Twitter to lay off 9% of workforce amid revenue and earnings beat

Microblogging site Twitter has posted revenue and earnings which exceeded analyst estimates, but also announced plans to lay off around 9% of its total workforce.

In its rescheduled earnings report, the company said revenue for the third quarter increased 8% year-over-year to $616m compared with $605.84m touted by analysts.

San Francisco-based Twitter had originally been scheduled to post results after the close of trading on 27 October.

Wall Street had expected $0.09 in earnings per share for the quarter but that was also surpassed, with Twitter earning $0.13 per share in the period.

Perhaps an even better measure of the company's impressive results was the figure of 317m monthly active users, ahead of the 315m expected.

Twitter has been the subject of speculation about a possible takeover recently, with various prospective bidders expressing interest before finally pulling back from any deal.

Google, Salesforce and Microsoft were all reported to be interested but ultimately did not make a formal approach.

"We see a significant opportunity to increase growth as we continue to improve the core service," Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said.

"We have a clear plan, and we're making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth. The key drivers of future revenue growth are trending positive, and we remain confident in Twitter's future."

Twitter has been struggling in recent times to report significant user growth for its website and app, as it faces stiff competition from the likes of popular services such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.