What you need to know
- Twitter released its Q1 2022 financial earnings on Thursday.
- The company reported $1.2 billion in revenue, slightly below analyst expectations.
- Twitter had a total of 229 million monetizable daily active users, above expectations.
All eyes are on Twitter Thursday morning as the company releases its first-quarter earnings report. The company reported a revenue of $1.2 billion in what could be one of its last earnings reports ahead of Elon Musk’s acquisition closing later this year.
Despite the company reporting earnings just below the expected $1.23 billion (via CNBC), Twitter managed to rise above monetizable daily active usage (mDAU) predictions, increasing nearly 16% year-over-year to 229 million.
Given the deal with Elon Musk to acquire the platform, the company decided to cancel its earnings call and did not provide any forward-looking guidance.
“In light of the proposed transaction with Mr. Musk, as is customary during the pendency of an acquisition, Twitter will not be hosting a conference call, issuing a shareholder letter, or providing financial guidance in conjunction with its first quarter 2022 earnings release,” the company noted in a press release. “For further detail and discussion of our financial performance please refer to our upcoming quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.”
The deal to acquire the platform may not close for months, assuming nothing goes wrong between now and then.
According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk is barred from disparaging Twitter online while the deal is underway. However, he has already been spotted posting a tweet criticizing a Twitter employee on censorship. Musk has been very outspoken about his stance on free speech and how he wishes to loosen Twitter’s moderation practices.
Meanwhile, Reuters believes Elon Musk could potentially abandon the deal after Tesla shares fell following the announcement to acquire the social media platform. If that were to happen, Musk would have to pay a $1 billion breakup fee to Twitter as per their agreement. So far, the Tesla CEO has not indicated that he intends to abandon the $44 billion deal.
Of course, even if he does abandon the deal, there are plenty of other things he can buy for the same $44 billion.
