Twitter saw strong user growth but lower revenue in the second quarter, the social media giant reported on Thursday.
Its advertising demand suffered amid the coronavirus pandemic and protests.
The company said that the revenue was down by 19 per cent year-over-year to $683 million, the company said.
Advertising revenue plunged 23 per cent, to $562 million.
Global spending on advertising plummeted earlier this year as the pandemic hit, and saw a gradual, moderate recovery in the second quarter.
But Twitter noted that many brands slowed or paused spending in reaction to the protest movement against racism sparked by the death of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis Police custody in May.
“Demand gradually improved once brands returned after the protests subsided,’’ the company said.
Twitter incurred a 1.2-billion-dollar net loss in the second quarter, noting its results were impacted by a reversal of a more than 1-billion-dollar tax benefit recorded in 2019.
The messaging platform also saw an operating loss of $124 million, compared to a 76-million-dollar operating income a year earlier.
Chief Executive, Jack Dorsey, highlighted “tremendous growth in audience and engagement,’’ with Twitter’s daily user base increasing a record 34 per cent year-over-year, to 186 million.
Last week, Twitter was hit with a wide-scale cyber security attack that saw an array of accounts of influential figures hacked.
Dorsey said the company has taken additional steps to improve resiliency against targeted social engineering attempts.
It has implemented numerous safeguards to improve the security of its internal systems and is working with law enforcement. (dpa/NAN)
