SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Amid slowing revenue growth announced Thursday, Twitter announced it will be cutting its global staff by 8 percent and killing mobile video app Vine.
The social media giant beat earning expectations in its third-quarter results but said it will cut some 350 jobs in an effort to ensure the company will become more profitable.
Twitter also said it's discontinuing the Vine app in the coming months, but keeping the Vine website online so users can still access their videos. The company said it would notify users before making any official changes to the app or website.
The latest earnings report showed signs of user growth and revenue increase, but not enough for fickle Wall Street.
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The company posted revenue of $616 million for the quarter, up 8 percent from a year ago and more than Wall Street estimates of $605 million. Twitter users grew some 3 percent from a year ago, to 317 million. In the last quarter alone Twitter added 4 million new users, more than analysts predicted.
"We see a significant opportunity to increase growth as we continue to improve the core service. 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," Jack Dorsey, Twitter's CEO, said.
The company said restructuring and cutting its workforce will allow it to focus on "reorganizing the company's sales, partnerships, and marketing efforts." Twitter estimates it will incur approximately $10 million to $20 million of cash expenditures, much of which is severance cost, in the layoffs and between $5 million and $10 million of non-cash expenditures, most of which will be stock-based compensation expenses.
Much of Twitter's new strategy involves attracting new users with live video content, including live broadcasts of football games and the presidential debates.
"Our live strategy is showing great progress," Anthony Noto, Twitter's chief financial officer, said. "We've received very positive feedback from partners, advertisers and people using the service, and we're pleased with the strong audience and engagement results."
