Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013 • Hacker News Board

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#11

Post by bitwarrior » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:06 AM UTC

pdq wrote: post #5

TomGullen wrote: post #2

18% drop in after hours trading... ouch https://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSE%3ATWTR&ei=68TyUrjPF4... Anyone who knows more about Twitter, how exactly can they make such a big loss? What exactly are they doing?

Tons of employees + tons of machines + tons of bandwidth - very little advertising revenue = big loss Have you purchased anything or viewed many ads on Twitter?

Everything I see on Twitter is a kind of ad.

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#12

Post by CompleteMoron2 » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:12 AM UTC

ahknight wrote: post #7

Duh? Who really thought Twitter would suddenly become profitable after the IPO? The VCs cashed out and walked away laughing at the imploding building. THERE (STILL) IS NO PROFIT MODEL.

maybe it's time for them to start acquiring companies so they can make money...

hmmm.. time to fire up the code!

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#13

Post by dublinben » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:14 AM UTC

Jare wrote: post #10

MechanicalTwerk wrote: post #6

I like how the article introduces Twitter as "Microblogging site Twitter..." as if you haven't heard of Twitter but are familiar with this thing called microblogging.

I think it's more about making Twitter sound less relevant, as if it is "one of many".

Isn't it though?

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#14

Post by colinbartlett » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:22 AM UTC

bitwarrior wrote: post #11

pdq wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tons of employees + tons of machines + tons of bandwidth - very little advertising revenue = big loss Have you purchased anything or viewed many ads on Twitter?

Everything I see on Twitter is a kind of ad.

On some level, everyone on Twitter is promoting themselves, and grooming their followers to a particular image or persona.

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#15

Post by samsolomon » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:23 AM UTC

pdq wrote: post #5

TomGullen wrote: post #2

18% drop in after hours trading... ouch https://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSE%3ATWTR&ei=68TyUrjPF4... Anyone who knows more about Twitter, how exactly can they make such a big loss? What exactly are they doing?

Tons of employees + tons of machines + tons of bandwidth - very little advertising revenue = big loss Have you purchased anything or viewed many ads on Twitter?

I've said this before, but if Twitter added a tier of paid accounts that offered analytics, scheduling and other features, I'd upgrade. Maybe there would be enough revenue to keep the servers running.

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#16

Post by minimax » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:27 AM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #2

18% drop in after hours trading... ouch https://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSE%3ATWTR&ei=68TyUrjPF4... Anyone who knows more about Twitter, how exactly can they make such a big loss? What exactly are they doing?

Volatility is typically much higher in after hours sessions because there isn't nearly as much liquidity in the market. Tomorrow's opening price will probably be more informative. Also good to keep in mind that even if it is 20% down from today's close that would still leave it up about 17% from it's first trading day in November and up 100% from the IPO price ($26).

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#17

Post by TomGullen » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:28 AM UTC

pdq wrote: post #5

TomGullen wrote: post #2

18% drop in after hours trading... ouch https://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSE%3ATWTR&ei=68TyUrjPF4... Anyone who knows more about Twitter, how exactly can they make such a big loss? What exactly are they doing?

Tons of employees + tons of machines + tons of bandwidth - very little advertising revenue = big loss Have you purchased anything or viewed many ads on Twitter?

Wikipedia says they have 2,000 employees last year, without meaning to sound rude what exactly do they need all those employees for?

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#18

Post by twoodfin » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:37 AM UTC

justincormack wrote: post #8

UVB-76 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Net loss - GAAP net loss was $511 million for the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to a net loss of $9 million in the same period last year. The company's Q4 GAAP net loss included $521 million of stock-based compensation expense, of which $406 million was for restricted stock units previously granted to employees, for which no expense had been recognized, until the effective date of our initial public offering in a…

So everyone should have known?

I don't think anyone cared about the loss, so much as the revenue and user growth/engagement figures.

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#19

Post by ceejayoz » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:43 AM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #17

pdq wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tons of employees + tons of machines + tons of bandwidth - very little advertising revenue = big loss Have you purchased anything or viewed many ads on Twitter?

Wikipedia says they have 2,000 employees last year, without meaning to sound rude what exactly do they need all those employees for?

A good portion are likely selling ads and supporting advertisers.

Re: Twitter reports $645m loss for 2013

#20

Post by capkutay » Thu, Feb 06, 2014, 12:43 AM UTC

I'm not of those people who thinks all tech valuations are insane, but I think it is hard to justify twitter being worth 150x their quarterly revenue (~$36b valuation/~$240m revenue). I understand twitter's valuation reflects the fact that it's a growing company, but even a company like facebook is only valued at 60x their quarterly revenue ($158b/$2.5b quarterly revenue).

But at least the consensus on wall street and the financial press seem to agree that TWTR is clearly overvalued.