THE NEWS WRAP: Twitter quarterly results confound analysts’ expectations

Twitter stocks have surged by almost 30% in after-hours trading following the announcement of its second quarter financial performance, which included revenue of $312 million and $0.02 earnings per share.

The figures beat analysts’ estimates, with Wall Street expecting Twitter to post revenue of $283.07 million and losses of $0.01 per share.

Its revenue for the quarter is up 124% from the same period a year ago.

Eighty-one per cent of revenue in the period came from mobile advertising.

Its average monthly active users (MAUs) increased by 24% year-over-year, to 271 million, while Mobile MAUs reached 211 million, an increase of 29% year-over-year and made up 78% of the company’s total MAUs.

Twitter chief executive officer Dick Costolo says the strong financial and operating results show the company’s continued momentum.

“We remain focused on driving user growth and engagement, and by developing new product experiences, like the one we built around the World Cup, we believe we can extend Twitter’s appeal to an ever broader audience.”

New Microsoft Windows phones arriving soon

Microsoft is planning to launch two new Windows 8.1 devices shortly, The Verge reports.

Sources told The Verge that Microsoft Devices chief Stephen Elop revealed the two handsets, a “selfie phone” and an “affordable high-end phone” at an internal company meeting this week.

E-commerce company Jet raises $55 million

Marc Lore, the former CEO of Diapers.com parent company Quidsi, which was sold to Amazon for $550 million, has raised $55 million to build out a new e-commerce company called Jet, Re/code reports.

Little is known about what Jet plans on selling, but sources tell Re/code that the startup will be extremely tech focused and is working on innovating around its logistics network.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 16,912.11 down 70.48. The Australia dollar is currently trading at US94 cents.