Twitter reports loss and flat user growth in Q2

Twitter Inc (TWTR) today reported a loss of $116.5 million in its second quarter.

On a per-share basis, the San Francisco-based company said it had a loss of 16 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 8 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. Beginning with the April-June quarter, Twitter changed the way it calculated adjusted earnings.

Under the old method, it would have been 12 cents per share. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 5 cents per share.

The short messaging service posted revenue of $573.9 million in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $536.8 million.

Twitter said its monthly average user base in the April-June quarter grew 5% from the previous year to $328 million, but it was unchanged from the previous quarter.

Twitter's stock fell more than 9% to $17.75 in pre-market trading today after the numbers came out.

Twitter shares have increased 20% since the beginning of the year. The stock has risen slightly more than 6% in the last 12 months.