By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Twitter stock (NYSE:TWTR) rose 3.5% on Thursday as the company sold its mobile ad unit MoPub for $1.05 billion while expressing its confidence to replenish the lost revenue in good time to achieve its target of at least $7.5 billion in revenue by 2023.
The buyer, marketing software company Applovin (NASDAQ:APP), acquired the unit in an all-cash deal.
MoPub generated about $188 million in annual revenue for Twitter last year. It enables companies to keep track of ad inventory in real time, much like Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s DoubleClick.
Twitter recorded $3.72 billion in total revenue in the last financial year that ended December 1.
The social media company said the transaction will enable it to accelerate the development of owned and operated revenue products and drive growth across key areas for the service including performance-based advertising, small and medium-sized business offerings, and commerce initiatives.
Twitter reiterated that it will book a charge to operations during the third quarter for the $809.5 million litigation settlement it announced on September 20.
The company agreed to pay that amount to settle a five-year-old case that alleged its officials misled investors in painting a rosier picture about the company ahead of its public listing.