Twitter is profitable as of 2 weeks ago, and with just $91M in profits. Let's wait and see where this ship goes over the next 2-3 years before claiming victory.
Twitter has wracked up 2.5B in losses over like 11 years. Only now have they turned a profit. That is a failure in the time frame of its existence. http://time.com/4241716/twitter-losses-twtr/
Twitter is almost certainly worth more today than their historical losses, making them a success.
Is it? The opportunity cost of that $2.5B is what to compare to. You could have acquired instagram for half that, for example.
Is Twitter now profitable? It was my understanding that throughout all of 2016 and 207 they were operating at a loss. And for a long time before that. If they're profitable this year it could be a turning point and I'd be wrong, at least going forward. But do we have enough data to support it at this point?