Twitter's Q1 Earnings Beat: What You Need To Know

Twitter Inc TWTR reported Wednesday its first quarter results, which sent shares higher by more than 6 percent.

What Happened

Twitter said it earned 16 cents per share in the first quarter on revenue of $664.87 million versus Wall Street's expectations of 11 cents per share and $605.26 million.

Here is a summary of some of the notable metrics the social media company reported.

• Advertising revenue rose 21 percent to $575 million, data licensing and other revenue rose 20 percent to $90 million.
• U.S. revenue rose 2 percent to $347 million, international revenue rose 53 percent to $318 million.
• Daily active users grew 10 percent.
• Monthly active users rose from 330 million in the fourth quarter to 336 million.
• Cost per engagement decreased 28 percent.
• GAAP net income rose from a loss of $62 million a year ago to positive $61 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA rose from $170 million a year ago to $244 million.

Why It's Important

Twitter's platform is "really resonating [with advertisers]," CFO Ned Segal told CNBC. In fact, the return on investment that advertisers are now seeing is "much better based on lower cost per engagement."

What's Next

Twitter offered the following guidance for its second quarter:

• EBITDA to be between $245 and $265 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin to be between 37 and 38 percent.

The company also said it will continue investing to improve the "quality of content and the overall health of the conversation on Twitter."

The stock was up about 2.1 percent to $31.13 at time of publication.

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