Shares of Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO), a marketing communications software builder, soared over 20% after projecting sales that topped estimates in the current period and reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue.
Twilio's widespread presence in the business-to-consumer communications market can't be overstated, seeing that most large companies are likely to use Twilio in some capacity when sending text messages or emails to their customers.
Revenues were up 54% from the same quarter last year to $842.7 million and topped the consensus estimate of $767.83 million. Organic revenue grew 34% year-over-year and was the primary contributing factor to the overall growth in revenues. Twilio reported a quarterly loss of $0.20 per share, slightly better than expectations of $0.21, compared to earnings of $0.04 per share a year ago.
"Our fourth quarter capped off an amazing year of results as we delivered more than $2.8 billion in revenue for the year, growing 61% year-over-year," said Twilio's Co-Founder and CEO, Jeff Lawson.
Active customer accounts for Twilio stood at 256,000 at the end of the quarter, up from 221,000 in the previous year. The company's Dollar-Based Net Expansion Rate at the end of the quarter was at 126% compared to 139% a year ago.
Turning to guidance, Twilio expects a first-quarter adjusted net loss of 26 cents to 22 cents per share on $855 million to $865 in revenue, implying nearly 46% growth.
STOCK RATING
A slowdown affecting cloud-software stocks in recent months reduced the value of Twilio. Although JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy reiterated a Buy rating on the stock before earnings, the analyst lowered the price target from $420 to $270.
Given current market conditions, “there may be some attractive opportunities, and we’ll be on the lookout,” said Twilio's finance chief, Khozema Shipchadler.
On Wednesday, the stock was down 23%, declining 53.4% over the past year, while the S&P 500 Index was down about 4%.
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