Twitter Posts Mixed Results, Still No CEO in Sight

Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) earnings beat analyst expectations on both revenue and monthly active users. However, company executives were more cautious about the future which weighed on the stock in the extended hours session.

The company’s revenue came in at $502 million, a 61% increase from last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were forecasting  $481 million.

Twitter, which is not yet profitable, posted a loss of $137 million or 21 cents per share, down from $145 million and 24 cents per share a year earlier. Adjusted earnings came in at 7 cents per share, beating expectations of 4 cents.

Monthly active users came in at 304 million, up 12% from last year. The active users that included the “fast followers,” came in at 316 million, slightly higher than forecasts of 314 million. Fast followers are followers, mostly in developing countries, who use Twitter via SMS texting.

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Despite the solid quarter, interim CEO Jack Dorsey said Twitter still has improvements to realize its full potential. That will likely fall to the company’s new CEO.

A search is currently underway following Dick Costolo’s departure last month.

Twitter has also been subject to speculation that the company will be acquired. Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) have all been rumored potential buyers.

Twitter went public in November 2013 and shares have been volatile since then. The stock is down 14% in the last three months. The company has a market cap of $24 billion.