Facebook surges as Twitter slumps

Shares of Facebook touched a record high on the back of overwhelmingly positive quarterly results, adding more than $27bn (€23bn) to its market value, but rival Twitter failed to attract more monthly users in the second quarter, spooking investors looking for evidence that the company is on a sustainable long-term growth path.

Facebook, the world’s biggest online social network, posted a 71% surge in second-quarter profit and a 50% jump in mobile ad sales, allaying investor concerns that ad revenue growth was peaking as it runs out of space to display ads. The shares rose 6%, adding gains worth twice the market capitalisation of Twitter.

Facebook’s ad sales growth did slow to 47% in the June quarter, after a 51% increase in the March quarter, but investors brushed it aside, looking ahead to new growth drivers — WhatsApp, Messenger and video.