Twitter shares fall 20% after reporting user decline

July 27 (UPI) -- One day after rival Facebook was savaged on Wall Street, shares of Twitter lost one-fifth of their value on the heels of an earnings report that showed a decline in users.

The Twitter earnings report, released before Friday's opening bell, gave a third-quarter outlook that was below forecasts, due to a loss of users in the second quarter.

In early trading Friday, Twitter shares plunged by almost 20 percent -- similar to the path Facebook took Thursday after similarly disappointing earnings. Twitter's shares closed at 34.12, down 20.54 percent.

Twitter said users dropped by 1 million -- to 335 million -- in the second quarter. The company predicted future decline as it continues to address safety issues and fight spam and fake accounts, something Twitter said will be best for investors in the future.

"We are confident that this is in the best long-term interest of the platform and will enable long-term growth as we improve the health of the public conversation on Twitter," the company said in a note to shareholders.

Earlier this month, Twitter announced it started deactivating accounts it deemed inactive or suspicious.

Facebook recovered slightly Friday after losing more than $119 billion in market capitalization Thursday -- the largest single-day loss in stock market history.