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Tag: Jack Dorsey

  • Q2-16: Twitter revenue up 19.8 percent

    Q2-16: Twitter revenue up 19.8 percent

    BENGALURU: Twitter Inc., (Twitter) reported 19.8 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in total revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2016 (Q2-16, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The social media player reported total revenue of $601.96 million in Q2-16 as compared to $502.38 million in Q2-15. US revenue totalled $360.68 million, an increase of 12.3 percent y-o-y as compared to $321.19 million. International revenue totalled $241.28 million, a y-o-y increase of 33.2 percent from $181.19 million.

    Ad revenue in the current quarter increased 18.2 percent y-o-y to $534.52 million as compared to $452.29 million in Q2-15. Mobile advertising revenue was 89 percent of total advertising revenue. US advertising revenue increased 9.4 percent y-o-y to $313 million from $286 million. International advertising revenue increased 33.7 percent y-o-y to $266 million from $166 million. Total ad engagements grew 226 percent y-o-y, driven by the adoption of auto-play video and increased ad load. The average cost per engagement fell 64 per y-o-y, primarily due to the shift to auto-play video says the company.

    Twitter’s Data licensing and other revenue totalled $67.43 million, a y-o-y increase of 34.6 percent as compared to $ 50.11 million..

    Adjusted EBIDTA in Q2-16 increased 45.3 percent to $174.60 million from $120.19 million in Q2-15. Non-GAAP net income was 91.5 percent higher at $92.93 million as compared to $48.52 million in Q2-15. The current quarter’s GAAP net loss was lower at $107.22 as compared to $136.66 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Average monthly uses (MAU)

    Average monthly users (MAU) increased 3 percent y-o-y to 330 million in Q2-16 from 304 million in Q4-16 and increased 1 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) from 310 million. Average US MAUs were 66 million for Q2-16, up 1 percent y-o-y and compared to 65 million in the previous quarter. Average international MAUs were 247 million for Q2-16, up 4 percent y-o-y and compared to 245 million in the previous quarter. Mobile MAUs represented 82 percent of total MAUs

    Company Speak

    “We’ve made a lot of progress on our priorities this quarter,” said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. “We are confident in our product roadmap, and we are seeing the direct benefit of our recent product changes in increased engagement and usage. We remain focused on improving our service to make it fast, simple and easy to use, like the ability to watch live-streaming video events unfold and the commentary around them.”

    “This quarter we saw year-over-year and sequential growth in both monthly active and daily active usage,” said Twitter CFO Anthony Noto. “We continue to believe that, with disciplined execution against our priorities, we can drive sustained engagement and audience growth over time. We also have exciting momentum with live-streaming video initiatives underway. We’re partnering with the providers of the world’s most popular live content to bring more and more of those events onto Twitter to provide a unique and compelling consumer experience.”

  • Q2-16: Twitter revenue up 19.8 percent

    Q2-16: Twitter revenue up 19.8 percent

    BENGALURU: Twitter Inc., (Twitter) reported 19.8 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in total revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2016 (Q2-16, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The social media player reported total revenue of $601.96 million in Q2-16 as compared to $502.38 million in Q2-15. US revenue totalled $360.68 million, an increase of 12.3 percent y-o-y as compared to $321.19 million. International revenue totalled $241.28 million, a y-o-y increase of 33.2 percent from $181.19 million.

    Ad revenue in the current quarter increased 18.2 percent y-o-y to $534.52 million as compared to $452.29 million in Q2-15. Mobile advertising revenue was 89 percent of total advertising revenue. US advertising revenue increased 9.4 percent y-o-y to $313 million from $286 million. International advertising revenue increased 33.7 percent y-o-y to $266 million from $166 million. Total ad engagements grew 226 percent y-o-y, driven by the adoption of auto-play video and increased ad load. The average cost per engagement fell 64 per y-o-y, primarily due to the shift to auto-play video says the company.

    Twitter’s Data licensing and other revenue totalled $67.43 million, a y-o-y increase of 34.6 percent as compared to $ 50.11 million..

    Adjusted EBIDTA in Q2-16 increased 45.3 percent to $174.60 million from $120.19 million in Q2-15. Non-GAAP net income was 91.5 percent higher at $92.93 million as compared to $48.52 million in Q2-15. The current quarter’s GAAP net loss was lower at $107.22 as compared to $136.66 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Average monthly uses (MAU)

    Average monthly users (MAU) increased 3 percent y-o-y to 330 million in Q2-16 from 304 million in Q4-16 and increased 1 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) from 310 million. Average US MAUs were 66 million for Q2-16, up 1 percent y-o-y and compared to 65 million in the previous quarter. Average international MAUs were 247 million for Q2-16, up 4 percent y-o-y and compared to 245 million in the previous quarter. Mobile MAUs represented 82 percent of total MAUs

    Company Speak

    “We’ve made a lot of progress on our priorities this quarter,” said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. “We are confident in our product roadmap, and we are seeing the direct benefit of our recent product changes in increased engagement and usage. We remain focused on improving our service to make it fast, simple and easy to use, like the ability to watch live-streaming video events unfold and the commentary around them.”

