Twitter Changes Coming After Slowdown In Revenue Growth

Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) reported a sharp slowdown in quarterly revenue growth for the third quarter of its fiscal year. Twitter reported third-quarter revenue of $616 million and non-GAAP earnings of 13 cents a share, beating estimates of $605.5 million in revenue and earnings of 9 cents a share. It was the ninth straight quarter of declining growth and the smallest revenue gain since the company went public. The company did not offer guidance for the fourth quarter or fiscal year during the earnings call.

At the beginning of Twitter’s earnings call, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he would no longer discuss reports of a possible acquisition. Twitter had been the subject of acquisition rumors for weeks. However, reports have emerged that potential bidders were backing away from the acquisition due to perceived problems with the business.

The company did discuss some of the “hundreds of small changes” it’s planning in coming months. Twitter says its planned restructuring will focus on reorganizing sales, partnership and marketing efforts. Dorsey in his statement, “We have a clear plan, and we’re making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth.” That plan reportedly includes cutting 9 percent of its global workforce, or nearly 350 people out of 3,860 employees worldwide.

Twitter is reportedly working on something referred to as an “Event Timeline” that “brings the conversation together” around a specific moment or occasion. The plan is to add special-interest views, like for your favorite sports teams or the political party you support, to your Timeline along with more conversational Tweets from your social graph. Dorsey said, “In the past, we were biased towards helping users find individuals rather than topics and interests. We can do better there.”

The new feature could create a completely different way of discovering content on the platform. Twitter CFO Anthony Noto described how the interface might look, saying, “We can provide a tab for Patriots or Chiefs fans, or just for Republicans or Democrats.” The company is also reportedly testing removing the “@reply” tags that eat into your 140-character limit.

Twitter made a number of changes to the platform earlier this year. The company added short lists of Tweets you might have missed from earlier above the time-based view of the Tweets from people you follow. The company also formed a partnership with the National Football League to air live Thursday Night Football games on Twitter. Dorsey also said that some of the machine learning investments Twitter has been making are being used to improve notifications and to “open up Twitter” to more users.