Revenue fell 8 percent year-on-year to USD 548 million, as advertising revenue declined 11 percent to USD 474 million. The US led the decline, with a fall of 13 percent in total revenue to USD 341 million, while international revenue was up 2 percent to USD 208 million.
After a 10 percent reduction in operating costs, adjusted EBITDA came in better than expected at USD 170 million, but this was still a drop of 6 percent year-on-year. The net loss was reduced by 23 percent compared to a year ago, to USD 62 million.
Twitter said it was pleased with its audience and engagement figures for the period, with growth in daily active users accelerating for a fourth quarter, to an increase of 14 percent year-on-year. Average monthly active users were 328 million in Q1, an increase of 6 percent from a year ago and up from 319 million in Q4, with growth in both the US and abroad.
Twitter said it still expects revenue growth to lag audience growth in the rest of the year and it was clear it had more work to do on boosting sales. The company is working on highlighting its return on investment to advertisers and securing better pricing in upfront deals, while also simplifying its ad product portfolio and growing data licensing revenue (+17% in Q1).
Video remains its top area for growth, with partnerships with over 200 content providers in Q1. The company streamed more than 800 hours of live premium video from content partners across more than 450 events reaching 45 million unique viewers in Q1, an increase of 31 percent from Q4 2016. Just over half the hours were sports, 35 percent news and politics, and the remainder entertainment. Another 77 million of live hours was streamed by users on Periscope.
For the second quarter, Twitter forecast adjusted EBITDA of USD 95-115 million and a margin of 21-21.5 percent.
