Twitter shares dive 10pc after loss widens

The company was valued at just over $24bn at the close of trading on Tuesday, and dropped to around $21bn after-hours.

The shares dived 10pc in after-hours trading to $38.33 - their lowest level since Twitter's IPO.

Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief executive, hailed it as a “very strong first quarter”.

“Revenue growth accelerated on a year over year basis fueled by increased engagement and user growth. We also continue to rapidly increase our reach and scale.”

Under America’s GAAP accounting methods, Twitter posted a loss of $132m, more than four times the $27m loss it delivered in the same period last year, but a considerable improvement on the $645m loss it racked up in the previous quarter.

The improvement looked more positive under the non-GAAP accounting measures. By that standard, Twitter moved into the black far faster than predicted, delivering a $183,000 net profit.

However, investors remained unconvinced. They wanted evidence that Twitter would deliver on the promises it made at its last set of results, that it would accelerate user growth by improving the experience.

The slowdown has stoked fears that Twitter will struggle to increase its revenues as rapidly as hoped, and that the service has been overvalued, in line with a fresh doctom bubble.

Others fear Twitter could fall out of favour altogether, echoing the decline of social networks like MySpace and Bebo before it.

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