Twitter reports record growth

Twitter Inc. reported a second straight quarter of record user growth as people joined the service for news and entertainment during the global coronavirus outbreak, but its advertising business was hammered amid a global marketing retraction as businesses pulled back on spending.

Twitter reported 186 million daily users for the period ended June 30, a 34% jump over the quarter a year earlier, and its largest yearover-year increase since first reporting the metric in 2016. Users jumped 24% in the first quarter, a record at that time. Shares gained about 6% in premarket trading.

But second-quarter sales declined 19% to $683.4 million compared with a year earlier, the San Franciscobased social-media company said Thursday in a statement. Analysts, over average, projected $704.6 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company said it's exploring additional business lines, including a possible subscription offering, as a way to supplement advertising, which makes up more than 82% of total revenue.

Twitter also acknowledged a high-profile hack of its service earlier this month, calling the incident "disappointing" and saying it's "working with law enforcement as they conduct their investigations." Hackers used phishing techniques against company employees to gain access to at least 130 accounts, including for some famous users such as Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, and sent tweets asking for Bitcoin.

"We understand our responsibilities and are committed to earning the trust of all of our stakeholders with our every action, including how we address this security issue," Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey said Thursday in the statement and a letter to shareholders.

Twitter added 20 million new daily users over the quarter. The growth was "primarily driven by external factors, such as continued shelter-in-place requirements for many people, and increased global conversation around the Covid-19 pandemic and other current events," the company said in the letter to shareholders.

Despite the increase in users, Twitter said advertising revenue fell 23%, including 25% in the U.S., with many companies pulling back on spending given the global pandemic. The company also saw a drop from late May to mid-June "when many brands slowed or paused spend in reaction to U.S civil unrest."