Twitter Q4 revenue beats estimates to hit USD909m

Twitter reported Thursday that its revenues for the fourth quarter of 2018 has hit 909 million U.S. dollars, growing 24 percent year on year and beating market estimates of about 868 million dollars.

The 2018 revenue rose 25 percent year on year to exceed 3 billion dollars, while its net income was 1.2 billion dollars, compared with a net loss of 108 million dollars in the previous year.

The social network's net income for the fourth quarter was 255 million dollars, compared with 91 million dollars in the same period of a year earlier, representing a net margin of 40 percent.

It said its total U.S. revenue in the fourth quarter was 506 million dollars, up 24 percent, and total revenue earned from other countries was 403 million dollars, also an increase of 24 percent.

It listed Japan as its second largest market, contributing 138 million dollars or 30 percent growth, which accounted for 15 percent of its total revenue for the quarter.

Twitter said its active daily users (DAU) in the fourth quarter of 2018 increased 9 percent year-over-year with double-digit growth in five of its top 10 global markets, and the fourth quarter DAU was 126 million, compared to 124 million in the previous quarter.

The monthly active users (MAU) were 321 million for the fourth quarter, a slight fall from 326 million in the previous quarter.

Twitter said its fourth quarter expenses increased 13 percent year-over-year to hit 702 million dollars, resulting in operating income of 207 million dollars.

"Through our consistent strategy and solid execution, Q4 was a strong finish to the year," Twitter Chief Financial Office Ned Segal said.

For the first quarter of 2019, Twitter expects its total revenue to stand between 715 million dollars and 775 million dollars, with operating income to between 5 million dollars and 35 million dollars.

The cash operating expenses are expected to increase about 20 percent year-over-year in 2019 to support its existing priorities of health, conversation, revenue product and sales, and platform, Twitter said.