    “This quarter we saw year-over-year and sequential growth in both monthly active and daily active usage,” said Twitter CFO Anthony Noto. “We continue to believe that, with disciplined execution against our priorities, we can drive sustained engagement and audience growth over time. We also have exciting momentum with live-streaming video initiatives underway. We’re partnering with the providers of the world’s most popular live content to bring more and more of those events onto Twitter to provide a unique and compelling consumer experience.”

  • Twitter to simplify its 140 character rule

    Twitter to simplify its 140 character rule

    MUMBAI:  Twitter  is to simplify Tweets in the coming months, making it faster and easier for people to express themselves with more room in their 140-character Tweets. Media attachments, such as photos and videos, will no longer count toward the character limit; @names in reply to Tweets will be removed from the count; and people will now be able to Retweet and Quote Tweet themselves, enabling them to resurface any of their previous Tweets and add new commentary. In addition, any new Tweet beginning with an @name will be seen by all followers.

    “One of the biggest priorities for this year is to refine our product and make it simpler,” said Twitter CEO and cofounder. Jack Dorsey. “We’re focused on making Twitter a whole lot easier and faster. This is what Twitter is great at – what’s happening now, live conversation and the simplicity that we started the service with.”

    “We’re not giving up on the idea of Twitter being in the moment. That concept of brevity, speed and live conversation – being able to think of something and put it out to the world instantly – that’s what’s most important,” added Dorsey. “We’re always going to look for opportunities to make Tweets a lot more expressive, and enable people to say what they want to say. As long as things are fast, easy, simple and expressive, we’re going to look at what we can do to make Twitter a better experience.”

    Earlier this year, Twitter announced changes to its timeline, enabling people to get back to live as quickly as possible while still making sure they didn’t miss important Tweets while they were away. The reaction to the enhanced timeline has been positive with less than two percent of people opting out, and has increased engagement from people on Twitter with significantly more Tweets, Retweets, Replies and Likes.

    Additionally, improvements were made this year to the process of signing up new people on Twitter, helping them find new accounts by topic, location and people. This new on-boarding flow has resulted in dramatic increases in Follows, up 48 percent, and Mutual Follows, up 56 percent, on average across both iOS and Android OS. Mutual Follows are important because it’s two people who recognize each other, talk to each other and give each other feedback. That’s critical for new engagement and usage.

  • Twitter to simplify its 140 character rule

    Twitter to simplify its 140 character rule

    MUMBAI:  Twitter  is to simplify Tweets in the coming months, making it faster and easier for people to express themselves with more room in their 140-character Tweets. Media attachments, such as photos and videos, will no longer count toward the character limit; @names in reply to Tweets will be removed from the count; and people will now be able to Retweet and Quote Tweet themselves, enabling them to resurface any of their previous Tweets and add new commentary. In addition, any new Tweet beginning with an @name will be seen by all followers.

    “One of the biggest priorities for this year is to refine our product and make it simpler,” said Twitter CEO and cofounder. Jack Dorsey. “We’re focused on making Twitter a whole lot easier and faster. This is what Twitter is great at – what’s happening now, live conversation and the simplicity that we started the service with.”

    “We’re not giving up on the idea of Twitter being in the moment. That concept of brevity, speed and live conversation – being able to think of something and put it out to the world instantly – that’s what’s most important,” added Dorsey. “We’re always going to look for opportunities to make Tweets a lot more expressive, and enable people to say what they want to say. As long as things are fast, easy, simple and expressive, we’re going to look at what we can do to make Twitter a better experience.”

    Earlier this year, Twitter announced changes to its timeline, enabling people to get back to live as quickly as possible while still making sure they didn’t miss important Tweets while they were away. The reaction to the enhanced timeline has been positive with less than two percent of people opting out, and has increased engagement from people on Twitter with significantly more Tweets, Retweets, Replies and Likes.

    Additionally, improvements were made this year to the process of signing up new people on Twitter, helping them find new accounts by topic, location and people. This new on-boarding flow has resulted in dramatic increases in Follows, up 48 percent, and Mutual Follows, up 56 percent, on average across both iOS and Android OS. Mutual Follows are important because it’s two people who recognize each other, talk to each other and give each other feedback. That’s critical for new engagement and usage.

