Twitter Earnings Mark User Growth as Musk Takeover Looms

Twitter Earnings Mark User Growth as Musk Takeover Looms

Twitter continued to work toward an ambitious goal by adding users in the first quarter, an improvement overshadowed by the $44 billion deal Elon Musk struck earlier this week to buy the influential social media company. 

The social media site said Thursday that 229 million users, a 15.9% year-over-year increase, logged onto the site daily in the quarter that ended March 31. 

The growth, noted in Twitter's earnings report, is eclipsed by Musk's plans to acquire the social network. The mercurial CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has said he wants to loosen content moderation at Twitter and has indicated that he isn't concerned with its business performance. 

Twitter, which canceled the analyst call that customarily follows earnings releases, said little in its press release about the pending acquisition, except that it won't provide forward-looking guidance and that it has withdrawn its previous goals and outlook.  

Earlier, Twitter had set goals of reaching 315 million daily users and increasing annual revenue to $7.5 billion by 2023.

In its earnings report Thursday, Twitter also said that for the past three years, it had been slightly overreporting its user numbers because of how it had counted multiple accounts tied to a single user as multiple users. In a chart comparing the older numbers with the corrected numbers, the biggest numerical discrepancy was 1.9 million users, or just under 1%, in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Musk, the world's richest person, has said he wants to acquire Twitter because he doesn't believe the company adheres to the principles of free speech, a term he has used often and loosely. On Tuesday, he tweeted, "By 'free speech', I simply mean that which matches the law." 

Under the US Constitution's First Amendment, free speech refers to protection from government interference. It doesn't apply to companies such as Twitter. 

At a public engagement earlier this month, Musk said he doesn't care about Twitter's economics, which could deteriorate if looser moderation standards attract hate speech and harassment that drive away advertisers.

In the first quarter, Twitter generated revenue of $1.2 billion, up 16% year over year. CNBC, citing data from market data provider Refinitiv, reported that quarterly revenue was below estimates of $1.23 billion. Twitter reported 61 cents earnings per share though that included its sale of mobile app platform MoPub.

Twitter's stock is down 1% at $48.10 per share.

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Elon Musk Reportedly Tells Twitter Employees He Wants 1 Billion Users

Elon Musk Reportedly Tells Twitter Employees He Wants 1 Billion Users

Elon Musk on Thursday fielded questions from Twitter employees, who reportedly queried the billionaire over how his proposed $44 billion acquisition of the social media service could affect everything from content moderation to remote work.

Musk told the company's more than 7,500 employees that he is committed to both a diverse workplace and a diverse user base, according to The New York Times. Musk, who also runs electric car maker Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX, expressed hopes the company's user base can reach at least 1 billion people, which he reportedly said would be the "most explicit definition of inclusiveness." Twitter had roughly 230 million daily users, according to its most recent earnings report.

He also suggested a laissez-faire approach to content moderation.

"We should allow people to say what they want," he reportedly told Twitter employees.

The remarks come amid widespread speculation that Musk is trying to renegotiate or cancel the deal he struck in April to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share. The price constituted a 38% premium to Twitter's closing stock price on April 1, when Musk revealed he had built up a more than 9% stake in the publicly traded company. Musk plans to take Twitter private. Since Twitter announced the deal, however, the company's shares have fallen amid concerns about the deal and a broader market selloff. 

On Thursday, Twitter shares rose 1.1% to $38.40 in early afternoon trading.

Neither Twitter nor Musk's lawyer responded to requests for comment.

Musk has said he wants to purchase Twitter to safeguard free speech, a term he uses vaguely. 

The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects speech only from government censorship. Private companies such as Twitter can make their own rules about what is permitted on their services. In May, Musk said he would lift Twitter's ban on former US President Donald Trump, but the politician has said he doesn't plan to rejoin the social network. Twitter permanently suspended Trump for violating Twitter's rules against glorifying violence after the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot.

The deal has periodically appeared to be on the rocks as Musk has repeatedly taken issue with Twitter's assessment of bots on the service. Last week, Musk lawyer Mike Ringler sent a letter to Twitter, accusing the social network of refusing to provide Musk with more information about spam and fake accounts. The Washington Post, citing a person familiar with the company's thinking, reported that Twitter planned to provide Musk with a trove of data. 

Twitter's shareholders still need to approve the deal in a special meeting that's expected to take place by early August. 

Musk has said that a lower price isn't out of the question. Twitter has signaled that it plans to move forward with the current deal.

The uncertainty about Twitter's deal with Musk has prompted plenty of questions about the social media site's future. Internally, Twitter employees have said they don't think Musk fully grasps the challenges around content moderation, Bloomberg reported, citing an internal discussion between employees before Twitter announced the deal with Musk. 

While Musk has vowed to "authenticate all humans," he told Twitter employees he doesn't plan to make people use their real names on the platform, The New York Times reported. He also reportedly praised Chinese social media apps WeChat and TikTok during Thursday's call. Twitter could integrate payments into its app so people could send money, Musk reportedly told Twitter employees. 

At one point, he told Twitter employees that he hadn't seen any evidence of alien life, according to multiple reports. The comment reportedly perplexed many attendees of the call.

Musk reportedly told employees that he wanted to be involved in Twitter's product and expected them to "listen to me in this regard." However, he shared no thoughts on what his title might be if the deal is completed.

He also appeared to indicate to employees that he preferred them to be in the office rather than working remotely, reportedly telling them it is "much better if you are on location physically." Despite reportedly pointing out his worries about remote work, Musk also said there are differences between working at a carmaker like Tesla and at a social media site, noting that people who are "exceptional at their jobs" can work remotely. 

CNET's Carrie Mihalcik contributed to this report.

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Twitter Shows User Growth, Misses Estimates Amid Musk Takeover Dispute

Twitter Shows User Growth, Misses Estimates Amid Musk Takeover Dispute

The number of people using Twitter every day jumped in the second quarter as the social network negotiated a deal to sell itself to billionaire Elon Musk for $44 billion, but the company's revenue and profit took a hit.

In the quarter ending on June 30, roughly 237.8 million daily users who could see ads logged onto the site, a nearly 4% uptick compared to the previous quarter and up 16% from the year-ago quarter. 

Despite the increase in traffic, Twitter said in its earnings report Friday that it lost 35 cents per share, worse than Wall Street's expected loss of 9 cents per share. Excluding certain expenses, Twitter lost 8 cents per share, missing the 14 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Revenue was $1.18 billion, down 1% year over year, falling short of the $1.3 billion expected by analysts. 

The lackluster performance comes as Twitter continues to battle Musk, who is trying to back out of his agreement to buy the company. Twitter sued the entrepreneur, who runs car company Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX, to complete the deal. A trial over the dispute is expected to happen in October over five days.

On Friday, Twitter attributed the revenue shortfall to "advertising industry headwinds" given the overall state of the global economy and "uncertainty" related to Musk's takeover bid. Costs related to the pending acquisition were approximately $33 million during the second quarter, the company said.

The company canceled the analyst call that is commonly held after the earnings report.

Like other tech companies, Twitter is bracing for a potential recession. The company laid off nearly 100 workers in July after freezing hiring. 

Social media companies are also grappling with advertising slowdowns. Some marketers are pausing ad campaigns during the Russia-Ukraine war. Privacy changes at Apple have also made it tougher for advertisers to track the effectiveness of their campaigns. 

Twitter's goal of reaching $7.5 billion of revenue and 315 million monetizable daily users in 2023 will likely be tougher to achieve during an economic downturn.

Twitter's stock was holding about even in early trading Friday after the company released its earnings.

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