Twitter Q1 2022 revenue up 16% at $1.20 bn amid acquisition by Elon Musk

Twitter Inc. has reported revenue of $1.20 billion for the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 16% year-over-year, or 19% on a constant currency basis, reflecting headwinds associated with the war in Ukraine. When excluding MoPub and MoPub Acquire, the year-over-year growth was 22%.

As is known, Tesla boss Elon Musk earlier this week sealed a deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and completion of regulatory review and Twitter’s stockholder approval. The transaction, which is expected to close in 2022, has been approved by the board of directors of Twitter.

Twitter’s advertising revenue totaled $1.11 billion, an increase of 23%, or 26% on a constant currency basis. On the other hand, subscription and other revenue saw a decline of 31% year-over-year, or a decrease of 5% year-over-year when excluding MoPub from the year ago period, totalling $94 million.

Costs and expenses increased by 35% year-over-year, totalling $1.33 billion. This resulted in an operating loss of $128 million and -11% operating margin, compared to an operating income of $52 million or 5% operating margin in the same period of the previous year.

Net income stood at $513 million, representing a net margin of 43% and diluted EPS of $0.61. Net income of $513 million includes a pre-tax gain of $970 million from the sale of MoPub for $1.05 billion and income taxes related to the gain of $331 million. This compares to net income of $68 million, a net margin of 7% and diluted EPS of $0.08 in the same period of the previous year.

Net cash provided by operating activities in the quarter was $126 million, compared to $390 million in the same period last year. Capital expenditures totaled $161 million, compared to $179 million in the same period last year.

Average monetisable daily active usage (mDAU) was 229.0 million for Q1, up 15.9% compared to Q1 of 2021. Average US mDAU stood at 39.6 million for Q1, up 6.4% compared to Q1 of the prior year, while average international mDAU for Q1 was reported at 189.4 million, up 18.1% compared to Q1 of 2021.