Twitter trend: No user growth last quarter

Twitter has revealed its user growth stalled in the fourth quarter - for the first time since the company listed in 2013. The company reported no user growth at all in the fourth quarter, the clearest signal yet that the one-time trendsetter is struggling to remain relevant, and leaving it with 320 million monthly users - roughly one-fifth the size of Facebook.

Twitter also lost another $90 million during the final three months of last year, preserving its profitless history, as shares fell 6.6 percent in after-hours trading. The company's shares have more than halved in value since Jack Dorsey, one of the founders, returned to Twitter in July. He said the firm was to refocus.

"We're focused now on what Twitter does best: live," said Dorsey. "Twitter is live: live commentary, live connections, live conversations. Whether it's breaking news, entertainment, sports, or everyday topics, hearing about and watching a live event unfold is the fastest way to understand the power of Twitter."

He said the firm wanted to "make everything more intuitive," admitting the service was confusing for new users. "We know there are a number of confusing areas," he said. "We are going to fix the broken windows and confusing parts of the service," Twitter wrote in a letter accompany the fourth-quarter report.

The microblogging service forecast first-quarter revenue of between $595 million and $610 million, well below the average analyst estimate of $627.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters. Twitter said in a filing it had 320 million average monthly active users in the quarter, unchanged from the third quarter and lagging a forecast for 323 million users from RBC Capital Markets.