  • Twitter names American Express’ Leslie Berland as CMO

    Twitter names American Express’ Leslie Berland as CMO

    MUMBAI: Social networking site Twitter has named American Express EVP – global advertising, marketing & digital partnerships Leslie Berland as its chief marketing officer (CMO).

     
    On her appointment, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted, “Welcoming @leslieberland to Twitter! She will join as our CMO to help tell the stories of our iconic product!”

     

    To which, Berland replied, “Thanks @Jack! Excited to join you and the amazing teams to bring to life the power, uniqueness and magic of Twitter!”

     

    On joining the company, Berland said, “Twitter is a service like no other. It has and continues to change the world, shaping how we communicate and connect, how we’re entertained, informed and inspired. It represents everything that’s relevant at each and every moment – to me, there’s nothing more powerful. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Jack and the Twitter teams to bring the magic of Twitter to life, broaden its reach, and deepen its impact as the company enters this incredibly exciting new chapter.”

     

    Berland will be responsible for the company’s global consumer, product, and sales marketing.

     

    Having worked at American Express since 2005, she led a global team responsible for creating marketplace demand and driving commerce through differentiated and innovative products, marketing and customer experiences globally.

     

    As a member of the company’s global management team, Berland oversaw advertising, media, sponsorships, content, brand identity and digital partnerships for the enterprise. Under Berland’s leadership, American Express forged relationships and created first-ever marketing and digital experiences with partners like Apple, McDonald’s, Uber, TripAdvisor, VeriFone, Twitter, Samsung, Foursquare, Facebook, Jawbone and Google. 

     

    During her tenure at American Express, Berland played a critical role in creating the company’s first social media strategies and presences, and led the social media partnerships and strategy for the first Small Business Saturday.

     

    A two-time recipient of the American Express Chairman’s Award for Innovation, Berland also provided strategic guidance to the American Express executive team and was a trusted advisor to numerous corporate partners of American Express on their brand, social media and digital endeavors.

     
    Prior to American Express, Berland led PR and online communications strategies for global brands on the agency side.

  • Twitter names American Express’ Leslie Berland as CMO

    Twitter names American Express’ Leslie Berland as CMO

    MUMBAI: Social networking site Twitter has named American Express EVP – global advertising, marketing & digital partnerships Leslie Berland as its chief marketing officer (CMO).

     
    On her appointment, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted, “Welcoming @leslieberland to Twitter! She will join as our CMO to help tell the stories of our iconic product!”

     

    To which, Berland replied, “Thanks @Jack! Excited to join you and the amazing teams to bring to life the power, uniqueness and magic of Twitter!”

     

    On joining the company, Berland said, “Twitter is a service like no other. It has and continues to change the world, shaping how we communicate and connect, how we’re entertained, informed and inspired. It represents everything that’s relevant at each and every moment – to me, there’s nothing more powerful. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Jack and the Twitter teams to bring the magic of Twitter to life, broaden its reach, and deepen its impact as the company enters this incredibly exciting new chapter.”

     

    Berland will be responsible for the company’s global consumer, product, and sales marketing.

     

    Having worked at American Express since 2005, she led a global team responsible for creating marketplace demand and driving commerce through differentiated and innovative products, marketing and customer experiences globally.

     

    As a member of the company’s global management team, Berland oversaw advertising, media, sponsorships, content, brand identity and digital partnerships for the enterprise. Under Berland’s leadership, American Express forged relationships and created first-ever marketing and digital experiences with partners like Apple, McDonald’s, Uber, TripAdvisor, VeriFone, Twitter, Samsung, Foursquare, Facebook, Jawbone and Google. 

     

    During her tenure at American Express, Berland played a critical role in creating the company’s first social media strategies and presences, and led the social media partnerships and strategy for the first Small Business Saturday.

     

    A two-time recipient of the American Express Chairman’s Award for Innovation, Berland also provided strategic guidance to the American Express executive team and was a trusted advisor to numerous corporate partners of American Express on their brand, social media and digital endeavors.

     
    Prior to American Express, Berland led PR and online communications strategies for global brands on the agency side.

  • Twitterati become speed breakers as Twitter mulls 10K character limit

    Twitterati become speed breakers as Twitter mulls 10K character limit

    MUMBAI: The line between news and views are broadening with time. Spontaneity is inclining thick and fast towards social media with Twitter leading the race while views and opinions are filling television sets. If we take the recent earthquake in North East India for example, the news broke instantaneously on Twitter and even the Richter scale measurement was first revealed on the micro blogging website. Traditional media took more than two hours to put the first ticker on as the natural calamity struck the territories in the wee hours of the morning. The story was quite similar when former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam collapsed at a gathering and later breathed his last.

