Twitter Shocks Analysts as it Beats Revenue Estimates in 3rd Quarter

By Angel Soleil / 1477659450
(Photo : YouTube) Twitter posted a new record during the 2016 United States Presidential Election Day.

Twitter stocks have exceeded analysts' expectations as company shares gained in pre-market trading despite announcing its plans to lay off nine percent of its global workforce.

Investors were skeptical about Twitter's market share after the company announced that part of its restructuring means that nine percent (350 people) of its workforce would be eliminated. Contrary to what analysts expected, the social media giant reported adjusted earnings of 13 cents per share on a revenue of $616 million in the third quarter. That is about an eight percent increase.

Days before the announcement, Twitter's shares fell as much as 4.9 percent. With a total loss of 40 percent for the last 12 months, the company struggled to pay its Engineers, thus opting for an employee reduction. The recent rise in Twitter's market share came as a surprise because analysts did not expect a positive turn.

Although the results of the earnings report was positive, Bloomberg reported that it was not enough to shake the investor's doubts. When Twitter opted to sell, all its potential bidders including Google, Walt Disney, and Salesforce declined to bid. Given this, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey decided to take matters into his hands.

The lack of potential bidders led Dorsey to think of capitalizing on product updates and to improve Twitter's core services. But because the company is trying to control its spending, Dorsey decided that a job cut would help the company survive the slow sales growth.

To assure Twitter's current investors, Dorsey said in a statement that "We have a clear plan, and we're making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth."