SURGE IN EARNINGS DESPITE FALL IN USERS

TWITTER topped estimates for earnings and revenue in the third quarter amid higher spending from advertisers, marking a boost for the site after months of scrutiny from lawmakers and criticism about fake or offensive accounts. Monthly active users averaged 326 million, San Francisco-based Twitter said. That’s a decrease of 9 million from the second quarter. Twitter warned in its July earnings report of a continued drop in the metric as a result of efforts to clean up its service and stricter privacy rules in Europe. The company said those trends would continue and lead to another decline in monthly users for the fourth quarter. Twitter’s financial health has been consistently improving, benefiting from a push to add more live video and personalised content. The social network’s 29 percent jump in revenue in the recent period marks the third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, and Twitter has reported positive net income for four straight quarters. While sales and earnings have grown stronger, Twitter has suffered from a drop in user metrics, especially after purging its ranks to eliminate fake accounts – an effort that continues in the run-up to US midterm elections next month. “We have a more engaged audience and we are delivering a better return on investment for advertisers,” chief financial officer Ned Segal said. “We are now seeing the fruits of our labour and going into the fourth quarter we have the wind in our backs.” Twitter shares jumped about 11 percent in premarket trading yesterday. In August Twitter removed about 50 accounts that misrepresented themselves as members of various state Republican parties.