The San Francisco-based company, which generates most of its revenue from advertising, is set to earn less than $3 billion in 2023, up from $4.14 billion in 2022, or 28 percent less, according to Insider Intelligence.
"The biggest problem is that advertisers don't trust Musk," analyst Jasmine Enberg said in a statement.
"Twitter needs to be able to separate Musk's perception and personal branding from that of the company to regain their trust and keep them coming back," she added.
In the summer of 2022, after the proposal to buy the social network by the boss of Tesla, and the first twists, Insider Intelligence had already revised downwards its forecasts for 2023, to 4.74 billion.
Experts were still counting on growth for the bluebird platform. But since then, the economic context has deteriorated and many predictions about the flight of advertisers have come true.
Elon Musk has relaxed content moderation, essential to creating an environment considered "safe" by brands, which do not want to be associated with so-called "toxic" content.
The boss laid off workers, reducing the group's workforce from 7,500 to less than 2,000 employees. And it has let back many users who had been banned because of hateful or misinformational messages.
According to Pathmatics, in January half of the top 30 advertisers on Twitter had stopped buying advertising space there since the acquisition at the end of October.
Brands are reluctant to spend on a platform "where chaos, arbitrary change and uncertainty reign," says Jasmine Enberg.
She doesn't think the new "Twitter Blue" subscription will make up for lost revenue.
"The blue tick is no longer a guarantee of credibility," since anyone can pay for it, notes the analyst.
"It represents having influence on a platform whose cultural relevance is deteriorating, and support for Musk. Individuals and organizations that had been authenticated before have no reason to pay, and many users don't want to appear to support Musk."
The multibillionaire is scheduled to speak at a conference of marketing professionals in Miami on April 18.
© 2023 AFP