Twitter reported strong sales in its first financial report since going public last year, but the stock fell in after hours trade on a disappointing outlook.

    The social network reported sales of $243 million in the fourth quarter, up 116% from the same time last year. That easily beat the $218 million in revenue that Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast.

   But for the current quarter, Twitter expects sales of between $230 and $240 million -- double last year's haul but lower than the past quarter. It would mark the first time Twitter's quarter-over-quarter sales have fallen since the company began reporting revenue in 2011.

Twitter shares were down nearly 18% in after-hours trading following a call with analysts.