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Twitter profit falls as tweeters desert the platform

Twitter Inc’s said average monthly active users had stalled in the fourth quarter – the first flat quarter sequentially since the company listed in 2013.

Twitter shares fell 6.6 per cent at $US13.99 ($A19.57) in after-hours trading, after the social media company’s revenue forecast for the current quarter missed analysts’ expectations.

The weak results will stoke investor concerns over the company’s stalling growth and the effectiveness of chief executive Jack Dorsey’s turnaround strategy.

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The company’s shares had more than halved in value since Mr Dorsey, one of the founders, returned to Twitter in July.

The microblogging service forecasted first-quarter revenue of between $US595 million ($A838.21 million) and $US610 million, well below the average analyst estimate of $US627.1 million according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Twitter said in a filing it had 320 million average monthly active users in the quarter, unchanged from the third quarter and lagging a forecast for 323 million users from RBC Capital Markets.

The company, facing slowing user growth, has been experimenting under Mr Dorsey, who became interim CEO in July and then CEO in October, to make its website more engaging.

Twitter made a dramatic product change earlier in the day, saying it will recast the way it displays tweets on its home page – customising them to individual users.

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