    If reports are to be believed then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is planning to take the micro blogging social media platform’s character limit to a whopping 10,000 from 140. Of the 10,000 characters 140 of them will be visible as a tweet and rest will be a part of a story, which can be accessed after clicking on the ‘show more’ option.

    This is speculatively done to stay in par with rivals and is likely to be implemented by March this year. Facebook has instant article, a feature which at this stage is not available for all users. This feature enables user to write article and publish it in a story format. LinkedIn also has a similar facility with Pulse where one can publish their creative pieces. The facility though is an encouraging one for the writers and critics who prophesize with their words but Twitteratis are leaving no stone unturned to let Dorsey and his team know that they are totally against it by posting photographs like the ones given below:

    “I am a fan of Twitter because it keeps my top floor busy. Compressing and expressing is the panache of the platform. Now I fear that I might just lose the flare to rambling. People can articulate more in terms of number of characters now but yes the magic is in bits and bytes,” said a senior journalist.

    Millions of tweets have made Twitter 10K trend globally with most of the tweets signifying reservations against the concept. Now it remains to be seen if the flood of tweets make team Twitter change their decision or not.

  • Q3-2015: Twitter revenue up 57.6%; GAAP loss down

    Q3-2015: Twitter revenue up 57.6%; GAAP loss down

    BENGALURU: Twitter’s new CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey delivered his maiden report that said that his company had performed better than the previously announced guidance values. The company’s revenue for the quarter ended 30 September, 2015 (Q3-2015, current quarter) increased 57.6 per cent YoY to $569.24 million as compared to the $361.27 million. The previous guidance for the company was revenues in the range of $545 million and $560 million. Revenue growth in the current quarter increased 13.3 per cent QoQ from $502.38 million.

     

    GAAP net loss reported by the company reduced to $131.69 million in the current quarter as compared to the loss of $175.46 million in Q3-2014 and 136.66 million in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP net income grew 9.6 times to $66.98 million as compared to $6.97 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Non-GAAP diluted income per share increased to $0.10 in Q3-2015 from $0.01 reported for Q3-2014.

     

    Adjusted EBIDTA in the current quarter increased 108 per cent to $142 million in Q3-2015 as compared to the $68 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.

     

    Advertisement revenue in the current quarter increased 60.3 per cent to $513 million from $320 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Advertisement revenue from the US market increased 57.4 per cent YoY to $329 million (64.1 per cent of advertisement revenue) in Q3-2015 from $209 million (65.3 per cent of advertisement revenue) in Q3-2014. International advertisement revenue increased 66 per cent to $184 million (35.9 per cent of advertisement revenue) from $111 million (34.7 per cent of advertisement revenue) in Q3-2014.

     

    Data Licensing and other revenue in the current quarter increased 37 per cent to $56 million (9.8 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the $41 million (11.4 per cent of total revenue) in Q3-2014.

     

    Twitter’s worldwide monthly active users (MAU) increased 11.5 per cent to 320 million in the current quarter as compared to the 287 million in Q3-2014, but improved by just 1.3 per cent QoQ from 316 million. Excluding SMS Fast Followers, MAUs were 307 million for the third quarter, up eight per cent year-over-year, and compared to 304 million in the previous quarter. Mobile MAUs represented approximately 80 per cent of total MAUs.

     

    MAUs’ from the US increased by four per cent to 66 million in the current quarter as compared to 60 million in Q3-2014 and one per cent QoQ.

     

    “We continued to see strong financial performance this quarter, as well as meaningful progress across our three areas of focus: ensuring more disciplined execution, simplifying our services, and better communicating the value of our platform,” said Dorsey. “We’ve simplified our roadmap and organization around a few big bets across Twitter, Periscope, and Vine that we believe represent our largest opportunities for growth.”

  • Q2-2015: Twitter sees 61% revenue growth, ad revenue up 63.2%

    Q2-2015: Twitter sees 61% revenue growth, ad revenue up 63.2%

    BENGALURU: Twitter, Inc. reported 60.9 per cent growth in revenue for the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q2-2015) at $502.38 million as compared to the $312.17 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Excluding the impact of year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, revenue would have increased 68 per cent says Twitter.Advertising revenue increased 63.2 per cent to $452 million as compared to $277 million in Q2-2014.

