Twilio stock surges on Q2 earnings beat, strong guidance

Cloud communications platform Twilio Inc. (TWLO) turned to profit in the second quarter from a loss last year helped by a sharp increase in revenues. The result defied analysts’ forecast for a loss.  The impressive outcome and the company’s high-end guidance triggered a rally and the stock gained about 16% in after-market trading.

Twilio reported adjusted earnings of $0.03 per share for the second quarter, compared to a loss of $0.05 per share a year earlier. On a reported basis, net loss widened to $24.01 million or $0.25 per share from $7.11 million or $0.08 per share in the second quarter of 2017.

Total revenues jumped 54% year-on-year to $147.8 million and base revenue rose to $135 million. The top-line came in above Wall Street expectations. Twilio had 57,350 active customer accounts at the end of the second quarter, up 32% compared to last year. Dollar-based net expansion rate advanced six percentage points to 137%.

“Our core voice and messaging products grew rapidly once again, and the positive customer response to Flex further reinforces our Engagement Cloud strategy. Our go-to-market investments are driving growth in companies of all shapes and sizes, and we’re excited to unveil our newest set of innovations and gather our customers at our upcoming SIGNAL conference in October,” said Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson.

The impressive results and upbeat guidance triggered a rally and the company’s stock gained about 16%

Encouraged by the year-on-year improvement in operating results, the company said it expects to report profit in the third quarter, and projected earnings in the range of $0.02 per share to $0.03 per share on revenues of $150-152 million.

For fiscal 2018, Twilio expects earnings to be between $0.02 per share and $0.04 per share. Full-year revenues are forecast in the range of $585.5 million to $589.5 million.

Twilio shares, which more than doubled over the past six months, ended Monday’s regular session up 2%. The stock gained significantly in the after-hours following the announcement.

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