Twitter Grows to 217 Million Daily Users in Q4, Income Falls 18% but Tops Estimates

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTwitter netted 6 million new daily active users in the fourth quarter of 2021, a bit lighter than analyst forecasts, and beat Wall Street estimates on the bottom line.

Revenue was in line with expectations, as the social network reported only “modest” impact from Apple’s iOS privacy changes.Twitter shares were up 3% in premarket trading, as the company also reaffirmed aggressive user and revenue growth targets for 2023 and announced a $4 billion stock buyback program.Q4 revenue was $1.57 billion, up 22% year over year, driven by “ongoing revenue product improvements, solid sales execution, and a broad, continued increase in advertiser demand,” the company said.

The revenue impact associated with Apple’s iOS changes to require user opt-in for ad tracking in Q4 “remained modest,” Twitter said, and is expected to have “an ongoing modest impact,” which is incorporated into Q1 guidance. Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.Twitter’s indication that Apple’s privacy changes are causing minimal disruption stands in contrast to the warning from Meta (Facebook’s parent company), which said it anticipates a bigger impact on Q1 revenue growth from the iOS changes.

That contributed to a historic drop in Meta’s market capitalization.Twitter posted net income of $182 million in Q4, down 18%, as operating costs jumped 35% with an increase in hiring and investment in infrastructure and marketing spending.