Twitter Axing 9 Percent of Workforce

— -- Twitter announced this morning that it is letting go of 9 percent of its workforce, as the company reported uninspiring earnings.

Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that a number of companies were considering buying the flagging social media company.

The company's shares were up in early trading.

The cuts focus "primarily on reorganizing the company’s sales, partnerships, and marketing efforts, is intended to create greater focus and efficiency to enable Twitter’s goal of driving toward [standard accounting] profitability in 2017,” the company said in a statement.

Jack Dorsey, the company’s CEO, whose return to the company a year ago was seen as a lifeline, said, "We have a clear plan, and we’re making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth."

The bird-themed social network said this morning that quarterly revenue growth slumped to just 8 percent in the period ending Sept. 30, compared to the same time last year. By comparison, year-over-year revenue growth last quarter was 20 percent.

The network claimed 317 million active monthly tweeters during the most recent quarter, growing 3 percent over the same time last year, a growth rate consistent with the first two quarters of this year.

Analysts had expected the company to post 316.3 million monthly active users, Reuters reported, citing a market research firm.

Twitter is not providing revenue guidance for the fourth quarter, or the year as a whole, “because the effects of this transition could have an impact on the company’s revenue performance, there is a wider range of potential revenue outcomes,” the company said, referring to the “reorganization of the company’s sales force."