Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) shares were prepared for a slight jump after the company reported revenue and earnings that beat expectations Wednesday.
First-quarter earnings per share came in at 16 cents vs. 12 cents, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate. Revenue proved $655 million vs. $608 million, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate
It was the company's second profitable quarter. Revenue from the latest quarter was up 21% year over year, and the company expects to be GAAP profitable for 2018.
Analysts expected Twitter to be profitable due to increasing advertising revenue, especially due to digital advertising budgets increasing as marketers shift money over from television.
Twitter beat monthly active user projections, hitting 336 million at a growth rate of 6% year over year. It reported 69 million monthly active users in the U.S., slightly short of the estimated 70 million. It reaches 267 million monthly active users internationally, ahead of the 266 million projections
The company credited making it easier for people to follow topics, interests and events on Twitter as part of the reason why it was able to attract more users.
"We made meaningful progress in our ongoing safety and information quality work in Q1, and we are continuing to invest in improving the quality of content and the overall health of the conversation on Twitter," the company said in a letter to shareholders.
Shares hiked 61 cents, or 2%, to $31.08 early Wednesday.
