents per share Wall Street expected. 

Twitter’s audience, which has actually been growing given that the beginning of COVID-19 previously this year, leapt to 187 million monetizable day-to-day active users, up 29% from a year previously, however missed out on expert expectations of 195.19 million users. Twitter shares decreased 16% in after-hours trading to  $44.00.

CEO Jack Dorsey stated Topics, an item that permits users to follow subjects the method they follow private accounts, would assist get more individuals associated with Twitter. “It just further … shows like all the conversations that are possible on Twitter,” he informed experts in a call, including that specific niche subjects tended to do “extremely well.”

The profits report, which came a day after CEO Jack Dorsey affirmed at a Senate committee, comes as Twitter, Facebook and other social networks business discover themselves the target of problems ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Republicans have stated the business censor conservative voices, a claims Twitter and Facebook reject. Democrats have stated the business do not do enough to fight hate speech and other objectionable material.

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The election loomed over Twitter for much of the third quarter, which opened inauspiciously for the social media site. In July, hackers took over several high-profile accounts, including those of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama, as part of a cryptocurrency scam. The massive hack raised concerns about whether Twitter was doing enough to safeguard security ahead of the US elections.

Twitter has started ramping up security for high-profile political users, such as members of Congress, journalists and presidential campaigns. The company enabled by default a setting that requires these accounts to confirm a stored email and phone number before their password can be reset.

Preparing for the US election

Twitter has been rolling out new features aimed at combating political information. 

The company adds labels to tweets that contain misleading information about voting, coronavirus and other topics. Twitter users who try to retweet a misleading tweet that’s been labeled see a prompt that says the tweet is “disputed.” The prompt includes a “Find out more” button directing them to credible information. The company, which also has an online hub for election information, has been pointing users to authoritative sources on the site’s homepage and within search results.

Twitter touted those efforts in its shareholder letter accompanying the earnings release. “In the run-up to the 2020 US election, we have made significant changes to both product and enforcement to increase context and encourage more thoughtful consideration before Tweets are amplified,” the company said.

But Twitter’s efforts to moderate political content have also sparked scrutiny from lawmakers. This month, the company blocked links to a New York Post article that contained allegations about Biden’s son Hunter, reigniting complaints that Twitter censors conservative speech. Twitter has repeatedly denied it’s politically biased. The company said the article violated its policies against sharing hacked materials and private information. Under political pressure, the company changed its hacked materials policy and stopped blocking the link.

Dorsey is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the 2020 election and allegations of anti-conservative bias on Nov. 17.