week 19 - Twitter misses out on ‘Trump bump’ as shares plummet and losses widen

Twitter's position as Donald Trump’s platform of choice has failed to reverse its decline, with the company reporting its first fall in advertising revenue.

Shares nosedived on Thursday as Twitter reported a widening $167m (£133m) loss. Revenue grew by just 1pc - the slowest on record - with advertising sales falling from $641m to $638m as data licensing grew.

Some analysts had speculated that Twitter’s prominent role in the US election and regular statements from Donald Trump himself on it would have boosted interest in the social network, which has struggled for most of its three years as a public company and failed to find a buyer last year. 

User growth has continued to be meagre, with Twitter signing up just 14m new monthly users in the last year. In the same period, both Facebook and Instagram grew by almost 200m.

Shares dropped by 10pc in pre-market trading on Thursday. Anthony Noto, Twitter’s chief operating officer, did suggest an impact from Mr Trump’s tweeting, but that it could not rely on it. “The president's use of twitter has broadened the knowledge of the platform and how it can be used, but it's very hard for a single person to drive sustained growth,” he said.