Twitter is getting rid of the year of ‘bad luck’ … but Facebook is ahead of the game

Twitter reported second-quarter sales that exceeded analysts’ estimates and provided strong guidance for the current quarter amid global events such as the Olympics that bolster the advertising market. The company’s shares jumped about 5% in the extended trading.

Revenue will range between $ 1.22 billion and $ 1.3 billion in the period ending September, the San Francisco-based company said in a statement on Thursday, when analysts averaged 1.17. billion dollars, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Second-quarter sales jumped 74% to $ 1.19 billion from a year earlier, against analysts’ estimates of $ 1.06 billion.

As ad revenue grows as the market grows globally, Twitter’s share is not expected to increase. Despite a strong quarter, its global digital advertising market share is expected to remain at just 0.9% in 2021, according to EMarketer. In contrast, Facebook will capture around 24% of the global market.

Twitter added 7 million new users in the second quarter compared to the previous period, bringing the total number of social network users to 206 million daily users. These figures were in line with analysts’ estimates. But the U.S. Twitter audience fell from 1 million to 37 million in the period ending June 30.

One year ago, Twitter faced one of its most difficult challenges when many advertisers began to withdraw their marketing budgets during the height of the pandemic. The social media company relies on brands for the bulk of its advertising revenue, and sales fell 19% in the April-June 2020 period.

To increase its revenue, Twitter began to push more aggressively towards direct response ads, which are a type of advertising that attempts to achieve specific results, such as installing an app or visiting a site. Web.

The numbers indicate the business is starting to grow after a chaotic year that included the pandemic and a U.S. election that ultimately led to Twitter permanently suspending former President Donald Trump’s account. And while branded advertising has bounced back with the reopening of economies around the world, the company remains a target of Trump allies who say the platform discriminates against Tories.

Twitter shares reached $ 76.70 in extended trading after closing at $ 69.57. The stock is up 28% this year.