     

    GAAP net loss of $136.66 million in Q2-2015 was lower than the net loss of $144.64 million in Q2-2014, while non-GAAP income in the current quarter was $48.52 million as compared to the $14.60 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Adjusted EBIDTA for Q2-2015 at $120.19 million more than doubled (up 2.2 times) as compared to the $54.13 million in Q2-2014.

     

    “Our Q2 results show good progress in monetization, but we are not satisfied with our growth in audience. However, product initiatives we’ve mentioned in previous earnings calls, like instant timelines and logged-out experiences, have not yet had meaningful impact on growing our audience or participation. This is unacceptable and we’re not happy about it. In order to realize Twitter’s full potential, we must improve in three key areas: ensure more disciplined execution, simplify our service to deliver Twitter’s value faster, and better communicate that value,” said Twitter interim CEO Jack Dorsey.

     

    YTD, Twitter’s revenue increased 66.6 per cent to $938 million in Q2-2015 from $563 million in the six month period ended 30 June, 2014 (6M-2014). Ad revenue in 6M-2015 increased 67 per cent to $840 million as compared to the $503 million in 6M-2014. GAAP Net loss in 6M-2015 increased to $299.10 million as compared to the net loss of $277 million in the corresponding period of last year. Non GAAP net income in 6M-2015 increased to $95.03 million as compared to the $14.80 million in 6M-2014. YTD EBIDTA increased to $224.21 million as compared to the $91.08 million in 6M-2014.

     

    Twitter says that Monthly Active Users – Average Monthly Active Users (MAUs) were 316 million for Q2-2015, up 15 per cent y-o-y, and compared to 308 million in Q1-2015. The vast majority of MAUs added in the quarter on a sequential basis came from SMS Fast Followers. Excluding SMS Fast Followers, MAUs were 304 million for Q2-2015, up 12 per cent y-o-y, and compared to 302 million in Q1-2015. Mobile MAUs represented approximately 80 per cent of total MAUs.

     

    In Q2-2015, Twitter launched a new autoplay feature for native videos, Vines and GIFs, as well as Periscope live video streaming on Android.

  • Twitter CEO Dick Costolo resigns, Jack Dorsey returns as interim CEO

    Twitter CEO Dick Costolo resigns, Jack Dorsey returns as interim CEO

    MUMBAI: Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has decided to step down from his post effective 1 July, 2015.

     

    Twitter co-founder and chairman of the Board Jack Dorsey will serve as interim CEO while the Board conducts a search for the next CEO.

     

    Costolo will continue to serve on Twitter’s Board of Directors, and Dorsey will continue to serve as CEO of Square, Inc., the payments and financial services company he co-founded in 2009.

     

    Twitter’s Board has formed a Search Committee to lead the search for a permanent CEO. The Search Committee is chaired by the Board’s lead independent director Peter Currie, and includes Peter Fenton and Evan Williams.

     

    The Committee will retain a leading executive search firm to assist in conducting a global search, which will consider both internal and external candidates for the CEO position.

     

    Costolo said, “I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the Company. We have great leaders who work well together and a clear strategy that informs our objectives and priorities. There is no one better than Jack Dorsey to lead Twitter during this transition. He has a profound understanding of the product and Twitter’s mission in the world as well as a great relationship with Twitter’s leadership team. I am deeply appreciative of the confidence the Board, the management team and the employees have placed in me over the years, and I look forward to supporting Twitter however I can going forward.”

     

    Dorsey added, “The future belongs to Twitter thanks in large part to Dick Costolo’s dedication and vision. Dick has put a world-class team in place and created a great foundation from which Twitter can continue to change the world and grow. We have an exciting lineup of products and initiatives coming to market, and I look forward to continuing to execute our strategy while helping facilitate a smooth transition as the Board conducts its search.”

     

    Dorsey continued, “I am grateful for the talented team at Square, which I will continue to lead. We have built a very strong company from top to bottom, and I am as committed as ever to its continued success.”

     

    Currie said, “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Dick for his years of tireless devotion to building Twitter into the strong and dynamic company it is today, putting us in a superb position for continued growth and innovation for many years to come. We look forward to his continued contributions during the transition period and as an ongoing member of the Board. The Board is fully committed to running a thorough process to identify the right CEO to lead Twitter into its next phase of growth. In the meantime, we are fortunate to have Jack – one of our founders – step back into a management role and help lead Twitter as we continue executing on our strategic priorities.”

     

    Second Quarter 2015 Outlook

     

    Twitter also reaffirmed its outlook for the second quarter of 2015. The company continues to expect revenue to be in the range of $470 million to $485 million and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $97 million to $102 million. Stock-based compensation expense is expected to be in the range of $190 million to $200 million, excluding the impact of equity awards that may be granted in connection with potential future acquisitions.