Twitter Announces First Quarter 2018 Results

Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) today announced financial results for its first quarter 2018.

"The first quarter was a strong start to the year," said Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO. "We grew our audience and engagement, marking another quarter of double digit year-over-year DAU growth, and continued our work to make it easier to follow topics, interests, and events on Twitter. We also introduced a new framework to think more cohesively about the issues affecting our service, including information quality and safety. This holistic approach will help us more effectively address these challenges by viewing them through the broader lens of the health of the public conversation, and we're encouraged by our initial progress in this area."

"We're pleased to report growth across all major products and geographies in the first quarter," said Ned Segal, Twitter CFO. "We grew total revenue 21% year-over-year and owned-and-operated advertising revenue 28% year-over-year, driven by continued audience growth, differentiated ad product features, improved ROI, and better sales execution. Our strong revenue performance drove better than expected profits and GAAP net margins of 9%, reflecting our continued prioritization and disciplined execution across our strategic priorities."

First Quarter 2018 Operational and Financial Highlights

The company reported first quarter revenue of $665 million, an increase of 21% year-over-year. Quarterly GAAP net income was $61 million, representing a GAAP net margin of 9% and GAAP diluted EPS of $0.08. This compares with a quarterly GAAP net loss of $62 million, a GAAP net margin of (11%) and GAAP diluted EPS of ($0.09) for the same period last year.

Quarterly non-GAAP net income was $123 million, representing a non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.16. This compares with a quarterly non-GAAP net income of $53 million, representing a non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.07 for the same period last year. As a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the blended US federal and state statutory tax rate used to calculate the company's reported non-GAAP provisions for income taxes decreased from 37% to 24% beginning in Q1 2018. Approximately $21 million of the $70 million year-over-year increase in non-GAAP net income resulted from this change.

Adjusted EBITDA was $244 million or 37% of total revenue, compared to $170 million or 31% of total revenue for the same period last year.

Average monthly active users (MAUs) were 336 million for the quarter, an increase of 3% year-over-year and an increase of 6 million compared to 330 million in the previous quarter. Average daily active users (DAU) grew 10% year-over-year, marking another quarter of double-digit growth.

Outlook

For Q2, we expect:
Adjusted EBITDA to be between $245 million and $265 million
Adjusted EBITDA margin to be between 37% and 38%
Stock-based compensation expense to be in the range of $85 million to $95 million

For FY 2018, we expect:
Stock-based compensation expense to be in the range of $350 million to $450 million
Capital expenditures to be between $375 million and $450 million

Note that our outlook for Q2 and the full year 2018 reflects foreign exchange rates as of April 16, 2018.

For more information regarding the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this letter, please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below. Guidance for adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin excludes stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization expense, interest and other expense, net, provision (benefit) for income taxes, restructuring charges, and one-time nonrecurring gain. We have not reconciled adjusted EBITDA guidance to projected GAAP net income (loss) because we do not provide guidance on GAAP net income (loss) or the reconciling items between adjusted EBITDA and GAAP net income (loss), other than stock-based compensation expense, as a result of the uncertainty regarding, and the potential variability of, certain of these items. Accordingly, a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure guidance to the corresponding GAAP measure is not available without unreasonable effort.

Twitter's complete first quarter 2018 financial results can be found by accessing the company's Shareholder Letter at: https://investor.twitterinc.com/releases.cfm.

Webcast and Conference Call Details
Twitter will host a conference call today, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time (8:00 a.m. Eastern Time) to discuss financial results for the first quarter of 2018. The company will be following the conversation about the earnings announcement on Twitter. To have your questions considered during the Q&A, Tweet your question to @TwitterIR using #TWTR. To listen to a live audio webcast, please visit the company's Investor Relations page at investor.twitterinc.com. Twitter has used, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website and the Twitter accounts of @jack, @Twitter, and @TwitterIR as means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Twitter will release financial results for the second quarter of 2018 on July 27, 2018, before the market opens at approximately 4:00 a.m. Pacific Time (7:00 a.m. Eastern Time). On the same day, Twitter will host a conference call to discuss those financial results at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time (8:00 a.m. Eastern Time).

About Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR)
Twitter is what's happening in the world and what people are talking about right now. From breaking news and entertainment to sports, politics, and everyday interests, see every side of the story. Join the open conversation. Watch live streaming events. Available in more than 40 languages around the world, the service can be accessed via twitter.com, an array of mobile devices, and SMS. For more information, please visit about.twitter.com, follow @Twitter, and download both the Twitter and Periscope apps at twitter.com/download and periscope.tv.