Twitter reports increase in monthly users

In its letter to shareholders, Twitter announced growth in revenue and daily active users in its Quarter 3 2021 report, which was released Oct. 26.

In the report (download here), Twitter said its revenue was $1.28 billion in the third quarter, up 37 percent year over year.

As for the the daily active users growth, Twitter reported it reached 211 million in the third quarter, up 13 percent year over year, increasing from 11 percent year over year. The company attributed that to "ongoing product improvements and global conversation around current events."

The company added, "We continued to make progress on our brand and direct response offerings, with updated ad formats, improved targeting, and better measurement. Revenue product improvements, strong sales execution, and a broad increase in advertiser demand contributed to 41 percent year-over-year growth in ad revenue in Q3."

Twitter said it recognizes the platform's use is best-suited to have "real conversations about what's happening - and creators are responsible for starting, influencing, and amplifying a large percentage of those conversations."

To assist in that, the company unveiled Tips, Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces as monetization streams for users and companies.

"We continue to enhance the global conversation on Twitter with live and on-demand video content," Twitter said.

Examples from the third quarter included:

• A multi-year global extension of our existing partnership with Dow Jones Corporation, which includes a renewal of the successful WSJ What’s Now series, as well as new Barrons, Investor’s Business Daily, and MarketWatch content on Twitter.
• A global deal with IMG Fashion Events & Properties, a division of the world’s leading entertainment and events company, covering Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 Fashion Weeks, including livestreams, highlights, and Spaces.
• A deal with Fox Sports to bring the best of college football content to Twitter with real-time highlights, opening drive “live” streams, as well as a fan-powered “Alternate Camera Angle” where fans get to choose how to watch one of the best games of the week.

As for a prediction for the rest of this year and moving into 2022, Twitter said, "We continue to expect total revenue to grow faster than expenses in 2021 (excluding the litigation settlement announced in Q3), and we expect to continue our investment posture as we enter next year. Our 30%+ headcount growth in 2021, with annual merit increases, and other investments we made in 2021, including our new data center, will flow into annual expenses for 2022, likely resulting in a mid-20% increase in total expenses next year prior to hiring any more people or making additional investments during 2022."