The daily business briefing: October 27, 2016

1. Twitter confirms layoffs, says it's cutting workforce by 9 percent

Twitter announced Thursday that it was cutting 9 percent of its global workforce as its revenue growth slows. The microblogging service reported that it gained slightly more users than expected, with its average monthly active users rising from 313 million in the second quarter to 317 million in the third, as Twitter battled competition from rivals such as Instagram and Snapchat. Analysts had expected 316.3 million users, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount. Twitter's revenue increased by 8 percent to $616 million, beating its forecast of $590 million to $610 million.

Reuters

2. Shifting viewer trends drag down NFL ratings

The National Football League's TV ratings dropped by 12 percent compared to last year in the first seven weeks of the season. Similarly, English Premier League soccer match television viewership has dropped by 20 percent in Britain. Analysts blame changing viewing trends, such as cord-cutting and DVRs. The same shifts have lured viewers away from other types of programs for years, but the two most successful sports leagues in the world once appeared to be immune. "This isn't a fatal blow, but it is a wake-up call," said Rick Gentile, a former CBS Sports executive producer now running the Seton Hall University sports poll.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The New York Times

3. Tesla reports a rare profit

Tesla Motors reported its first quarterly net profit in three years on Wednesday thanks to its best sales ever. Tesla sold 24,500 cars in the quarter, and CEO Elon Musk has promised to match that in the next quarter to bring total deliveries for the second half of 2016 to 50,000. The electric car and battery maker said its quarterly profit was $111 million, or an adjusted $0.71 per share. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected a loss of $0.54 per share. Tesla shares jumped by more than 5 percent after the company released the results.

Business Insider Bloomberg

4. Samsung predicts quick rebound after Galaxy Note 7 disaster

Samsung Electronics reported that its quarterly net profit fell by 16.8 percent to $4.0 billion, due to the cost of its disastrous Galaxy Note 7 recall. Samsung said its mobile operating profit had fallen by 96 percent in the third quarter as it ended production of the recently launched smartphone after several of the phones overheated and caught fire. It was the South Korean electronics giant's smallest quarterly profit since the launch of the first phone in its Galaxy line more than six years ago. Samsung said it expected to improvement in the fourth quarter.

The Wall Street Journal Reuters

5. U.K. economic slowdown not as bad as expected

The U.K. economy slowed by less than economists predicted in the first quarter since British voters decided to exit the European Union. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a median 0.3 percent expansion, but the economy actually grew by 0.5 percent. Services surged by 0.8 percent, helped by box office receipts for summer blockbusters. Pro-Brexit economists pounced, saying the data proved warnings of dire Brexit fallout were overblown.

Bloomberg