Twitter Reports User Bump in Quarterly Report

Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Tada Images/Adobe Stock)

Just days after Elon Musk’s $44 billion buyout of Twitter, the company released its Q1 earnings report on Thursday, attesting to a bump in users and a simultaneous decline in revenue.

At the close of the quarter, Twitter reported monetizable daily active usage (mDAU) of 229 million, surpassing quarterly expectations for 226.9 million mDAU. This also showed significant growth than Q4’s report of 217 million mDAU. Altogether, the past year saw mDAU growth of 15.9 percent.

However, the company has still struggled to grow its revenues up to expectations: Revenue totaled $1.2 billion, down from $1.57 billion in Q4 but still a 16 percent year-over-year increase. The company has blamed the loss of revenue in part on the suspension of advertising in Russia and Ukraine in response to the ongoing war between said countries.

Prior to Musk’s acquisition, the company had announced an ambitious goal to reach 315 million mDAU and to double the company’s revenue by the end of 2023. However, with every disappointing quarterly report, such targets seem increasingly unlikely. The company stated that it has ceased to provide forward-looking guidance and withdrawn its previous goal and outlook, in light of the pending Musk buyout.

Since going public in 2013, Twitter has enjoyed widespread influence and cultural clout disproportionate to its financial success. During its time as a publicly-traded company, Twitter has only occasionally turned a profit, relying on the optimism of its investors to sustain the business.

Last quarter, Twitter also shared underwhelming earnings reports, but the company prevented stock values from crashing by announcing a $400 million stock buyback. The company now finds itself in a very different position: With a solid agreement for the platform to be owned privately by Elon Musk, stock price have remained stable, as shareholders can expect to be paid the promised $54.20 per share at some point this year.

The timing of the release so soon after the finalization of Musk’s acquisition deal has caused market experts to speculate that the Twitter board sought to reach an agreement before the Q1 report, likely anticipating a disappointing earnings report which could give Musk greater leverage in the negotiations.