Technology

Recode Daily: Twitter is finally in the black after 12 years, and the stock indexes sank even more

Plus, GrubHub will power delivery at Taco Bell and KFC, Facebook is testing a “downvote” button, and the coldest Winter Olympics ever.

by Recode Staff

Feb 9, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

A Twitter banner is displayed in front of the New York Stock Exchange during Twitter Inc.’s (TWTR) initial public offering on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on Nov. 7, 2013. Twitter Inc. sold 70 million shares at $26 during its IPO, opening up 73 percent on the NYSE to $45.10.

Lars Niki / Corbis via Getty Images

The major stock indexes plunged more than 1,000 points yesterday as a sell-off resumed, bringing the index down 10 percent from the record it reached two weeks ago. The market’s turmoil began last Friday and has continued this week as investors worried about early signs of inflation. The market is technically in “correction” territory — a term used to indicate that a downward trend is more severe than simply a few days of bearish trading. [Tiffany Hsu and Matt Phillips / The New York Times]

Twitter finally made a profit after nearly 12 years, four of them as a public company. The company reported its first-ever profitable quarter yesterday, making $91 million in Q4 2017. Monthly users grew by 4 percent year over year, but stalled quarter over quarter, staying at 330 million. One quarter of profit, however, barely registers in a long line of losses: Twitter’s cumulative net loss since going public is $2.2 billion; Facebook has made $34 billion. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that average tweet length has remained about the same since the service doubled the 140-character limit in November, and that user engagement has increased. [Kurt Wagner / Recode]

YouTube has punished YouTube star Logan Paul, again. This time it is removing all the ads from his videos, for offenses that include tasering a rat in one of his clips. [Peter Kafka / Recode]

GrubHub’s stock price skyrocketed to 29 percent yesterday, after the company announced impressive Q4 results — and a giant partnership with the owner of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut. GrubHub will partner with Yum Brands to offer pickup and delivery options nationwide at thousands of Taco Bell and KFC locations (Pizza Hut already delivers). [Jason Del Rey / Recode]

Facebook is testing a long-demanded “downvote” button with certain users, effectively creating the “dislike” button long predicted by memes and articles since the inception of the “Like” button. The test appeared for several users yesterday in the comments section — it could signal one of the biggest overhauls in years to the social network. [Chelsea Ritschel / The Independent]

Sneakerhead superstore Flight Club has merged with the GOAT sneaker startup, which sells hard-to-find sneaks through a mobile shopping app. The combination will create a hybrid retailer with a valuation of about $250 million. Flight Club’s two stores, in New York City and Los Angeles, will remain under its own name; a few more flagship locations are expected in other major cities in the coming years. [Jason Del Rey / Recode]

Here’s a scary first-person look at the experience of living in a smart home — and how it creates new streams of personal information that can be used to profile us. One reporter connected as many appliances as she could to the internet — an Amazon Echo, lights, a coffee maker, a baby monitor and even a bed. The other reporter tracked the patterns of data trails generated by the connected devices. [Kashmir Hill and Surya Mattu / Gizmodo]