In their annual report, Twitter executives set lofty targets for their firm, including the aim of acquiring more than 100 million new users and more than tripling revenue by 2023. In contrast, the final three months of 2021 demonstrated the difficulties the corporation would have to face in order to achieve its goals.
In a statement released on Thursday, Twitter said that its revenue increased more slowly than analysts had anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2021, and the business forecasted that it will post a loss in the current quarter. However, it gained new users, which may allay fears that it was having difficulty attracting attention in an increasingly varied social media industry.
Twitter announced revenue of $1.56 billion in the last three months of 2021, a 22 percent rise over the same period the previous year, but a smaller figure than analysts had predicted. Twitter reported earnings of $176 million, a 34 percent decrease from the same period the previous year. This is a 13 percent increase in the number of daily active users who view advertisements, according to the business.
Twitter also announced that its board of directors has approved a $4 billion stock buyback programme. According to the corporation, it expects to buy $2 billion of its shares on a “accelerated timeframe,” with the other $2 billion to be repurchased over a period of time. The idea comes on the heels of a $2 billion repurchase scheme that was approved in 2020, albeit just $819 million of that money has been spent so far.
When asked about the share repurchase plan, Twitter’s chief financial officer, Ned Segal, stated, “It demonstrates confidence in our vision and performance.” Twitter has a market capitalization of $16 billion.
By the end of 2023, Twitter expects to have 315 million daily active users and generate $7.5 billion in annual revenue, according to its own projections.
It gained one million daily active users in the United States and five million members worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2018. The company’s overall revenue in 2021 was $5.08 billion, representing a 37 percent rise over the previous year’s figure.
Following the announcement by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, that privacy rules enforced by Apple have affected its advertising revenue, Twitter’s stock price fluctuated significantly last week. Despite the fact that investors saw Meta’s earnings announcement as a harbinger for the social media sector, Twitter said that Apple’s privacy adjustments had only a modest influence on its advertising business.
Tweeter’s new CEO, Parag Agrawal, stated in a statement that the company’s “excellent 2021 performance allows us to increase execution and execute on our 2023 ambitions.” “We have narrowed our emphasis and altered our organisational structure in order to provide superior personalisation and selection for our audience, partners, and advertising.”
