A year ago, Twitter faced one of its most difficult quarters when many brand advertisers started to pull marketing budgets at 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 period from April-June 2020. To broaden its revenue, Twitter started pushing even more aggressively into direct response advertising -- the types of ads that try to drive specific outcomes, like an app install or a website visit.
The numbers suggest the company is growing after a chaotic year that included the pandemic and a U.S. election that ultimately led Twitter to permanently suspend then-President Donald Trump. While brand advertising has bounced back as the global economy reopens, the company remains the target of Trump allies who say the platform discriminates against conservatives.
Twitter shares reached a high of $76.70 in extended trading after closing at $69.57. The stock has increased 28% this year.
The company’s brand advertising also may help it avoid any major impact from Apple Inc.’s new privacy updates for iOS 14 users, which require that companies get user permission to collect certain data about their online activity. Most users are asking apps not to track them, which is hurting targeted advertising, especially on Facebook.
Twitter, though, says it hasn’t been seriously impacted by the update. “While it is still too early to assess the long-term impact of Apple’s iOS 14.5 changes,” the effect in the second quarter “was lower than expected,” the company wrote in its shareholder letter.
Twitter gave a forecast for operating income in the current quarter of $50 million to break even and said full-year expenses are expected to increase 30% from a year ago, compared with a previous estimate of 25% growth. Hiring, primarily among product and engineering, the company’s shareholder letter says.
—Bloomberg News
