Search deals with Google and Microsoft have pushed micro-blog firm Twitter into the black, according to Bloomberg.
Twitter will make about $25 million (€17m) from the search agreements announced in October, enough to propel it to a small profit this year, sources told the wire service.
Sources told Bloomberg Google will pay about $15 million for access to Twitter’s data streams, and Microsoft about $10 million.
Twitter, which employs just over 100 people, has operating costs of about $20 million to $25 million a year, sources said.
However, its path to profitability has been a mystery, and until it struck the search deals two months ago it had no major revenue stream.
With 58 million global monthly users, according to ComScore, it is the third biggest social media site in the US after Facebook and MySpace.
Co-founder Biz Stone declined to comment on Twitter’s finances.
Twitter started in 2006 and has raised about $155 million in venture capital.