Twitter Says Impact Of Apple's Privacy Protections On Revenue 'Lower Than Expected'

Twitter Inc’s TWTR third-quarter earnings indicate that the revenue impact of privacy protections implemented by Apple Inc AAPL has been “lower than expected.” 

What Happened: In a letter to shareholders, the Jack Dorsey-led company said Tuesday that it was still “too early” for it to assess the long-term impact of the privacy-oriented changes made to iOS by Apple.

“The Q3 revenue impact was lower than expected, and we have incorporated an ongoing modest impact into our Q4 guidance,” the social media platform operator said.

Twitter Q3 revenue rose 37% year-over-year to $1.28 billion beating a street consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. 

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Why It Matters: In July, after its second-quarter results, Twitter had said that it had taken a smaller hit from Apple’s privacy changes than expected.

The Tim Cook-led company had rolled out privacy protections for iOS devices in late April. The feature prompts users with a pop-up, asking whether they want to allow an app to "track your activity across other companies' apps and websites."

The feature led to a major spat between Apple and Facebook Inc FB. 

At the company’s third-quarter earnings conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “As expected, we did experience revenue headwinds this quarter, including from Apple's changes that are not only negatively affecting our business but millions of small businesses in what is already a difficult time for them and the economy.”

On Monday, Facebook reported Q3 revenue of $29 billion, missing analyst-estimate of $29.6 billion, even as revenue grew 35% year-over-year.

Last week, Snapchat parent Snap Inc SNAP reported Q3 figures which showed revenue of $1.07 billion in the period missed a forecast of $1.10 billion. The revenue shortfall was attributed to Apple’s privacy changes.

Price Action: On Tuesday, Twitter shares rose 3.86% in the after-hours trading to $63.80 after closing 1.11% lower at $61.43 in the regular session. On the same day, Apple shares closed nearly 0.5% higher at $149.32 in the regular session.

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