Dick Costolo, the chief executive officer of Twitter Inc. is under fire for the leaked first financial quarter earnings statement which shows bleak results for the company. The previous time when the spotlight was on Twitter Inc. a management overhaul, the introduction of new services and features and a newly gained investor confidence pulled Twitter out of the murk.
And all these changes promised to move things forward. However, the leaked statement showed that Mr. Costolo failed to foresee a slowdown that caused the company to cut its 2015 sales, miss analysts’ Q1 revenue estimates and drop the stock by 18 percent.
The prestigious analysts in case are now raising questions as to whether the social media company is able to attract more users and advertisers, as well as to grasp its potential market.
The number of monthly active members decreased significantly as compared to the previous financial quarter (18 percent to 20 percent), albeit the introduction of new features and products. The stock too fell significantly, in New York and Frankfurt.
Amidst this realization, Dick Costolo responded that the number of active users falling is an overstatement as the 500 million people visiting Twitter each month without logging in should also be taken into account.
After dismissing the problems Twitter Inc. is facing, Mr. Costolo launched into a discussion on the commerce strategy of the company designed to monetize the service. The in-tweet purchase option signaled by the “BUY NOW” button on Twitter webpage is part of this strategy. It started with buying tickets to sport events, concerts or movies and it is sporting popularity. Yet it remains unclear if it will further develop to larger buys after small commerce.
However, Mr. Costolo pointed out that Twitter Inc. still has an ace up its sleeve as the acquisition of TellApart, a marketing technology company, will certainly prove an asset to Twitter.
“Consumers now move fluidly between apps, devices and platforms, and performance advertisers are in need of more effective targeting and measurement tools that work seamlessly if, say, someone browses for products on a mobile device but ultimately makes a purchase on a desktop device,” Kevin Weil, Senior Vice President of Product at Twitter, said in a company release. “By bringing Twitter and TellApart together, we’ll be able to help performance advertisers reach users wherever they are, whether on desktop or mobile.”
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