Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) stock was up 1.45% in mid-afternoon trading on May 3. The stock has climbed 39% in 2019 so far. Shares are up 30% from the prior year.
This is the first time Twitter stock has surpassed the $40 mark since its precipitous decline in the summer of 2018. Investor sentiment has seemingly improved after Twitter instituted significant reforms on its platform. The company released its first-quarter results for 2019 on April 23.
Twitter reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.37 compared to $0.15 which was expected in a Refinitiv survey of analysts. Revenue grew to $787 million, which also beat expectations of $767.1 million. Monthly active users (MAUs) rose to 330 million, again above expectations.
This will be the last quarter wherein Twitter uses this metric. It will switch to monetizable daily active users (mDAUs), which is says will better reflect its audience.
The company reported a positive response by testers for its "twttr" application. Twttr aims to test out new features and potentially offer an alternative. One of the features is hiding replies by default to unclutter conversations as well as hiding engagement options until a user taps on a tweet. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has said that most users prefer this new alternative, but it is still early.
Twitter had gained momentum and all eyes will be on social media giants ahead of what is sure to be a contentious 2020 election period in the U.S.
